Naturally colourful dumplings

Your ingredients

Get ready: Saucepans, blender, fine sieve, four bowls, rolling pin, knife and food thermometer.

• 🍚White wrappers: 150 g plain flour
• 💧White wrappers: 75 ml water
• 🍚Green wrappers: 150 g plain flour
• 🥬Green wrappers: 200 g spinach
• 💧Green wrappers: 200 ml water
• 🍚Orange wrappers: 150 g plain flour
• 🥕Orange wrappers: 250 g carrot
• 💧Orange wrappers: 150 ml water
• 🍚Purple wrappers: 150 g plain flour
• 🥬Purple wrappers: 200 g purple cabbage
• 💧Purple wrappers: 150 ml water
• 🥩Filling: 400 g minced pork
• 🥣Filling: 1 tsp salt
• 🌶️Filling: 1/2 tsp ground Sichuan pepper
• 🥣Filling: 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 🥜Filling: 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 🥣Filling: 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 🥬Filling: 2 tbsp spring onions
• 🥣Filling: 1 tsp minced ginger
• 🦐Filling: 200 g minced prawns
• 🍄Filling: 160 g shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped

Let’s make it

1. Make three vegetable colours

   Briefly blanch spinach and blend, straining out 75 ml green juice, adding water only as needed. Simmer sliced carrot with its water for 5 minutes, blend and take 90 g smooth puree. Simmer chopped red cabbage with its water for 5 minutes and strain 75 ml purple liquid. Cool all three promptly, keeping cooked spinach and carrot solids for filling.

2. Mix four doughs

   Make the white dough with 150 g flour and 75 ml water. Make the green, orange and purple doughs with 150 g flour each and their measured vegetable liquid or puree. Add liquid gradually, knead smooth and rest covered for 40–60 minutes.

3. Mix the filling

   Stir pork with salt, Sichuan pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, spring onion and ginger. Add 5 tbsp water gradually until absorbed. Fold in minced prawns, finely chopped mushrooms and the cooked spinach and carrot left from colouring. Chill.

4. Roll and seal

   Divide each dough into about 20 pieces. Roll thin discs, add a small spoonful filling and fold and seal firmly. Keep unused dough covered and finished dumplings chilled while making batches.

5. Boil in batches

   Bring water to a boil, add dumplings with room to move and stir gently. When boiling again, carefully add 120 ml cold water; repeat this return-to-boil-and-water step twice. Continue until wrappers are cooked and filling centres reach 75°C for 30 seconds.

6. Serve or freeze extras

   Lift out and drain for immediate serving. Freeze uncooked spare dumplings in a single layer promptly, then bag once firm. Cook from frozen, allowing extra time and checking the centres.