Handmade Deflated Rice Dumplings

Handmade Deflated Rice Dumplings

　　Ingredients: 180g glutinous rice flour, 30g non-glutinous rice flour, 60ml boiling water, 50ml cold water, 15 organic Chinese flowering cabbages, 7 black fungus (wood ear mushrooms), 1000ml chicken stock, a little cornstarch for dusting.

Method: 1. Mix glutinous rice flour and non-glutinous rice flour in a bowl, first pour in boiling water and stir, then add cold water and stir; 2. Bring water to a boil in a pot, pinch off 60g of dough, divide into four small pieces, and boil them in water until cooked; 3. Add the cooked dough pieces into the bowl with the mixed flours and knead until smooth and formed into a ball; 4. Roll the dough into a log shape, cut into small pieces, and roll each piece into a round ball with your palms; 5. Lightly dust with a bit of dry glutinous rice flour to coat evenly; 6. Press an indentation in the center of each small ball with your thumb; 7. Wash the Chinese flowering cabbages clean and blanch them in boiling water. Soak the black fungus in warm water, then rinse with flour and cook in the chicken stock for 15 minutes; 8. In another pot, bring water to a boil, cook the small balls until they float to the surface, then rinse with cold water; 9. Put them back into the chicken stock along with the Chinese flowering cabbage and black fungus, and cook for another 2 minutes before serving.

Tips: 1. Adding non-glutinous rice flour gives the dumplings more chewiness; 2. Boiling a small portion of the dough before mixing it back in makes the dumplings stickier; 3. Using flour makes it easier to clean the black fungus; 4. Rinsing the cooked dumplings with cold water prevents them from sticking; 5. Cooking the dumplings in chicken stock enhances their flavor and keeps the broth from becoming greasy; 6. If you don’t have chicken stock, you can substitute it with other broths or clear soup.