How to cook frozen dumplings: boiled, steamed and pan-fried

Boiled — the most forgiving

1. 1 Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Large matters: too little water drops below boiling the moment the dumplings go in.
2. 2 Add the dumplings and stir once, gently, so they do not settle onto the base.
3. 3 When the water returns to a boil and the dumplings float, cook 2 more minutes. Total is usually 8 to 10 minutes from frozen.
4. 4 Lift them out with a slotted spoon rather than draining into a colander, which stacks them and tears the skins.

The traditional Chinese check is to add a cup of cold water each time the pot returns to a boil, three times. It moderates the temperature so the filling cooks through before the wrapper softens too far — worth doing for thicker-skinned dumplings.

Steamed — the gentlest

1. 1 Line the basket. Parchment with holes cut in it, cabbage leaves, or a silicone mat — anything but bare bamboo or metal, which the wrapper glues itself to and tears when you lift it.
2. 2 Space them a finger apart. They swell, and two that touch become one.
3. 3 Steam over water at a steady simmer, 10 to 12 minutes from frozen.
4. 4 Lift the lid away from yourself and away from the dumplings, so the condensation on it does not rain onto them.

Steaming is the most forgiving on timing: a minute long is slightly dry, not ruined. It is also the only method that keeps a delicate wrapper fully intact, which is why it is the right one for anything thin-skinned.

Pan-fried — the one everybody wants

This is the potsticker method, and it is a sequence rather than a single action: fry, add water, cover, uncover. The crisp base and the steamed top come from two different phases of the same three minutes of attention.

1. 1 Heat a tablespoon of neutral oil in a non-stick or well-seasoned pan over medium-high until it just shimmers.
2. 2 Place the dumplings flat side down, not touching. Fry 2 to 3 minutes until the base is properly brown — pale gold is not far enough.
3. 3 Add 60 to 80 ml of water and cover immediately. It will spit; the lid goes on in the same motion.
4. 4 Steam covered 6 to 8 minutes, until the water is gone.
5. 5 Uncover and let the last of the moisture cook off, 1 to 2 minutes, so the base re-crisps. Serve base up.

Timings at a glance

How to tell they are done

• The wrapper turns from opaque white to slightly translucent and glossy.
• A boiled dumpling floats and then stays up for a couple of minutes.
• The safest check is the honest one: cut one open. Chicken, beef and shrimp fillings should show no translucency at the centre.

Storage

• Keep them at −18°C and cook from frozen. Refreezing a thawed bag costs both texture and safety.
• Bring them home in an insulated bag if the drive is more than twenty minutes in an Amman summer.
• If they have frozen into one block, that bag was thawed and refrozen at some point — separate what you can and cook it all at once.