Chinese Dumplings Recipe

Eating Chinese dumplings is a delightful experience. The juice flowing from the filling flows immediately to every corner of your mouth, waking up all the taste buds and sending a euphoric feeling through your senses.

That’s pure food-love, and you know that one bowl of these delicate dumplings will never be enough!

Making Chinese dumplings is a custom in Northern China during the Chinese New Year. It is when all the family members reunite, no matter how far they have traveled. Every member will gather in the kitchen on new year’s eve, taking up their respective roles assigned by the grandparents since childhood – preparing the filling, wrapping, and shaping the dumplings.

This dumpling-making ritual is a family affair. It’s the moment the youngster retold their childhood stories and sharing their encounters while away from home. The elderly will repeat their same old advice to their grown-up children as if they are still three-year-old kids in their memory.

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In this article, I will explain how to make the best dumplings from scratch. I will make it as simple as possible, assuming you are single-handedly preparing a batch of homemade dumplings. Of course, you get your parents, siblings, and kids involved to make a large batch, just like we did during our new year reunion gathering.

The ONLY Dumpling Recipe You’ll Ever Need

We’ve been making this dumpling recipe for a long time. A LONG time. I remember sitting on a stool in my grandmother’s kitchen making this dumpling recipe.

Prep: 120min

Total: 135min

Serving Size: 1 serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 387 kcal, Carbohydrate 35 g, Protein 14 g, Fat 19 g, Saturated Fat 4 g, Cholesterol 36 mg, Sodium 1026 mg, Fiber 2 g, Sugar 1 g, servingSize 1 serving

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs green leafy vegetable ((1.35kg, like shepherd’s purse, baby bok choy, napa cabbage, or Chinese chives))
• 1 ½ pounds ground pork ((680g; can substitute ground chicken or beef, as long as they aren’t too lean))
• 2/3 cup shaoxing wine
• ½ cup oil
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• 2/3 cup water ((plus more for assembly))
• 3 packages dumpling wrappers

Instruction:

1. Wash your vegetables thoroughly and blanch them in a pot of boiling water. Transfer them to an ice bath to cool. Ring out all the water from the vegetables and chop very finely.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the vegetable, meat, wine, oil, sesame oil, salt, soy sauce, white pepper, and 2/3 cup water. Mix for 6-8 minutes, until very well-combined.
3. To wrap the dumplings, dampen the edges of each circle with some water. Put a little less than a tablespoon of filling in the middle. Fold the circle in half and pinch the wrapper together at the top. Then make two folds on each side, until the dumpling looks like a fan. Make sure it’s completely sealed. Repeat until all the filling is gone, placing the dumplings on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Make sure the dumplings aren’t sticking together.
4. If you’d like to freeze them, wrap the baking sheets tightly with plastic wrap and put the pans in the freezer. Allow them to freeze overnight. You can then take the sheets out of the freezer, transfer the dumplings to Ziploc bags, and throw them back in the freezer for use later.
5. To cook the dumplings, boil them or pan-fry them. To boil, simple bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop the dumplings in, and cook until they float to the top and the skins are cooked through, but still slightly al dente.
6. To pan-fry, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a non-stick pan over medium high heat. Place the dumplings in the pan and allow to fry for 2 minutes. Pour a thin layer of water into the pan, cover, and reduce heat to medium-low. Allow dumplings to steam until the water has evaporated. Remove the cover, increase heat to medium-high and allow to fry for a few more minutes, until the bottoms of the dumplings are golden brown and crisp.
7. Serve with soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, chili sauce, or other dipping sauce of your choice!

Chinese Dumplings

This traditional Chinese dumplings recipe makes the best homemade dumplings and is surprisingly easy, if time consuming.

Prep: 1h

Total: 2h20min

Serving Size: 1

Nutrition Facts: calories 67 calories, Carbohydrate 6 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 13 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 3 grams fat, Fiber 0 grams fiber, Protein 4 grams protein, Saturated Fat 1 grams saturated fat, servingSize 1, Sodium 131 milligrams sodium, Sugar 0 grams sugar, Trans Fat 0 grams trans fat, unSaturated Fat 2 grams unsaturated fat

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all purpose flour (plain flour)
• 1 cup room temperature water
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1/2 cup green onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 lb Napa (Chinese) cabbage
• 1 teaspoon salt extra
• Vegetable oil
• Water

Instruction:

