Homemade Jiaozi

A couple weekends ago, about 45 minutes after my exciting wedding adventure (which I was told would end 3 or 4 hours sooner!), some friends came over to my apartment to make jiaozi, or Chinese dumplings. First we went to RenRenLe, the supermarket near my house, and bought the necessary ingredients: beef, green vegetables, flour, and lots of sauces. When we got back to my house, several of us cut the greens into tiny pieces, added them to the meat, and mixed them together with the different sauces, while the others made the dough of flour and water for the outside.

The dough was really dense, so it took a lot of hand strength to knead it.

After rolling the dough into a long tube, we used a huge knife to cut 1/2 inch wide hunks of dough (on the cutting board above). Then, using the rolling pin, each little cylinder was rolled into a thin circle, in which we put the meat and vegetable filling. Finally, we folded the dough around the meat, sealing it all together, and boiled it. After a long process and lots of work, we were able to enjoy the final product dipped in some yummy sauces!

taste-testing partway through! And finally, dinner time! Well worth the wait.