24 Ways to Wrap Dumplings

Welcome to Sweet Stuff Recipes. We all love dumplings, but not everybody knows how to build them. Today, I'm going to show you 24 ways to wrap dumplings, ranking from incredibly easy, classic methods to complicated but beautiful patterns. Please stick with me until the end. I promise you, after watching this comprehensive guide, you will never fail at building dumplings again and you will be able to impress anybody you want. First, let's talk about the difference between the store-bought and homemade wrappers because that is going to affect the folding a little bit. Store-bought wrapper contains a lower water ratio due to the need to prevent them from sticking together. They are quite stiff and less stretchy. If you want to practice more complicated patterns, they don't do a good job. You may have to wet the edge to seal the wrapper because they don't stick to each other easily. They usually come from the frozen section in your local grocery store, so be sure to put them out one hour ahead to defrost. With homemade wrappers, you can fold your dumplings however you want as they are moist, soft, and stretchy, but it is time-consuming to knead the dough and roll the wrapper. Just be sure not to dust too much flour on the dough, otherwise it won't stick together when closing the dumpling. If you want to know more details, I have a dumpling from scratch tutorial, you can check it out right here. I will use some homemade wrappers for today's episode as I will make some sophisticated patterns at the end. The filling I'm using today is the pork sour cabbage version, which I have showed in my jade cabbage dumpling video. The link is in the description, you can check it out later. Okay, let's have some fun folding dumplings today! The first one, fold in half dumpling. This is the easiest one. If you have never made dumplings before, you can start with this one. Fold the wrapper in half. You don't need any pleats, just pinch the edge tightly and make sure to push out the air. If you want to have a weekend dumpling making project with your kids, this is where you can teach them. The second one, fold in half with a simple pleat. If the dumpling doesn't have a pleat, it has a higher chance to break while cooking. Based on the first one, you can make some super simple pleats. Use your forefinger and your thumb, practice with me. Rub it back and forth, back and forth. We do the same thing around the edge of the dumpling. The pleats will grip onto each other so the wrapper won't split open. Look how pretty that is. The third one, standing up dumpling. Based on the second method, you can make a variation. Bend two ends toward the middle and lightly press to keep the shape. That way, the dumpling can stand up. It's like a little bag, you can pan fry them with the pleats pointing up so even if the edge splits during cooking, the juice won't leak out. Number four, shoe-shaped gold ingot dumpling. This is also a variation of the filled in half dumpling. Super easy. What you do is to make a curve right at the middle and bend the dumpling to connect two ends. Pinch tightly to make sure they don't separate. This looks like the Chinese shoe-shaped gold ingot, which remains a symbol of wealth. If you want to make dumplings for Chinese festival or special event, this is the shape you should try. Number five, fat belly dumpling. Use both of your hands to lightly stretch the wrapper, then fold that in half. Pinch the edge together and squeeze the dumpling with the hollow of your palm. This way, you will get a dumpling that has a fat belly. Looks really cute. This is a rustic method that is often used in special dumpling restaurants. Number six, classic trive box. This is also a variation of the filled in half dumpling. The pleats are a little bit exquisite. Just watch how I do it because it does take some practice. Trive box is a classic north Chinese recipe, which I do have a video for. I'll link that right here. You can check it out later. Number seven, copper cash. Based on the trive box shape, you can make a massive dumpling. First, you will make four dumplings that are folded in half. Put them together one after another one and connect the end to create a circle. Match the edge to make sure it is perfectly round. Then you just pinch the pleats all the way around the edge like how you make the trive box. This looks like an ancient Chinese copper cash. You can pan fry this dumpling on both sides until golden brown. You'll make your guests feel special if you serve them this. Number eight, sun shape. This is similar to the trive box. Instead of folding the wrapper in half, you cover it with another wrapper right on the top. Push out the air, establish the edge tightly, and start making pleats all the way around. This dumpling can hold up a lot of filling and it is especially good for pan frying because it's so flat that you can easily get both sides golden and crispy. Number nine, pot sticker shape. This is classic as you have seen it in many pot sticker recipes. Adjust the filling a little bit like a rectangle shape, fold the wrapper in half, pinch the middle to make sure they don't split, push the end toward the center and you will create two corners. Seal those two corners and do the same thing to the other side. Lovely. Number ten, pot sticker variation. Same as before, fold the wrapper in half and pinch the middle, push the end towards the center to create two corners, seal those two corners, do the same thing to the other side. Then pinch two petals together on both sides. Next, let's get to the most common look of a Chinese dumpling. That will be half moon shape. If you are a beginner, you should try the half moon with only two pleats. Fold the wrapper in half, pinch the middle first to make sure they stick together, push the end towards the center to create two corners, pinch one corner tightly, then flip the other corner toward the center to create one pleat. Do the same thing to the other side. This is kind of like the pot sticker but in the last step, we fold the pleat to the center so it becomes a half moon shape. Number 12, half moon with four pleats. Once you mastered the two pleats, you can try four pleats. The first few steps are the same. Fold the wrapper in half, pinch the middle, push the end towards the center and pinch the first corner. Fold the other corner in a way that creates two pleats instead of one. Do the same thing to the other side. There you go. Number 13, half moon shape with however many pleats you want. If you want to make more pleats, it will get more difficult. I want to show you a few methods that you can practice with. The first method, use your left hand to push the wrapper to create a boat. Use your right hand to pinch the pleats. Repeat that until you reach two-third of the circle. Push the unpleated wrapper towards the pleats and seal it. The second method, bend your thumb and forefinger like that, put the rest of your finger at the middle, that will support the bottom of the dumpling. Put the wrapper with the filling right on the top. As you can see, it is already like the half moon shape. Pinch the corner to create the first pleat. Then fold and pinch