Rhode-island Dumplings
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix cornmeal and salt.
Add cold water gradually until the mixture is stiff.
Shape the mixture into small balls using your hands.
Cook
Place the balls at the bottom and around the sides of a kettle.
Pour boiling water over the dumplings and boil briskly for 1 hour.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Forms the main body of the dumplings, setting into a firm, starchy texture as it cooks.
- Cold water
- Hydrates the cornmeal so it binds into a stiff dough that holds its shape.
The step that matters
Adding the cold water gradually. Cornmeal absorbs water unevenly, so adding it slowly lets you reach a stiff dough that holds its shape. Too much water at once makes the mixture slack and the balls may collapse in the boiling water.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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