Is there a dumpling thread somewhere? I want to understand wrappers better. I went BACK tot he store and didn’t see gyoza wrappers! I thought that was what I usually got. I ended up getting sue gow, but when might you use the others?
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I have always used Sue Gow round skin to make my pot stickers , be it steamed or pan fried. I never use Wanton skin as I t think they are too thick. There are 2 kinds found in the local Asian market, made by same company, one is more yellowish than the other I prefer th even that is not yellowish as it seems to stand up better.
For spring rolls, I only use the ones that are made by Simex from the Philippines. It had always been a pain to separate the thin skins without breaking them but since a few years ago, for a couple dollars more, they now are packaged individually separated by thin wax papers. I I use them to make spring rolls that can be eaten fresh, pan fried or just sprayed with EVOO and then baked in oven. If you like plantan, I recommend splitting the plantain longitudinally, add a bit of coconut or macapuno strings ( purchased in jar from Asian store) or even without coconut if the plantan is ripe and sweet. macapuno is a hybrid coconut that I sweet often used for dessert such as fruit salad and of course in the Philippines, sandwiched between plantan and fried cs.alled Turon. Instead of bananas, I like ripe plantans.
I do use Vietnamese rice papers esp when I had to make gluten free spring rolls.
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I just replied to. you but in looking at the picture above, there are something else in the pan , some ingredient leaked out perhaps?
When I say I fry them, I typically just coat my non stick pan with just a thin layer of oil flat side down, pan fry till bottom is golden brown, drizzle in 1/4 cup of broth or just water , quickly cover the pan steam for 3 minutes or so, reduce heat ( which at this point I like to add a tablespoon or so of sesame oil) cook until water evaporates and bottoms are crunchy . They are called pot stickers as most chinese ( watching the street vendors in HK cook them) prefer to line the frying pan so that the pot stickers are touching each other and can be taken out as a whole similar to an omelette.
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Thank you!
I usually do the same technique. I don’t know if they leaked, but the wrapper did tear. I liked the texture of the wrapper, and the way they look sort of wrinkly, but either they are more fragile, or don’t stretch. What’s in the pan might be the bit of oil left after most of the water evaporated.
I have a picture of more successful batches on here somewhere. I plan to try again with the sue gow wrappers, but now I’m wondering what I’ve used in the past. I thought it was gyoza wrappers! Maybe it was pot-sticker wrappers?
Do you know what so kok wrappers are for?
" The trickiest part of making this dumpling is getting the right texture for the skin. Unlike siu mai (open-topped pork and shrimp dumplings) and pan fried dumplings, the skin of a har gow—made from a combination of wheat and tapioca starches—is translucent and slightly chewy."
Serious Eats-“Beyond Potstickers: Around the World in Dumplings”
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I use the same wrapper for Sio mai ( or siu mai depending on dialect), which is open on top and steamed, steamed pot stickers ( yes I like it steamed, quicker way to prepare), or pan fried ( my son’s preference) and then steamed when water or broth is added for a few minutes. As for Har gow, I have not made it since 1970’s when I used to go to Nanking Cafe early in the morning to learn how to make dumplings. I have not seen the wrappers. The owner’s son is a cardiologist at GW, decided to teach me how to make dumplings after frequenting his small restaurant. He closed his restaurant late70’s,
Here is a picture of the last batch I bought, the packages are different depending on the store I buy them from but basically, I buy the round ones and prefer the white rather than the yellow ones . They break easier.
I was at the new Grand Mart 5 days ago, very disappointed . Looking for yet another kind of wrapper. Bean curd wrapper which comes either dried or frozen. They make fabulous wraps ( five spice ground pork, with mushroom, carrots, etc etc) then panfried, sliced longitudinally served with ketchup Recently while Christmas shipping, went to a Thai place at food court at the Galleria. They had chicken breast wrapped with this , was fabulous but could not find it in this store.
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Here is bean curd sheet roll
My mother typically adds five spice powder and use ground pork, carrots, spring onions, mushroom
we typically splice it diagonally, add ketchup and Tabasco.
Could not find the sheets recently so, was unable to make it ( thought of making with ground duck meat as I now cannot eat pork)
My mom frequents the buddhist temple where they use bean curd to do all sorts of things
Mock Peking duck which is delicioushttp://veganfeastkitchen.blogspot.com/2006/07/buddhas-roast-duck-with-yuba.html
In Rockville, there is a store that uses these sheets, smoke them with mushrooms also.
I am sure you will like that too.
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We do have an old thread talking about types of dumplings.
Just in case if you are searching for something.
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Wait…did the owner or the cardiologist teach you how to make dumplings? I would LOVE that as my next side-hustle!
I’m thinking it was the owner. 
