Recipe printed with permission from Page Street Publishing, 2014. This dough is great for all types of cooking—boiling, steaming, panfrying and deep-frying—and works well with every shape in this book. The hot water or liquid provides elasticity to the dough and shape retention to the wrapper. The dough can be rolled to the desired thickness, depending on how you are using it. The amount of liquid you add will vary depending on the humidity, altitude and so on, but I like to go by feel. Although the dough can easily be made in a food processor, I prefer making it by hand, as I believe over time you can know when the dough is right simply by touch. Both ways work. All-purpose flour works best because it has a medium level of gluten, which will provide body and elasticity without being too tough or chewy. This amount of dough makes 24 large or 32 medium dumplings.
Bring the water to a boil in a small pot over high heat. Remove from the heat and allow the water to sit for 1 minute. Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour ¾ cup (175 ml) of the hot water and the sesame oil into the well and stir with a wooden spoon until well incorporated with the flour. Add more water by the teaspoon as necessary to make the dough come together; there will be small lumpy pieces but the dough should not be sticky. Gently bring the warm dough together in the bowl by kneading the pieces until you get a large mass.
If using a food processor, place the flour and salt in the bowl and turn the machine on, adding the hot water and oil to the flour in a thin, steady stream until it is all incorporated. Stop the food processor immediately and check that the dough has come together and is soft and pliable. If it is too dry, add water by the teaspoonful, pulsing the food processor, until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead into a uniform, soft, smooth mass, about 30 seconds to a minute for machine-made dough and 2 to 3 minutes for handmade dough. The dough will be smooth and elastic and feel very dense but pliable. It should not be sticky at all and bounces back slowly when you press your finger into it, leaving a shallow impression of your finger.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or place in a resealable plastic bag. Allow the dough to rest for at least 15 minutes and up to 3 hours at room temperature. At this point you can make your wrappers or refrigerate your dough for up to 2 days. Before using, allow your dough to warm up to room temperature, as it will be easier to manipulate.