Making dumplings is serious business in my family. Frankly, I am rarely a part of the process, except when it comes to eating them, because my skills are far below the standard set by my parents.
The dumpling plan is usually made ahead of time, on a Friday night, when my dad announces, we’re making dumplings tomorrow. It means that the goal of the next day is defined, and my mom needs to put down whatever she’s working on, just to focus on the dumplings.
The whole process takes half a day on a weekend. It starts with going to the market to shop for fresh ingredients, making the dough, resting the dough (twice), making the wrappers, wrapping the dumplings, then boiling them. After 3 hours’ hard work, it takes just 10 minutes for me to eat them all.
The whole process is always ritualistic, quite formal and serious.
We always make the same fillings, for example, the classic pork and cabbage filling and my family’s secret lamb filling. Every single suggestion to change the filling is rejected by my dad, because it’s not as good as the ones we usually make. Looking back, I’m a little astonished, myself, that I’ve been eating just three types of dumplings growing up, for almost 30 years.
It blew my mind when I discovered pizza-flavored steamed buns at 7-Eleven in Japan. The chicken, melted cheese, and tomato sauce filling was nothing like the dumplings I recognized. I ate them almost every morning before going to school.
Today I want to share my latest discovery – a spinach and ricotta filled Nepali style momo from the Chinatown issue of Peddler Journal. Peddler Journal is a vegetarian, multi-cultural food journal by Hetty McKinnon, an Australian Chinese lady who lives in New York City. She is the author of the bestselling cookbooks Community and Neighborhood and the owner of Arthur Street Kitchen. Flipping through the beautiful magazine, I was fascinated by the stories written by authors from totally different backgrounds but who shared the same obsession towards certain foods.
I had my first Nepali style momos in a Tibetan restaurant when I was traveling in India. The filling was paneer and spinach, dipped in a hot sauce. Simple, yet so delicious.
I wrapped these dumplings with a homemade dough because I was practicing a new type of wrapping method. But I did use a KitchenAid mixer to knead the dough, and a biscuit cutter to cut the wrappers. And of course, you can use store-bought wrappers and cut the prep time tremendously.
Despite all the shortcuts, it still took me quite a while to finish cooking. I was exhausted at the end and told my husband, “Sometimes I forget why people go to all this trouble to make dumplings.” But when I bit into a dumpling, all my doubt disappeared and it was totally an “OMG” moment, to appreciate how good these dumplings are. Strangely, although these dumplings are quite different from the same ol’ type that I ate growing up, it felt like home.
I had my first Nepali style momos in a Tibetan restaurant when I was traveling in India. The filling was paneer and spinach, dipped in a hot sauce. Simple, yet so delicious.
More dumpling recipes
- How to Make Chinese Dumplings from Scratch (water boiled dumplings)
- How to Make Steamed Dumplings from Scratch
- Addictive Kimchi Pork Steamed Bun
- Carrot Dumplings
- Chinese Beef Dumplings
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Nepali Momos with Spinach and Ricotta
Ingredients
- 5 cups (140 g) baby spinach leaves
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- 3/4 cup (220 g) ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese , grated
- 2 green onions , finely sliced
- 1 tablespoon butter , melted (or ghee)
- 3/8 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 20 round dumplings wrappers (or homemade wrappers)
Instructions
- Add the spinach leaves and garlic into a large skillet. Swirl in a splash of water and sprinkle salt on the spinach. Cover and cook over medium heat until the spinach is wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a plate and set aside to cool. When it has cooled enough to handle, squeeze out the excess water. Chop the spinach into 1/8-inch (0.5-cm) pieces.
- Add the chopped spinach, ricotta, parmesan cheese, green onion, garlic, salt, a few turns of black pepper, and butter into a medium-size bowl. Stir to mix well.
- Hold a dumpling wrapper in one hand. Scoop about 2 teaspoons (or less, so you can easily fold the dumpling) of dumpling filling and place it in the center of the wrapper. Start sealing the edges with the other hand (refer to the video to see how to fold a dumpling). After folding, press the edge again to seal it well. You can use any method to fold the dumplings, as long as you’re comfortable with it.
- Place the dumplings onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or onto a lightly floured cutting board. Cover with a clean damp cheesecloth (or a few layers of paper towel) to prevent the dumplings from drying out.
- Line a steamer with parchment paper or a damp cheesecloth. Transfer the momos into the steamer, one finger’s width apart from each other. (*Foonote 1)
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, place the steaming rack on top. Steam for 10 minutes.
- Serve hot with dumpling dipping sauce.
Notes
- You can make potstickers using this recipe as well. Grease a nonstick pan with a thin layer of oil, heat over medium heat until hot, spread the dumplings and pour in 2 tablespoons water. Cook covered until the dumpling skin is cooked throug, 2 to 3 minutes.
Nutrition
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Muhammed halimat
I like the Chinese recipes
Ron
Wow, East meats Italy. Never though of using ricotta in dumplings. It sounds wonderful. We love dumplings and make them often. This one’s going to be made and eaten soon. Thanks for the lovely post.
dixya @food, pleasure, and health
being a Nepali myself, I am so with you on the ritual of dumplings. i have ye to try this version and i cant wait to try it. i love the way you wrapped it, cant wait try!
Maggie
I hope these dumplings will be approved by you! Happy cooking and let me know how the dumplings turn out 🙂