* Total cooking time: about one hour - ten minutes to make the dough and 50 to assemble and cook the dumplings.

* Makes three dozen dumplings, approximately three servings.

Dumpling dough

1 1/2 cups (7.75 oz/225g) dumpling flour.

About 1/2 cup/120mm cold water.

About 1 1/2 cups dumpling filling (see recipe below).

Pork and chive filling

6oz/180g fatty ground pork.

2 tablespoons of soy sauce.

2 tablespoons of Chinese rice wine or dry sherry.

1/2 teaspoon of sugar.

1/8 teaspoon of salt.

1/3 cup/80ml water or cold broth.

2 teaspoons of vegetable oil.

2 cups/3 oz/80g of finely chopped garlic chives.

Dipping sauce

Soy sauce, black vinegar and red chili mixed to taste.

To make the filling

Combine the pork, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar and salt in a medium-sized bowl. Use a fork, chopsticks, or spatula to stir the ingredients together clockwise (do not change stirring direction) until the mixture is smooth like a paste. Gradually add water in three stages, stirring clockwise until each addition is well-combined and the liquid is emulsified. Stir in the oil in same manner. Finally, stir in the chives until well-combined then chill until ready to use.

To make the dumplings

Put the flour into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in half a cup of cold water. Stir slowly with chopsticks or a wooden spoon, moving from the centre towards the rim to work in all the flour. Add more water by the teaspoonful until most has been used. Keep stirring until a ragged, soft mass forms then use your fingers to gather and pat the dough together into a ball.

Transfer the dough to a work surface (you shouldn't need sprinkled flour on the work surface if the dough is properly made) and knead for about five minutes or until smooth. It should be fingertip-soft and slightly elastic. Keep kneading for a minute or two until the dough no longer sticks to your fingers - if it does, work in a sprinkling of flour. Press a finger into the dough - it should spring back with a faint indentation remaining.

Transfer the dough to a plastic bag, seal it and let it stand covered for at least ten minutes. If you don’t need the dough immediately, cover and refrigerate it until needed for up to a day. To wrap the dumplings, take half the dough and leave the other half covered.

Gently roll out the first half on a work surface until it is about 12 inches/30cm long and 3/4 inch/2cm in diameter. Cut the roll crosswise into 18 (2/3-inch/1 1/2 cm) pieces, rolling the tube gently between cuts to keep it round.

Form the dumplings by holding a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Use chopsticks or a spoon to centre about two teaspoonfuls of filling on the wrapper, pressing down gently and keeping one-half to three-fourths of an inch of the dough clear on all sides.

Use the thumb of the hand cradling the dough to push down the filling while the fingers of the other hand pull up the edges and pinch them together. Pinch the center of the dumpling first to seal, then pinch the remaining edges to enclose the filling completely.

Position the dumpling so the sealed edge rests against the palm and along your first finger. Cup your other hand around the dumpling hand, bring your thumbs together and press firmly to seal the edge.

Place the dumplings, pinched side up, on a floured baking sheet or tray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling, covering and refrigerating them as they are made.

Boil the dumplings by bringing a large pan of unsalted water to a boil over a high heat. Add half the dumplings and stir slowly, using the back of a ladle or large spoon to gently release any dumplings stuck to the bottom. When the water comes to a full boil, add a cup of tepid water to the pan, stir gently and return to the boil. Repeat twice. The dumplings are ready when they have been boiled three times and float to the surface.

Carefully lift the dumplings out with a slotted spoon into shallow bowls. Boil the remaining dumplings in a second batch. You can chose to save the dumpling water to serve at the end of the meal.

Serve the dumplings seasoned with black vinegar, soy sauce or hot red pepper.

Pan-fried dumpling variation 

Wrap dumplings as directed above.

To pan-fry dumplings heat some vegetable oil in a ten-inch/25cm nonstick frying pan over a moderately high heat until it is hot but not smoking. Then arrange the dumplings, seam-side up, in a tight, spiral pattern in the centre of the frying pan.

Arrange the remaining dumplings along the outer edge (they should touch one another) then fry for two to three minutes until the bottoms are pale golden. Add 1/2 cup/120ml water, tilting the frying pan to distribute evenly, then cover tightly with a lid and cook for seven to ten minutes until the liquid has evaporated and the bottoms of the dumplings are crisp and golden (use a spatula to loosen and lift edges to check bottoms).

Remove the lid and invert a large, rimmed plate over the frying pan. Using pot holders or oven gloves, hold the plate and frying pan tightly together and turn over to transfer the dumplings on to the plate. Serve the dumplings immediately with the dipping sauce.