That was a great , and perhaps timely reference!
Yes! Me too!
The chinese supermarkets have a lot of variety, I just don’t know which ones are for which dumplings that I enjoy eating out…
Off the top of my head:
Shanghai style
Wonton
Hong kong style
Dumpling skins
Plus yellow and white in several of these.
This article sheds some light, but not enough for my just-point-me-to-the-exact-one self… What should I buy for potstickers? Har gow type of shrimp dumplings? Shiu mai? Are cheung fun wrappers available? Or is that too much to ask…
Hmm. So much to learn and discover.
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The question for you is what type of dumplings do you enjoy eating out? Is it the Northern Chinese kind with a chewy (sometimes thicker) skin? Or is it the Japanese gyoza with the see-through skin?
I think the ones called just dumpling skin is the thickest, Shanghai style skinnier, and gyoza skin the thinniest. For pot stickers, use the same skin as what you would use in steam/boiled dumplings. The yellow kind has egg (and yellow food color) in it, and those are strictly for wonton (HK style only) in my opinion. Even the Shanghai style wonton use white skins.
Har gow (shrimp dumpling) typically use a mix of wheat starch/tapioca mixed with boiling water; not sure if I’ve ever seen the dough sold separately. The shumai dough is hot water dough/regular dough/lye brushed dough, depending on what region we are talking about.
Cheung fun noodles (rolled up or cut into slices) can be found fresh or dried in Chinese store, but normally not used for dumplings. I’ve seen people making them at home with a steaming machine with several drawers, but I don’t eat enough of those to invest in a machine.
I’ve bought the gyoza wrappers occasionally when the craving hits - and this is from someone that grew up making dumplings with mom and grandmas every week. But the store wrappers honestly cannot hold a candle to homemade wrappers, and I really encourage you to give it a try. It’s really a frustrating experience making pleats and trying to press the seams together on a store bought wrapper, where as a homemade dough just meld right under your hands. It is a project on your own, but get some friends/family to delegate and put a silly show on the background, it could go very quickly!
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That was great; thanks! I wanted to eat ALL the things in the link! Does anyone know if there are significant differences in their glycemic index?
I have a close up of a few of the wrappers.
The owner of Nanking’s Restaurant had a son who is a cardiologist at GWU.
Of course , if I were on call the night before, I may get off early and swing over from Irving Street to NY Avenue , knock at his door ( he does not open till 11;00AM) , he will give me lessons and I bing whatever I make home. It so happens that I am of Chinese descent and knowing my profession helps.
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there you go, You just have to try them
I found the yellowish ones of the same make breaks easier
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Yes! THIS. So frustrating. To get the right filling ratio, I usually give up at some point and make rectangular dumplings 
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I have never managed to actually pleat store-bought wrappers… not for lack of skill, because there are indian “dumplings” with tiny pleats too, and once you learn you don’t forget 
It’s just laziness on my part not to make the dough. One of these days…
Meanwhile, cheung fun almost seems easier, given the batter base. I keep watching videos and telling myself, soon…
I think my favorites to try at home eventually (sort of in order of preference) would be: cheung fun, xlb, shui mai, har gow.
While on the subject - does anyone ever freeze homemade wrappers? Or would that lead to the same pleating problem as the edges dry out?
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I don’t recall having this problem…until last night! ! These are from awhile ago. Not great, but good.
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I’ve only frozen the already made (pre-boiling) dumplings, and found that those tend to crack after a couple of days. They are still great for making potstickers, just not great boiled. If anybody has a trick to freezing please do share!
I’m sure you can freeze the homemade dough, and then roll out the wrappers once thawed - but then why not just make fresh dough each time?
My solution when I’m wanting some dumplings but can only tolerate a medium amount of work is to make steamed buns (bao) with the same filing. Instead of rolling out then filling all of them, you can make a dozen or so of buns in no time at all. They freeze beautifully once cooked and can be pan fried as well. And it’s a great practice for when you decide to move up to XLB!
not for lack of skills but not finding the time to make lots of them and freeze
So, unless I want to impress, I no longer pleat but instead, use a fork to seal.
Not pretty but they taste the same.
Oldie but seems good!
There are a lot of seemingly knowledgeable posters here - so just my 2 cents on the wrappers you bought in that pic (and this will depend on what type of dumpling you’re making) but I now specifically look for wrappers that contain egg (the posted variety doesn’t appear to). I find the texture, flexibility, etc all to be better with egg.
For years the wrappers I could get always did have egg and then maybe a decade ago it was almost impossible to find them. They are harder to find at my local H mart than at my local grocer now that I live in Boston - which surprises me.
But if you’re having trouble with splitting/ sealing/ gummy texture - look for egg based wrappers. IMHO
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