It’s a September day and in the tiny apartment across the park and across the river everything should be alright. The weather is cool and family has come by to visit, there is laughter but there is also frustrated anger. That day was the first day I made dumpling dough. It should have been simple enough, it should have gone smoothly. But, my dough had come out too sticky and I had misplaced my rolling pin and my shirt was covered in flour and it was highly likely my face was too. Dumpling dough really only needs a couple of ingredients: flour, water, salt, and a bit of oil. No butter to work with, which meant I didn’t need to make sure things weren’t too hot or too cold. No yeast or baking soda so I didn’t have to worry about too much or too little but here I was, staring at my mess of dough, silently wishing I hadn’t even made it in the first place.
When I first made the dough I began searching up a recipe but my mom said to me I shouldn’t need it and to just use your heart to guide you. That was my first mistake. I didn’t have decades of experience like my mom and unlike other dishes, I typically made there wasn’t a point of reference. At first, it was going quite well but soon I had more dough on my hands than in the bowl. My little cousin came by at one point and promptly smashed all the rolled-out dough I had made into one mountain before I could stop him. At that moment I wanted to never make dumpling dough again. When we cooked my dumplings they broke apart and it was the first time in a while I felt so hopeless. I never made dumpling dough from scratch again.
Until a week ago. This time I searched up a recipe and I watched a couple of videos. I was craving dumplings and decided “You know? Why not?” I searched for a recipe and began mixing. I kneaded and kneaded and then waited and waited. And at first, I was back to that September day. The dough was shaggy and didn’t seem like it would ever come together. But eventually, it did and it turned out I just needed some patience and to give the dough some love, that’s a life lesson if I’ve ever heard of one. We filled it with some pork and various Chinese vegetables and sauces and boiled them up and a day of work never felt so rewarding.
