Chinese Dumplings

Sadly, today was likely the last time that I will be able to participate in Global Gathering, so I am a little glum at the moment. The final meeting was, however, a fun and interesting one. The Chinese ladies in the group showed the rest of us how to make dumplings, like the ones that they traditionally eat at their New Year celebrations. They did most of the difficult parts themselves, but they let the rest of us try our hands at it, too. 

Not wanting to pass up the opportunity, I attempted to make a dumpling, and Kristy patiently assisted me. I had a great deal of trouble with rolling my ball of dough into a nice, flat circle. The 'flat' part was not a problem; however, my flat piece of dough was not very circular. 

     

After my rolled-out bit of dough was finally acceptably circle-like, I had to put in some of the pork and spice filling and then fold the dumpling closed. I unfortunately overfilled mine a bit, but Kristy assured my that it would be okay, anyway. 

After a dumplings were formed, they had to be cooked. The Chinese ladies preferred to simply boil them, but they also fried a few at the request of some of the British women. The boiled dumplings did not look particularly appetizing, but they were actually quite tasty, despite the sogginess that goes along with boiling. The fried ones, however, were EXCELLENT. I had only intended to eat one or two, but the final count was closer to seven. Fortunately, the ladies had anticipated that the dumplings would be a big hit and made plenty.