Daddy Daughter Dumpling Day!

Can you believe that I started this blog over a year ago? Happy blogiversary to me!!!!! You might remember that my first blog post was about going out for ramen with my dad. So for year two, I'm starting with my dad again and more Asian food!

My dad surprised me with a VERY special activity. We went and took a dumpling-making class together at the restaurant Mei Mei. Mei mei means "little sister" in Mandarin. It was started by a gentleman named Andy. But he needed help and when he asked his two little sisters, they said yes, but only if he named it after them. I like that their family is a brother and two younger sisters just like another family I know!!!!! If Henry ever starts a restaurant, I'm DEFINITELY going to make him name it after me!

I liked calling our outing Daddy Daughter Dumpling Day. I learned that alliteration is what it is called when a sequence of words starts with the same letters or sounds. Daddy Daughter Dumpling Day is a perfect example and the alliteration makes the words fun to say!!

When we first got to Mei Mei, we had some snacks. My favorite was the sweet corn fritters. They were crunchy on the outside but soft and crumbly on the inside.

The maple dip that they came with was delicious!

We also had scallion pancake bites. I really liked the little bite size. They were very crunchy with lots of umami.

Mei Mei uses lots of locally sourced ingredients, and I think that helps make the food taste better because the ingredients are fresher plus it's better for the environment if it doesn't have to travel far. It is good to know where your food is coming from and it's also good for your community to give local farmers business.

After our snacks, it was dumpling making time! First we all had to wash our hands. Then we got gloves and made our first dumpling filling. It was made with ground pork, cabbage, ginger, garlic and scallions. It was all chopped up for us and we just had to mix it all together.

The gloves were way too big for me, but I liked having them anyway so that my hands didn't get all messy.

Then they put out dumpling wrappers and bowls of water. The first step was to take a wrapper and put water around the edges with two fingers. Then you put some filling in the middle, but not so much, or it won't close. Then you fold it in half and pinch the edges together so that it looks like a half-moon. If it won't squeeze shut all the way, you can add more water.

This is my cooking station with my wrappers and water all ready to go!

Here's a video of exactly how I did it!

We also made a second dumpling filling with cooked potatoes, vegetable scraps, and sharp cheddar cheese. Once we had our second filling, we learned how to make my favorite dumpling shape, which was a rose! Does anyone remember why that would be my favorite?! (HINT: You can find the answer in my Austin blog post.)

To make the roses, you have to start with wrappers that you line up and layer on top of each other and connect the edges with water. You can do as many as you want, but I did three.

Then you put filling on in a straight line and fold the wrappers in half the long way, so that it looks like a snake. Then you roll it all up and add some water at the end to help it stick when you pinch it together.

This is what it looks like in the end!

Doesn't this look like a rose?

Once the dumplings are made, you heat oil in a pan. Then you put the dumplings in to brown the bottoms and add a little bit of water and cover quickly with a lid, so that they steam. After a few minutes you check that they're browned enough and then put them on a plate and enjoy!

I loved Daddy Daughter Dumpling Day and cannot wait to make dumplings at home!!