>>21571786
I just get the pan fairly hot (not super hot, but medium-to-medium-high) with oil, and then place the dumplings in to begin searing. Once they've had a couple minutes to get started I put some water in, usually just so the dumplings are knee-deep. Then I cover and let them boil/steam. Once the water is evaporated I uncover them and wala, the dumplings come out all steamed and chewie but also pan-seared brown on the bottom side. The whole thing takes like 6-7 minutes with frozen dumplings, much faster (use less water I guess) with fresh thawed dumplings.

This also works really well with pierogi although it's not traditional. Usually those are boiled and then browned in butter, but if you want to do it in one pan you can do it this way.