Quick and easy dumplings with Maku products

I fell in love with Chinese dumplings while studying abroad in Shanghai. The grandmother of a local family taught me the recipe for a classic dumpling filling consisting of pork, cabbage, ginger and garlic. These kinds of dumplings are traditionally enjoyed with dark vinegar and soy sauce.

I’ve also made dumplings at home a few times, but wrapping them by hand is a slow process, and some of the dumplings inevitably end up opening while boiling. But now that I got to test some Maku Kitchen Life products designed for cooking Asian dishes, I was able to cook up some dumplings for the first time without any problems!

A convenient mold and a quick steamer

The set included a convenient dumpling mold. First, you shape a piece of dough into a small, round disc and press it into the mold. Next, you add a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the disc, close the mold and voilà: you’re done! Beautiful and evenly sized dumplings, every time. While I’m sure that they will end up looking even better with some more experience, I am very happy with the results of this first try.

The mold can also be used to make ravioli, the Italian cousin of dumplings, which you can fill with cheese, spinach and ham, and Slavic pelmeni, which are traditionally filled with mushrooms and served with smetana and meat broth.

The steamer made from bamboo is awesome, too. Simply place it on top of a pot of boiling water, close the lid, wait ten minutes and the dumplings are done. You can even stack several steamers in order to steam larger batches at once. I lined the steamers with baking paper to prevent the dough from sticking to them, and, afterwards, all you have to do to clean the steamers is to dry them.

I absolutely loved the steamer! Using it was the first time that none of my dumplings opened up or stuck together during cooking. Next time, I’m going to try steaming some fish, and, in the summer, the steamer will be perfect for cooking broccoli.