Freezer Dumplings

Pulse 360 g all-purpose flour and 5 ml salt in a food processor. With the motor running, add 1 large egg through the feed tube, then 225 ml cold water, and let it run about a minute.

Tip the dough into a bowl, cover with a tea towel and rest 30 min while you make the filling.

Put 450 g extra-lean ground beef and 450 g lean ground pork in a large bowl with 10 ml salt and 5 ml black pepper.

Blend 2 onions, 4 cloves garlic, ½ bunch flat-leaf parsley, ½ bunch dill and 125 ml water in the food processor to a loose green purée. Add it to the meat.

Work the filling with your hands until it is evenly mixed and slightly sticky.

Pinch off a small piece, flatten it and fry it in a hot pan until cooked through. Taste and add more salt or pepper to the filling if it needs it.

Cut the dough into quarters and shape each into a ball. Keep three covered while you work with the first.

On a well floured surface, roll one ball into a thin sheet about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) thick.

Cut out rounds with a 5 cm (2 in) to 7 cm (2 ¾ in) cutter. Gather the scraps, wrap them and re-roll them with the next ball.

Put a teaspoon of filling slightly off centre on each round, fold over into a half moon and pinch the edge firmly shut. For a prettier edge, go round once more, pinching and twisting into a rope.

Bring the two pointed corners together around your fingertip and press them so each dumpling forms a round little ear. Set them on a floured tray, not touching. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling to make 120 pelmeni.

Bring 4 l water for boiling to a rolling boil with salt for the water and 2 leaves bay leaves. Drop in the pelmeni in batches and stir straight away so they do not stick to the bottom. Once they float, cook 3 min to 5 min more.

Lift them out with a slotted spoon, pour over 30 ml butter, melted and toss gently. Serve hot with sour cream (smetana), to serve, chopped dill or parsley, to serve and a little white vinegar, for dipping for dipping.

Put 500 g floury potatoes in a pot, cover with cold water, add salt for the potato water and bring to a boil. Cook until completely tender.

Drain, return to the pot and mash thoroughly while still hot until there are no lumps at all.

Meanwhile, melt 30 ml butter in a frying pan over medium heat and fry 300 g large onion slowly until soft and golden.

Crush 300 g full-fat twaróg (Polish farmer's cheese) with a fork and mix it into the potatoes with the onion and its butter, 2.5 ml salt and 2.5 ml ground black pepper. Taste and adjust. Leave the filling to cool completely.

Sift 500 g all-purpose flour and 2.5 ml salt onto the work surface and make a well in the middle.

Pour in 60 ml canola oil and a little of 250 ml hot water. Work it into the flour, adding the rest of the water gradually, and knead until the dough is soft and elastic.

Cover with an upturned bowl and let it relax while you finish the filling.

Cut the dough into a few pieces, keeping the rest covered, and roll one piece out thinly, about 2 mm (0.08 in). Stamp out rounds with a glass.

Put a spoonful of filling in the middle of each round, fold the dough over into a half moon and press the edges firmly together. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling to make 55 pierogi.

Bring 4 l water for boiling to a boil with salt for the water, then lower the heat to a steady simmer. Drop in five to seven pierogi at a time and cook until they float, then lift out with a slotted spoon.

Melt 30 ml butter in a large frying pan and cook 1 onion until lightly browned.

Add the boiled pierogi to the pan and fry, turning, until golden in spots. Serve topped with the buttery onion.

Mix 500 g all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting and 6 ml kosher salt (a heaping teaspoon) in a large bowl and make a well. Pour in 250 g ice-cold water, plus more as needed and 15 ml neutral oil and stir with a spoon, drawing in the flour, until you have a shaggy mass.

Knead on a well floured surface for 10 min to 15 min, adding flour if it gets sticky.

Cover with a damp towel and rest 30 min to 45 min.

Pulse 1 onion, 235 ml cilantro, leaves and stems and 30 ml parsley, leaves and stems in a food processor until finely chopped.

