Your Best Dumplings

Yogurt (we used whole milk Greek Fage), ground lamb, tomato sauce, onion, scallion, wonton wrapper, garlic, white vinegar, and a cadre of spices: garlic powder, paprika, dried mint, coriander. Mm.

Look at us, all mise-en-placed!

Right this way, onions. (No Amanda this week -- she's still in Rockville, Md. for the launch of Whole Foods Market Cooking -- but as you'll see later, Merrill has other friends around to lend a hand -- or four.)

Some lovely local ground lamb joins the pan. Katie Morford says to break it up like taco meat, so we do.

Next up -- tomato sauce (looking very Bolognese-y, right?).

A shower of spices -- this is where it veers away from the Bolognese archetype.

A mountain of scallions destined for filling.

Merrill tackles the heap, cutting them into 3-inch lengths to get them ready for the food processor.

Scallions, prepare to meet your maker.

Keep a distance when you remove the lid -- otherwise you'll look like you've been watching The Age of Innocence instead of making dumplings.

The paste gets cooked briefly to tame the scallions' bite.

Another shower of salt and spice (red pepper flakes, to be exact).

Christmas!

Yogurt sauce -- just add garlic powder, salt and dried mint. Stir. Done. (Katie Morford actually has you keep the mint separate to sprinkle on at the end -- your call.)

See?

Jennifer jumps in to help Merrill with dumpling assembly.

Using store-bought wonton wrappers helps speed up the process.

Jennifer recruits Amanda's daughter Addie -- the more the merrier!

Now, we'll let Addie show you how to make a dumpling. First, wet the edges with a little water so they'll seal.

With your blob of filling in place, grab the far corner.

Fold toward you.

Seal the corner first.

Then seal the whole dumpling by pressing along the edge.

Bring the two far corners together, and pinch!

Like folded dinner party napkins, ready to sink into a hot bath.

As they cook, they'll bob to the surface.

Fish them out with a slotted spoon and drain them briefly on a paper towel-lined plate.

Almost dumpling time!

The dumpling ingredients: ground pork, shrimp, cilantro, red chili, onion, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, flour, sugar, cornstarch, rice flour, fish sauce, and rice wine vinegar.  

Amanda was away this week, at the opening of the new Whole Foods Market in Rockville, Md. Luckily, Amanda's doppelganger, Jennifer, stepped in to help!  

First, you make the dumpling dough: just rice flour, all-purpose flour, boiling water and a little vegetable oil.  

Merrill consults with Jennifer, who tested these over the weekend. The dough will still be a little shaggy before kneading.    

After a minute or two of kneading, it morphs into a smooth, stretchy ball. At this point, it needs to rest for about 30 minutes.  

Jennifer grates the ginger and garlic for the filling.  

We chopped the shrimp pretty finely so it would combine well with the ground pork.  

The lemongrass is optional -- but we think it should be mandatory!  

The filling is a rainbow of hues.  

Yuko calls for a red chili for the dipping sauce -- we used a habanero, which is really hot. If you want something less spicy, try a red serrano.  

The dipping sauce: garlic, chili, fish sauce and rice wine vinegar. Simple and delicious.  

Jennifer offers guidance as Merrill rolls the dumpling dough into a long log.  

We cut the log into 18 pieces, as it looked like 24 would make for very small dumplings.  

Nice to have a friend around when you're making these.  

The dumpling skins should be very thin -- almost translucent -- but not so thin that they start to tear.  

Jennifer's perfect balls of filling.  

All it takes is a gentle touch to wrap these little guys -- don't fear the dumpling!  

A little pinch, and you're all set. (You want some of the filling to peek through.)  

Jennifer runs into an unexpected challenge while rolling out more dumpling wrappers.  

A dab of water around the edges of the wrappers keeps them from drying out as they sit.  

Ready for steaming! If you don't have a bamboo steamer, you can just use a metal steamer basket -- make sure to line your steamer with parchment so the dumplings don't stick.  

Amazing. We felt so proud.