How to Shape Asian Dumplings That Won’t Fall Apart | America's Test Kitchen (2024)

This is Technique #79 from our 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.

Each technique is broken into three sections: why it works, key steps, and recipes that use it. Learn these recipe building blocks and you'll be set up for a lifetime of cooking success.

Homemade dumplings can fall apart for a number of different reasons, or any combination of them.

1. Often they burst during cooking because they have too much filling for the amount of dough.
2. Some doughs are too dry, so the dumplings won’t stay sealed.
3. Others can be too wet and sticky and end up tearing.
4. If the filling isn’t cohesive enough, it will tumble out when you bite into it.
5. If there’s air trapped in the sealed dumpling, it will balloon during cooking, causing an explosive first bite.

Our shaping methods and foolproof recipe will make you feel capable rather than clumsy, with a supple-but-not-sticky dough and a juicy, cohesive filling, and with both elements used in the best proportion to each other.

To make wrapper dough that’s moist but not sticky, you need only two ingredients: all-purpose flour and boiling water. Boiling water hydrates the starch in flour faster than cold water does, and it makes the gluten network looser and less prone to snapping back and unsealing.

And for a pork-veggie filling that’s compact, cohesive, and moist—but not dense or wet—mix the meat vigorously to release myosin, a sticky meat protein that helps the filling hold together.

The simplest way to form a dumpling is to fold a half-circle, so if you’ve never done it, you may want to start with that. The classic approach is to pleat the wrapper so that the dumpling curves and is stable enough to stand up and brown on its flat side.

Traditionally, you gather one side of the wrapper into a series of pleats and seal them to the other side, which remains flat. We devised a simpler two-pleat method that achieves the appearance, functionality, and security of a properly sealed crescent with far greater ease.

Ready to learn another technique? Choose from our list of 100 Techniques Every Home Cook Can Master.