DIY Dumpling Night for Lunar New Year

Last year, Chinese-American artist Alyssa Yang created a series of event posters for Partiful as part of our community initiative. One of those posters is inspired by Alyssa’s own dumpling parties, and features a warm color palette, Lao Gan Ma chili oil, and many hands chopping and assembling dumplings. With Lunar New Year around the corner, we talked to Alyssa about how she plans to celebrate and got the inside scoop on how to host your very own dumpling making party. Full recipe at the end!

Send out a fun Lunar New Year party invitation

Check out our LNY posters for inspo, including one made by Alyssa herself!

Set the Scene

Red decorations are traditional for the new year. Lanterns, candles, twinkle lights, pink carnations, mandarin oranges, sandalwood incense are all a good place to start. You can order these online or hit up your local Chinatown for cheap paper goods.

Prepare Dumpling Stations

You’ll need the following stations to efficiently put your friends to work. The full recipe is at the end of this article, but these are the stations you’ll want to prep:

1. Chopping - cleaver or kitchen knife, cutting board

2. Mixing - large mixing bowls

3. Wrapping - little bowls of water, baking sheets

4. Boiling - big pot and a timer

5. Frying - pan

6. Sauce - small mixing bowl

Serve a Welcome Drink

When guests arrive, meet them with a drink. Alyssa recommends Moutai, a fancy Chinese white liquor made from fermented red sorghum and water from the Chishui River.

Learn the Art of Dumpling Folding

Once all your guests have arrived, show this dumpling folding tutorial on your TV, or Text Blast the video out in advance to teach your guests how to fold. There are many ways to fold dumplings, but this tutorial is good for beginners. Expert tip: it’s better to under-fill them than to overfill.

Get to Work at Your Stations

The chopping station is mundane yet therapeutic, the boiling station is good for those who are nervous in the kitchen, and the folding station will have the most people involved. You can get creative here and have a contest for most chaotic dumpling design. e.g. empanada-style, micro dumplings, rose-shaped, or mega dumplings 😁

Enjoy your feast!

If you’re looking for additional activities to entertain guests before the food comas take them out, consider bringing mahjong, card games, or a lantern crafting station.

新年快樂! (Happy New Year)

Host your own Lunar New Year Party

Cai Family Dumpings

makes ~ 40 dumplings

Ingredients
1 lb ground pork
0.5 lb shrimp
1 egg
1 cup napa cabbage, minced finely
1 cup shiitake mushroom, minced finely
1-2 stalks green onion, sliced finely
1 pack of dumpling skins
1 tbsp sesame oil (or to taste)
1.5 tbsp soy sauce (or to taste)
0.5 tbsp ginger, minced finely
dash of white peppers
dash of sugar

Recipe

1. Prep

• Put on some good music and delegate tasks with friends

• Set up large mixing bowl for filling, small dish of water for folding, and a pot or pan to cook

• Prep meat: devein shrimp if needed, mince finely and combine with ground pork in a mixing bowl

• Add the rest of the ingredients (egg, ginger, soy sauce, white pepper, sugar, napa cabbage, shiitake mushroom, green onion, add sesame oil last)

• Mix together, stirring in one direction

• Optional: you can take a tiny ball of the mixture and microwave briefly until cooked through to taste flavor. all seasonings and ingredients can be adjusted to taste

2. Fold

• Take a dumpling skin, hold in the palm of your hand, add a small spoonful of filling to the center

• Dip finger in small dish of water so its just a little wet, and use finger to wet a “dot” in the middle of the edge of dumpling skin furthest from you (this helps seal the dumpling skin)

• Alyssa folds dumplings this way but there are many ways to do it, so have fun but make sure its sealed properly so it doesn’t leak when cooking!

3. Cook

• Boiled dumplings: bring a medium/large pot of water to boil, put dumplings in, stir to prevent sticking, and cook until dumplings are floating (~6-8 min)

• Fried dumplings: heat up oil on the pan, add dumplings in a single layer until golden brown/crispy, then pour in a 1/2 cup of water (this will splatter a bit so shield yourself/be careful), and cover with lid immediately to steam the dumplings until the water cooks off

4. Enjoy!

• Finish with a dipping sauce of your liking. Alyssa’s go to is a spoonful of Lao Gan Ma chili oil, dash of sesame oil, dash of sugar, equal parts vinegar:soy sauce, fresh minced garlic and green onion slices.