How to Make Dumpling Wrappers

Step 1

Pour all the flour and water into a mixing bowl. Use chopsticks or a wooden spoon to stir everything together. Mix until all the water is absorbed and shaggy pieces of dough start to form.

Step 2

Then, use your hands to gather the dough together. As you do this, dig into the dough with your fingers in a claw-like motion. This helps to distribute the moisture inside the dough. (See note 2 for stand mixer instructions.)

Step 3

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it on a surface for 2 to 3 minutes. The dough is slightly tacky, but not sticky. You shouldn’t need to flour the surface. If you find the dough is sticky, dust the surface with a little bit of flour and knead the flour into the dough.

Step 4

After several minutes of kneading, you should get a pretty smooth ball of dough. There may be some crags and dimples on the surface, but that’s okay. Place the dough into the bowl again, and cover the bowl with a damp towel or a silicone lid.

Step 5

Let the dough rest. If you are pressed for time, you can start rolling out the dough into wrappers after about 20 minutes. However, I prefer a longer resting period of at least 45 minutes. The dough feels more supple when it rests longer, making the wrappers easier to roll out. (see note 3)

Step 6

Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it a few times. Make a hole in the center of the dough with your finger. Then use your fingers to stretch out that hole in the center. Keep stretching out the dough and rotating it until you get a large ring. (See video below for reference.)

Step 7

Cut the dough with a sharp knife or a bench scraper. You should now have a thick dough rope. Keep rolling out the rope until it is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

Step 8

Now, cut out 5 small pieces of dough, each weighing about 12 to 13 grams. This is about 1 tablespoon of dough. If you want larger dumplings, each piece of dough should be 14 to 16 grams. The dough dries out easily so put the dough rope back into the bowl and cover it again.

Step 9

Take each piece of dough and roll it into a ball. Using the fleshy part of your palm, flatten each ball of dough into a disc, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Lightly dust each disc with flour.

Step 10

Take your rolling pin into your right hand and roll it over the entire surface of the disc and then roll it off. Your rolling pin never leaves the surface. Use your left and to rotate the disc 90 degrees and roll over the entire surface again. Repeat this two more times until you have rolled out the dough for two revolutions. If the disc is sticking to the rolling pin, brush it with some flour.

Step 11

The third time around the wrapper, you will only roll over the wrapper halfway before rotating it. This ensures that the center is slightly thicker than the edges so the filling is doesn’t break through the wrapper easily. Do this for 1 to 2 revolutions around the wrapper.

Step 12

For the final revolution, you will only roll over the edges of the dough (about 1/2 inch into the wrapper). The wrapper should be somewhere between 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 inches in diameter. If you are making larger wrappers, the wrapper should roll out to about 3 3/4 inches in diameter.

Step 13

Brush some flour over the wrapper, set it aside, and cover it with a dry towel. Roll out the 4 remaining discs. Once you’ve rolled out 5 wrappers completely, use it to make dumplings.

Step 14

The dumpling wrappers form a crust easily. If you are working by yourself, you don’t want to roll out more than 5 dumpling wrappers at a time.

Step 15

If you want to store the wrappers for later use, roll out the dough. Brush potato starch (or tapioca starch) over all the wrappers before stacking them up. Tightly wrap the stack of wrappers with plastic wrap. Then, transfer them into an air-tight container. You can refrigerate these for up to 2 days or freeze them for up to a month, as long as no freezer burn develops around the wrappers.