Under The Sea Kimchi Dumplings

Prepare the dough in a food processor, and put the flour in the work bowl. With the machine running, add ¾ cup of water in a steady stream through the feed tube. As soon as all the water has been added, stop the machine and check the dough. It should look rough and feel soft but firm enough to hold its shape when pinched. If necessary, add water by the teaspoon or flour by the tablespoon. When satisfied, run the machine for another 5 to 10 seconds to further knead and form a ball around the blade. Avoid overworking the dough.

Alternatively, make the dough by hand. Put a bowl atop a kitchen towel to prevent it from slipping while you work. Put the flour in the bowl and make a well in the center. Use a wooden spoon to stir the flour while you add ¾ cup water in a steady stream. Aim to evenly moisten the flour. When all the water has been added, you will have lots of lumpy bits. Knead the dough in the bowl to bring all the lumps into one mass. If the dough does not come together easily, add water by the teaspoon.

Transfer the dough and any bits to the work surface. Flour your work surface only if necessary, and then sparingly. Knead the dough with the heel of your hand until smooth and somewhat elastic. Press on the dough; it should slowly bounce back with a light impression of your finger remaining. Cover the dough well and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.

After resting, the dough can be used right away to form the wrappers.

Take both the shrimp and the scallops and lay them out onto a plate lined with a paper towel to dry them off. Place the plate of shellfish in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill it down.

Place the cold shellfish, salt, and sugar into the food processor. Pulse several times until a shellfish paste forms. Do not just run the processor because that will warm the mixture too much. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and pulse again a couple more times.

Add in the grated ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, kimchi paste, and cornstarch and continue to pulse to incorporate the ingredients, scraping down the sides as necessary.

Add in the finely chopped kimchi cabbage and pulse a couple of times to start the mixing. Take the filling out of the processor and place into a medium bowl. Using a rubber spatula fold until everything seems well incorporated.

Form wrappers from the dough. Work with half the dough at a time.

Before assembling the dumplings, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Dust the parchment paper with cornstarch or flour.

For each dumpling, hold a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Scoop up about 1 tablespoon of filling with a bamboo dumpling spatula, dinner knife, or fork and position it slightly off-center toward the upper half of the wrapper, pressing and shaping it into a flat mound and keeping about ½ to ¾ inch of wrapper clear on all sides.

Fold, pleat, and press to enclose the filling and create half-moon, pea pod, or pleated crescent shapes. Place the finished dumplings on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the other wrappers, assembling the dumplings and spacing them apart so that they do not touch. Keeping the finished dumplings covered with a dry kitchen towel, form and fill the wrappers from the remaining dough.

To pan-fry the dumplings, using a medium or large nonstick skillet; if both sizes are handy, cook two batches at the same time.  Heat the skillet over medium-high heat and add 1½ tablespoons of oil for a medium skillet and 2 tablespoons for a large one.  Place the dumplings one at a time, sealed edges up, in a winding circle pattern. The dumplings can touch. Fry the dumplings for 1 to 2 minutes, until they are golden or light brown on the bottom.

Holding the lid close to the skillet, use a kettle or measuring cup to add water to a depth of roughly ¼ inch. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil, lower the heat to medium and let the water bubble away for 8 to 10 minutes until it is mostly gone. After 6 to 8 minutes, move the lid or foil so that it is slightly ajar to allow steam to shoot out from underneath. This lessens the drama of condensation dropping down onto the hot oil when you remove the lid. When most of the water is gone, remove the lid. Let the dumplings fry for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the bottoms are brown and crisp.

Remove from heat and serve immediately. Display them with their bottoms facing up so that they remain crisp. Serve with dipping sauce.