Recipe printed with permission from Page Street Publishing, 2014. This basic dumpling dough is great for all types of cooking—boiling, steaming, panfrying and deep-frying—and works well with every shape in this book.
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.