again. Repeat that all the way until the end. This is a one-direction pleating method. The third method is a bi-direction pleating method. Fold the wrapper in half and pinch the middle together. This time, we will start making the pleats from the middle instead of the end. Then do it on the opposite direction. There you go. These three techniques are different, but they all get you the half moon shape dumpling with however many pleats you want. They do look slightly different. You just pick whichever one that you like the most and start practicing. Number 14, leaf shape dumpling. This one is a bit similar to the many pleats half moon shape dumpling. Instead of folding pleats on one side, you have to do it on both sides. So please watch my hand movement carefully because this one is complicated. Do you remember the second method of many pleats dumpling? We had our hand this way, so now we're going to change it to this way. You want your forefinger and your thumb to be parallel with each other. Then you just put the dumpling right on the top like that. Pinch the right corner and lift it up. Use your left forefinger to help to fold the pleats on the top half of the wrapper. Use your left thumb to help to create the pleats on the bottom half of the wrapper. Repeat that all the way until the end. Rub the little tip to close the dumpling. This is a classic leaf shape. I normally don't use it in my video because it is difficult for most people to learn, and it is time consuming to fold. It does look pretty though, and I do love to wrap a whole shrimp in it. This way, you can leave out the tail perfectly at the end. Imagine you deep fry this. Mmm, delicious. Number 15. S-shape dumpling. This is similar to the half moon four pleats method. The first few steps are the same. Fold the wrapper in half, pinch the middle, push the end towards the center, and you will create two corners. Pinch one and fold the other one in a way that creates two pleats. Do the same thing to the other side, but switch to the opposite direction. This way, you will have a four pleat dumpling, but it is an S-shape instead of a moon shape. Number 16. Soup dumpling shape. Also known as steamed bun shape. The right hand lifts the edge of the wrapper. The left hand helps to push to fold the first pleat. Between each pleat and fold, you should slightly stretch the wrapper a little bit. You see? Fold, stretch, fold, stretch, fold. That way, your dumpling will come out nice and neat. This is similar to the first method of the half moon shape, but you don't stop until you finish the whole way around. This way, you will create a natural hole in the middle. The first thought might be to close it because you think dumplings are supposed to be sealed completely. No, no, no. That's not true. Soup dumpling contains a lot of liquid, which will create a lot of steam while cooking. If the dumpling is completely sealed, it will explode. Instead, you want to leave the hole there to allow the steam to escape. Because the hole is located at the top middle, it's like a bag, so the soup will not leak out. Of course, if you are not making soup dumplings, you can just pinch and close that hole. Number 17. Triangle shape. This one is easy. Place the wrapper with the filling on the working surface. Mark three points with equal distance on the wrapper and push them towards the center. This way, you create three corners. Pinch these three lines together and close the dumpling. You may not see this shape that often, but there is a classic sweet steamed bun called sugar triangle that uses this method. I'll make that recipe in the future, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss it. Number 18. Triangle dumpling with pleat. This is based on the triangle shape. The first few steps are the same. Mark three points with equal distance on the wrapper and push them towards the center to create three corners. Pinch to seal it. Then make some simple pleats on these three lines so the dumplings won't break easily while cooking. Number 19. Three treasure dumpling. This is also based on the triangle shape. The first few steps are the same. Mark three points with equal distance on the wrapper and push them towards the center to create three corners. Don't seal these three lines. Instead, you pinch to stabilize the center. Open up these three corners and connect them with each other. This way, you will have three spots that you can fill with different toppings. I used diced cilantro stem, carrot, and wood ear mushroom. This dumpling is usually steamed or pan fried at the bottom. You cannot boil it because the filling will fall out. Number 20. Triangle with complicated petals. Place the wrapper on the working surface. Mark three points with equal distance. Fold the edge to create a triangle wrapper. Flip to the other side. Put some filling in the middle. Fold the corners to the center. Seal the edge to create a tetrahedron. Keep pinching the lines to make some room for the pleats later. Do you still remember the simple pleats? That is what we are going to do. Just rub your thumb and forefinger back and forth. Do this to all three of them. Flip the dumpling and unfold all the edges carefully and you will have some beautiful petals. Use this method. You can create four petals, five petals, but three is the easiest one. Number 21. Square dumpling. For this shape, you mark four points on the edge instead of three. Push the points towards the center. Pinch the lines and you get a square dumpling. You will see this method used often on fried crab rangoon. I will make that recipe in the future and don't forget to subscribe to my channel so you don't miss it. Number 22. Square dumpling variation. Same as before, mark four points on the edge and push to the center. Pinch the lines to get a square dumpling. Curve one petal to the left. Curve the opposite petal to the right. You can decorate these two points with peas or corns. Number 23. Four joy dumpling. The first few steps are the same. Mark four points with equal distance and push them towards the center to create four corners. Pinch to stabilize the middle. Open up these four corners and connect them with each other. This way you will have four spots that you can fill with different toppings. I'm putting cilantro, carrot, wood ear mushroom, and corns. Number 24. Cherry blossom dumpling. Mark five points on the wrapper with equal distance. Pinch the corners to create a pentagon. Then we will make some pleats on the petals. Remember the simple pleats that we always use? This time we don't rub it back and forth. We only rub it with one direction. Don't reverse. Finish all five of them. Twist all the pieces to make them into the cherry petals. There you go. Look how pretty this is. Okay here are 24 styles of dumpling and there are actually 27 methods because I showed you three different methods to make the half moon shape with multiple pleats dumpling. I'm sure there are many other ways. You can leave a comment below and tell me your favorite one. I hope you learned something today. Please like and share my videos to a friend or family to inspire them to make dumplings for you. 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