Put 225 g ground beef and 225 g ground pork in a large bowl with the onion and herbs, 5 ml red pepper flakes, 3.5 ml ground cumin and 10 ml kosher salt. Knead with your hand until evenly mixed.

Work in 165 ml cold water (a scant measure) a little at a time, kneading well after each addition until it is absorbed. Leave the filling to stand 10 min to 15 min.

Cut the dough in two, keeping one half covered. Roll the other into a large round about 6 mm (¼ in) thick; leave it on the thick side, since each piece is rolled again.

Stamp out rounds with a 8 cm (3 ⅛ in) to 9 cm (3 ½ in) glass, and add the scraps to the covered dough. Roll each round out to 11 cm (4 ⅓ in) to 14 cm (5 ½ in) across.

Put a generous spoonful of filling in the centre of a round. Bring one edge up over the filling and, working clockwise, keep folding the dough into overlapping pleats until the filling is completely enclosed.

Pinch the neck hard and twist the pleats while turning the dumpling the other way, tugging the knot up slightly to leave a little space above the filling. Keep the finished khinkali under a damp cloth. Repeat with the rest to make about 20.

Bring 5 l water for boiling to a boil with salt for the water. Lower in about ten khinkali, topknots down, and shake the pot so they do not stick; then leave them alone. Once the water returns to the boil, cook 10 min to 12 min.

Lift out with a slotted spoon, grind plenty of freshly ground black pepper, to serve over them and serve at once, with butter or sour cream, to serve if you like, while the next batch cooks.

Cut the thick core out of 340 g green cabbage, slice the leaves into 1 cm (⅜ in) strips, then chop crosswise until very fine. Go over the thick white ribs again until they are minced.

Rub 5 ml Diamond Crystal kosher salt into the cabbage with your hands and leave it in a bowl to wilt while you prepare everything else.

Mince 2 scallions and 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms. Grate 5 ml fresh ginger with its juice and press 2 cloves garlic.

Put 225 g ground pork in a large bowl with the scallions, shiitake, ginger and garlic, 10 ml sake, 10 ml toasted sesame oil, 10 ml soy sauce and 0.6 ml black pepper. Knead by hand until the mixture turns pale and sticky.

Squeeze the cabbage hard by the handful to get rid of its water, add it to the pork and knead until evenly mixed.

Set out a small bowl of 30 ml water, for sealing and a baking sheet lined with parchment or dusted with 30 ml potato starch or cornstarch, for dusting the tray. Keep 52 round gyoza wrappers covered with a damp towel at all times.

Hold a wrapper in your palm, put a level tablespoon of filling in the centre and press it flat to push out air. Wet the outer 6 mm (¼ in) of the wrapper all the way round with a fingertip.

Fold the wrapper in half and pinch it together at the top centre. On each side of the centre, fold three or four pleats about 6 mm (¼ in) apart into the front half, pressing each firmly onto the back half.

Give the dumpling a final squeeze along the seam, then press the bottom flat so it stands upright. Set it on the tray under plastic wrap and fold the rest. Makes 52 gyoza.

Heat the frying pan over medium heat, then add 15 ml neutral oil, per pan. Brush any starch off the bottoms of the gyoza.

Arrange the gyoza flat side down in a single layer, in a circle or rows, not quite touching. Fry until the bottoms are golden and release from the pan.

Pour in 59 ml water, per pan, cover immediately and steam until most of the water has gone. Frozen gyoza need 1 min to 2 min longer.

Uncover and cook until the last of the water evaporates, about 1 min. Drizzle 5 ml toasted sesame oil, per pan around the gyoza and fry until the bottoms are deep golden and crisp.

For each person, mix a quarter of the 59 ml soy sauce and 59 ml unseasoned rice vinegar in a small dish with a few drops of 2.5 ml la-yu (Japanese chili oil). Serve the gyoza crisp side up straight from the pan.