There is a food called ‘Soba-Gaki’ in Japan. It’s a sticky thick paste made with Buckwheat Flour and Water. You can roll this paste into small balls to make these 100% Buckwheat Flour Dumplings. Mixing Buckwheat Flour and boiling hot water is the popular method to make the paste, but I recommend NOT to use boiling hot water. It is too difficult to mix them into smooth thick paste. When you make dumplings, the paste doesn’t need to be cooked through. Just roll the paste into balls, then you can boil them to cook through.

Makes

20 Dumplings

Ingredients

1 cup 100% Buckwheat Flour
1 cup Warm Water
1 pinch Salt
*Note: You can make a dough using a smaller amount of Water (e.g. 1/2 cup) and roll the dough into balls. That’s the common method to make dumplings, however, I have found the dumplings made in that method very hard and not enjoyable.

Mitarashi Sauce
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Sugar
3 tablespoons Water
1 teaspoon Potato Starch OR Corn Starch

Method
  1. I recommend to use a non-stick saucepan OR frying pan. Place Buckwheat Flour & Warm Water, and mix well until smooth. Heat over medium low heat, constantly stirring with spatula, until the mixture turns into thick paste. *Note: You don’t need to cook it through.
  2. Wet your hands with cold water and roll the paste into 2-3cm balls OR discs.
  3. Cook them in plenty of rapidly boiling water OR salted water. When the Dumplings are floating, drain, and place them in icy cold water to cool.
  4. Enjoy with your favourite sauce OR use them for cooking just like Gnocchi. I added Mitarashi Sauce in the above photo.
  5. Mitarashi Sauce: Combine all the ingredients in a small heat-proof bowl, heat in the microwave and bring to the boil, and mix well. You can cook it in a small saucepan until the sauce thickens.
  6. *Note: The photo below is the same Dumplings in a different shape with Sweet Azuki Paste and Cream.