DUMPLINGS

THIN SHEETS OF PASTA CAN BE USED TO wrap any number of fillings for quick Asian dumplings. Our first question about dumplings concerned the wrapper. Is homemade better than store-bought? We made our own and found the process unbearably tedious. We also found that store-bought wrappers deliver better results. They are moisture-free and much easier to work with than homemade wrappers, which stuck to pots and cooked up gummy in our tests. Buying wrappers allows you to concentrate on making a filling and dipping sauce.

Wrappers, more specifically referred to as wonton wrappers or wonton skins, are delicate and paper-thin, usually about 1/32 of an inch. They are typically packed in 3-inch squares and made from flour, eggs, and salt. Wonton wrappers are sold fresh in the refrigerator case and can be frozen for several months if not used in a week or so. If you decide to freeze them, do so in small batches, since they cannot be separated from each other until completely thawed and, once thawed, do not take well to refreezing. We found that wrappers will thaw to room temperature in an hour or two.

The quality of wrappers varies from brand to brand, and we found thickness to be the most important variable. Look for at least 50 wrappers per pound to make sure the skins you are buying are not too thick. Brands with fewer wrappers per pound will cook up thick and doughy.

Dumplings can be boiled, steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried. Boiling allows the wrappers to absorb plenty of moisture and expand as they cook. It also keeps the exterior especially moist and tender and is the best choice if the dumplings are to be floated in a bowl of soup.

Steaming yields moist but resilient dumplings with chewy skins. Unlike boiling, we found that steaming does not dilute the flavors in the filling and is a better choice for protecting delicate ingredients. If making dumplings to serve as an appetizer, we prefer steaming to boiling.

We tested deep-frying and found that this method yields crisp, tasty dumplings with an appealing golden color. And, because fried dumplings brown, they develop a natural sweetness from the caramelization, something that does not happen when dumplings are boiled or steamed. Of course, deep-frying dumplings is messy.

Somewhere between deep-frying and steaming is pan-frying, which combines two cooking methods and retains the advantages of both. The dumplings are first browned in hot oil in a skillet and then steamed to tenderness. We found it best to sauté them a second time, after they are steamed, to make sure the bottoms are nice and crisp. Pan-fried dumplings, also called potstickers, must have at least one flat side for browning.

With our cooking methods chosen, we focused on the shapes best suited to each. We also wanted to find shapes that were easy to assemble. Pyramids are ideal for pan-frying because they have a flat bottom that becomes crisp. Among similar shapes, we find they are the easiest to assemble.

Pyramids work well for steaming, but they take up a lot of room in the steamer basket. We wondered if a smaller shape would work as well. While the wonton shape seemed best for soup, it looked a little odd on an appetizer plate. The tortellini shape was appealing on two counts: its compact size makes it possible to fit many in a steamer basket at one time, and its shape stands up well to cooking and serving.

We tested three ways to seal dumplings—brushing the edges with beaten egg, brushing the edges with water, and leaving the edges alone and hoping the dough would be tacky enough to seal on its own. We quickly discovered that dumplings need a moist sealant to keep them from opening up when cooked. Water was less messy than egg and worked beautifully; you can moisten the edges with your fingertip or a small brush.

Should you want to hold dumplings before serving, we found that they can sit refrigerated on a baking sheet for several hours. Line the baking sheet with parchment or wax paper, but don't try to flour the sheet; when we tried this, the flour made the dumplings gummy when cooked. And don't cover the baking sheet. When we covered it with plastic wrap, the wrappers got moist on the bottom and stuck to the tray. Although the uncovered dumplings dried out a bit, overall the results were better.

If you want to hold the dumplings for longer than a few hours, they must be frozen or will become soggy. Freeze the dumplings on a paper-lined baking sheet and then transfer them to an airtight container to prevent freezer burn. We found it best to cook frozen dumplings straight from the freezer. Add two to three minutes to the cooking time (pyramids will need the full three minutes).