Jiaozi (Dumplings) … Almost from Scratch

1. In a food processor, combine coriander, celery, and flax seeds. Blend.
2. In a big mixing bowl, combine blended ingredients with the rest of the other ingredients (except for the dumpling wrappers and dipping sauce ingredients).
3. If you’re up for it, make the filling the night before and stick it in the fridge. This way, the flavours seep in more.

Once the filling is ready:

1. Have a shallow bowl of water on hand.
2. Dust a baking sheet (or wherever you’ll be putting the dumplings on before you cook them) with flour.
3. Start scooping a teaspoonful of the filling onto the dumpling wrapper. Fold the wrapper over, so that the filling is covered. Before “sealing” the dumpling, dip your finger into the bowl of water and slightly wet the edges of the wrapper so that it will seal better.
4. You can either wait to finish wrapping all the dumplings before you cook them, or you could cook them in batches.

Cooking the dumplings:

1. Boil some water in a big pot. Add a couple of drops of oil so that the dumplings will not stick together. If you prefer, you could use chicken or vegetable broth, too.
2. Once the water is boiling, drop in the dumplings. How many dumplings you drop in will depend on the size of your pot. You wouldn’t want to drop in too many at one time, lest they end up sticking to each other. I usually drop about a dozen each time.
3. When the dumplings float up, you can scoop them out. Drain. They’re now ready to serve. (I usually let them float for 1 to 2 minutes before I scoop them out, though.) Serve dumplings with dipping sauce on the side.

To make the dipping sauce, just mix all the dipping sauce ingredients together. Easy-peasy.