Thank you for trying my recipe, Reynold! Freshly boiled water from either a kettle or the stovetop is fine. Pleating soup dumplings is one of the hardest skills in Chinese cooking and really does take a lot of practice. I have a tutorial video that may help, but without seeing your technique it’s difficult to know what’s causing the flap at the end. It takes me about 2 minutes to roll the wrapper and shape each dumpling, but I make them often, so it’s completely normal for it to take much longer when you’re learning. I wouldn’t recommend using a pasta machine, as the dough is much softer than pasta dough and tends to stick to the rollers. And yes, you can absolutely freeze the aspic and use it later. Hope this helps!

My second problem is pleating and shaping. I have found it easier to work on the table rather than in my palm. But either way I end up with a flap at the end. What am I doing wrong? I started by pleating close to the right thumb which did not move much. Now I move the right thumb a fair distance after each pleat, but still not perfect.

My third question deals with the time involved. I reckon I am taking 40 minutes per dumpling — time being used to roll out the flour. I realise now that making the skin is like making pasta, so I will try with my pasta machine, or at least work the flour until it is smooth, oily and flexible. How long should it take on average to make a dumpling?

Finally can I preserve the “soup” by freezing? Otherwise I would have to make them on the morning I have my guests!

I would be grateful if you can help!

Reynold

Yes, it does take practice, and it will get quicker with time. Glad the tips were helpful.

It’s about 250g aspic. Happy cooking!

Hi Tabitha! A 2 kg chicken is considered quite large. Feel free to extend the cooking time so it cooks through properly. Happy cooking!

I’d like to make your recipe, however I am unsure about cooking the chicken for only 1hr. My chicken is 2kg and would usually take roughly 1hr 40mins to cook. Should I cook it to completion or should I still only cook it for 1hr as in your recipe?

All the best,
Tabitha

Thank you for trying my recipe, Matt! Using ramen broth jelly is actually fine, so that part shouldn’t be a problem. It’s more likely that the assembled dumplings sat for a bit too long before steaming. As the filling warms up, the liquid can start to soften the dough, which makes the bottoms weaken and leak during steaming.

Pre-made wrappers like gyoza wrappers aren’t suitable for this recipe, as it would be very difficult to pleat and seal them into Xiao Long Bao.