lisa.w.hsieh Make a batch of these super easy dumplings and have a constant supply of the ultimate asian comfort food in your freezer at all times. You’ll never order dumplings for take-out again after you try making these on your own!
Dumplings are one of my all time favourite foods. I could literally eat dumplings for every meal and not get sick of it.Dumplings was a common staple in our diet and we often ate them as a quick weekend brunch when we were growing up. We often spent hours in the weekend camped out at our kitchen table helping my mom wrap the dumplings. My claim to fame was the fact that I always wrapped the biggest dumplings without puncturing the wrapped :). We always made a giant batch because they froze well and we went through them so quick!
And even though we often made dumplings at home, we often went out for dumplings too! Luckily, there are a ton of restaurants in Toronto that specialize in dumplings. A few of my favourites that I have been frequenting for years are Mothers Dumplings and Chinese Traditional Bun in chinatown and Ding Tai Fung in Markham. Any time I’m looking for a fast, filling, comfort meal, I always go to dumplings first. This recipe is a combination of my favourite flavours from my mom’s recipe that I ate growing up and some of my fave dishes from the restaurants listed above.
Homemade or store bought wrappers?
Personally, I prefer using store bought wrappers when I make my own dumplings. To me, the filling is the best part and the wrapper is really a means to package up the perfect bite and make it easy for you to dip in sauce! I find store bought wrappers thinner and provide the perfect level of crunch that’s hard to get with homemade wrappers. And honestly, I’m also a little lazy so it’s not worth the extra effort and mess to make my own wrappers for these types of dumplings. Soup dumplings on the other hand, need to be made with homemade wrappers (but that’s for another time!:)).
These wrappers can be found in any refrigerated session at your local asian grocery store. They’ll usually have a selection of wonton and dumpling wrappers, get the ones that are for dumplings or perogies and is a round shape. If you’re from Toronto, the brand that I always get is the red and white one: Hung Wang Food, these wrappers don’t tear, close well and are super thin!
What do you fill them with?
You can fill dumplings with basically anything you like! Typically you want some type of protein, veg and flavouring and all you do is chop everything into small bits so they mix well together and fit in the wrapper! My go-to is a base of ground pork, a bit of shrimp and a lot of Chinese chives. What are Chinese chives? It’s a more flavourful and pungent version of the garnish that you’re used to! The strands are heartier and thicker than regular chives and the flavour is more garlicky so that makes it perfect for flavouring the dumplings. I have to warn you though, Chinese chives have an especially strong smell, so be prepared for that! The rest of the ingredients are typical asian ingredients like ginger, green onions, cilantro, sesame oil, soy sauce and a bit MSG.
For a juicier filling, it’s common to mix the meat with some liquid like chicken stock. You slowly mix in the chicken stock, tablespoon by tablespoon and you’ll notice that the ground meat absorbs all the liquid and becomes a bit of a paste-y texture. The other method is to create an aspic, which is basically like a gelatin soup, and chop it into small pieces to mix into your filling. (This is the secret to juicy, yummy, soup dumplings!)
How do you wrap them??
There’s tons of ways to wrap dumplings but I find the crinkled half moon option is the best with store bought round wrappers. It has the highest filling to wrapper ratio (very important in dumpling science!) and it creates a clean bottom for easy storing and pan frying for the biggest crispy surface. So the wrapping process is a little hard to explain with text so here’s a few step by step pics to show how easy it is! For beginners, I would put slightly less filling and it’ll make it easier until you get comfortable with the process!
How do you cook them?
You can also enjoy these steamed or boiled as well for a slightly healthier option! I don’t have any fancy steaming tools at home since kitchen storage is a real problem for me, so if you do, feel free to use whatever you have! I usually do a quick hack by filling a large pot with about 2cm of water, putting a small bowl upside down in the pot and then putting a plate on top of the bowl. If you choose to steam these, just bring the pot to simmer on low heat and you can tell when they’re done when the wrapper gets translucent. Sometimes the dumplings will stick to the plate so you can cut a piece of parchment paper to line the plate if you want. To boil them, all you need to do is add the dumplings to a pot of boiling water and they’re done when they start to float! You can also boil these in some broth instead of water if you want to have some dumpling soup! But my absolute favourite way to make these dumplings is by pan frying them. By pan frying them, you get some nice and crispy dumplings that have a bit of additional flavour and is perfect for dipping into my favourite, super easy dipping sauce (basically sesame oil, Chinese vinegar, chili oil and soy sauce). That’s the method I’ve outlined below, hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do!
Pork, Shrimp and Chive Dumplings
Ingredients
Dumplings
- 1 package round white dumpling wrappers
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 lb shrimp, chopped fine
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp white pepper powder
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1/2 cup chinese chives, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 cup wood ear mushroom, finely chopped (optional)
- 2 stalks green onions, chopped finely
- 1 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
- 1 tsp MSG (optional) I like the umami flavour it adds and it was a common ingredient in my mom's kitchen growing up but can be excluded if you don't like MSG.
Dipping Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp chinese black vinegar
- 1 tsp chili oil
Instructions
Making the filling
- Use chopsticks to mix ground pork, pork belly, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil in a large bowl
- Slowly stir in chicken stock, one tbsp at a time. This allows the meat to absorb the liquid and lead to juicier dumplings! You should get a paste once you've mixed in all the stock.
- Add remaining filling ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. At this step, I like to fry a spoonful of filling to a quick taste and adjust as needed before I start wrapping 50 dumplings and find out they're a bit bland 🙂
- Cover and let marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes
Wrapping Dumpling
- Spoon about 1 tbsp of filling in the middle of the wrapper
- wet the edge with water and pinch wrapper closed in the middle
- Form 3-4 small pleats on one side from middle to outer edges until sealed
- Do the same on the other side
Cooking the dumplings
- Heat some cooking oil in a large nonstick pan over medium high heat
- Place dumplings in the pan and fry until crispy and golden (about 3-5 minutes)
- Pour 1/2 cup of water into pan and cover with lid. Let boil for 10 minutes
- Uncover and continue cooking until water has completely evaporated. Quickly sear each side of dumpling for extra crispiness. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in small bowl and serve with dumplings.
Notes
- Ground pork belly – Your butcher will usually ground some pork belly for you if you ask. I like to add ground pork belly because I find the fat helps make juicier dumplings
- Wood ear mushrooms – you can usually find these dried at any asian grocery store. Just soak them in some warm water for 15 minutes before using. My mom always used this ingredient in her dumplings so I always include it in mine, but this ingredient is optional if you can’t find it
- The MSG debate – some people claim that MSG gives them headaches or makes them sleepy. To be honest, after a big dim sum brunch, I always need an afternoon nap afterwards, but it’s probably from the excess amount of food I pigged out on rather than the MSG. My mom often cooks with a pinch of MSG in her dishes because it compliments salt and adds a little umami kick so I like to use it in my dumplings too. Feel free to omit this as well if you have strong feelings about MSG.
