by nina yu

“WTFun” dumplings are an original idea, inspired by my hungry stomach. Thank you, stomach.

If you’re short on time or too tired to make absolutely everything from scratch (it’s okay, there are those days), hummus, dumpling wrappers, and heck, even cooked chicken, can all be store-bought. Isn’t America amazing? If you choose to buy hummus and dumpling wrappers, you can go ahead and direct your attention to the latter half of the post, as that’s where you’ll find how to construct and cook the dumplings. You’ll be done in 15 minutes, max.

I found out I didn’t own a rolling pin last minute (whoops), and used a cup to roll out the dough instead. So if you’re thinking what the funk is up with those dumpling shapes? I know, I’m thinking the same thing. Trust me, they don’t alter the taste though.

Thank you to my friends Eun Sun, James, and Susie for eating the ones that turned out beyond creatively interesting and into butt ugly. :’) And thanks for letting me share this, Molly!

Hummus

Makes: 2 1/3 cup hummus

Ingredients

4 fresh garlic cloves (fresh makes all the difference!)

4 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)

juice of 2 freshly squeezed lemons

3 tablespoons liquid from the chickpeas

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients.

2. Taste, for seasoning, and set 1.5 cups aside for the filling. Refrigerate remaining hummus as a side dip for the dumplings.

Dumpling Wrappers

Makes: 40 wrappers

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup warm water

Directions:

1. Sift all-purpose flour and salt.

2. Add warm water gradually into the dry ingredients, using a spatula or fork to mix until you can form the mixture into a ball with your hands.

3. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding more water or flour depending on the consistency.

4. Cover and rest the dough at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.

5. Quarter the dough to form 4 logs and cut a total of 40 even pieces.

6. On a lightly floured surface roll out each piece into a 3-inch circle.
7. Dust each wrapper again with flour and stack them up.

TIP: For the logs/dough pieces that aren’t being rolled out yet, cover in plastic wrap to prevent the dough from drying out. Dried out dough is bad. news.

Filling

Makes: Enough for 40 dumplings

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

4 mini (or 2 large) avocados

1 pint grape tomatoes

salt and black pepper, for seasoning

Directions

1. Boil chicken breasts in salted water for 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

2. Meanwhile, dice avocados and tomatoes into small, filling-size pieces.

3. When chicken is cooked through, allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes.

4. Shred chicken into filling-size pieces.

5. Season chicken with black pepper, to taste.

6. Mix chicken, tomatoes, and avocados evenly with 1.5 cups hummus.

TIP: I suggest wearing sanitized dish gloves and shredding the chicken to protect yourself from the heat, as the chicken will still be hot after 5 minutes. To super expedite the process, use scissors to chop into small pieces. 

Dumpling

1. Fill the center of the wrapper with 1 tablespoon filling.

2. Moisten the edges of your wrapper with water, fold to create a semicircle, and seal dumplings tightly. At this point, you can jazz up your dumplings by pleating the edges.

3. Heat a pan with 1/2-1 inch vegetable oil at high heat

4. Fry dumplings for ~1 minute on each side. These bad boys cook fast so make sure you’re distraction free!

TIP: To test whether the oil is ready, stick a wooden chopstick into the middle of the pan. If bubble form around the chopstick, the oil is ready

Get that extra hummus out from the fridge and serve immediately. Enjoy!

-nina yu

this post is part of the dumpling a day while i'm away guest blogger series. i'm in israel right now so i've gotten some awesome bloggers, photographers, and writers, to showcase delicious dumplings. if you're interested in being a dumpling guest blogger, send me a note at yeh.molly@gmail.com. yay!