1. In a large bowl, mix the pork, green onion, ginger, sesame oil, salt, soy sauce, vegetable oil and egg. (I use my hands for this but you could also use a stand mixture if you prefer). Make sure it is well mixed. Set aside to marinate for 1-2 hours.
2. Meanwhile, cut the cabbage across into thin strips. Now chop the strips into very small pieces.
3. Place the cabbage in a bowl and sprinkle with the extra teaspoon of salt. Set aside for 30 minutes.
4. Now squeeze out any excess water from the cabbage before you add it to the pork mixture.
5. Mix the cabbage into the marinated pork.
6. In a large bowl, mix the flour and water until a soft dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for around 10 minutes until the smooth.
7. Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a 12-inch long roll and cut the roll into 1/2 inch pieces.
8. Take a piece of dough and roll it into a ball then press the ball flat with the heel of your hand.
9. Now use your non-dominant hand to turn the dough as you roll it out with a rolling pin using your dominant hand. (Turn and roll, turn and roll) This will help make the centre of the wrapper thicker than the edge.
10. Repeat with all the dumpling pieces until you have made all the wrappers.
11. Take a dumpling wrapper and place it on the palm of your hand.
12. Place a tablespoon of filling into the centre of the wrapper – you want it to be full but not so much that it oozes out.
13. Fold the wrapper over and pinch the edges together.
14. Place the dumpling flat on the table with the pinched edges facing up, and flatten the bottom slightly. Now pinch a few pleats into the dumpling to create a pouch.
15. Heat 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan with a lid.
16. Place dumplings in a single layer in the frying pan, leaving 1cm space between them.
17. Cook with the lid on over a medium heat for 3 minutes.
18. Add 1/3 cup water to the pan and replace the lid. Continue cooking until the water evaporates and the bottom of the dumplings are golden brown.
19. Half fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil.
20. Add 20-25 dumplings (depending on the size of your pan) to the water and stir them to ensure they don’t stick to the bottom.
21. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to the water to help prevent sticking and put the lid on the pan.
22. As the dumplings start to float, add 1 cup of water to the pan and replace the lid. Repeat this one more time (two times if you are cooking the dumplings from frozen).
23. Use a slotted spoon to remove the dumplings from the pan and transfer to a serving dish,

Chinese Dumplings – How to make it from scratch

Eating Chinese dumplings is a delightful experience. The juice flowing from the filling flows immediately to every corner of your mouth, waking up all the taste buds and sending a euphoric feeling through your senses.

Prep: 45min

Total: 55min

Serving Size: 1

Nutrition Facts: calories 54 calories, Carbohydrate 7 grams carbohydrates, Cholesterol 7 milligrams cholesterol, Fat 1 grams fat, Fiber 0 grams fiber, Protein 3 grams protein, Saturated Fat 0 grams saturated fat, servingSize 1, Sodium 49 milligrams sodium, Sugar 0 grams sugar, Trans Fat 0 grams trans fat, unSaturated Fat 1 grams unsaturated fat

Ingredients:

• 250g (8.8 oz/ 2.8 cups) all-purpose flour
• 140ml (0.6 cups) warm water
• 250g (8.8 oz) minced pork, with 20% fat
• 150g (5.2 oz) Chinese chives
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch

Instruction:

1. Mix A in a bowl, then transfer to a table and knead for 10 minutes or until the surface is shiny and smooth. Cover and set aside for 2 hours.
2. Roll out the dough. Divide it into three equal portions, and then each one is subdivided into ten smaller portions.
3. Roll each portion into a ball, then flatten it to become a disc.
4. Roll each disc into a thin circle.
5. Mix B together, then slam the mixture into the bowl repeatedly until it becomes a springy paste.
6. Wrap a tablespoon of the filing with the wrapper. Please refer to the video for the simple method I use.
7. Version 1; Add some finely chopped ginger to the vinegar.
8. Version 2: Mix one tablespoon of vinegar, one teaspoon of light soy sauce, and half a teaspoon of sesame oil.
9. Version 3: Mix one tablespoon of vinegar with a quarter teaspoon of Szechuan chili oil.
10. Place the dumplings into the boiling water over medium heat, one by one. Stir occasionally.
11. After three to four minutes, the dumplings will start to float to the top. Transfer the dumplings to a bowl immediately, and serve.
12. Add some oil to a frying pan.
13. Arrange the dumplings in the pan.
14. Fill up the pan with water enough to cover half of the dumplings.
15. Cover the pan with a lid and cook it over medium heat.
16. Remove the lid when most of the water has evaporated after a few minutes.
17. The oil in the pan will start to pan-fried the bottom of each dumpling.
18. When the bottom has turned color, remove and serve.

Chinese Steamed Dumplings

Delicious Chinese dumplings steamed at home. Just like you would find at dim sum!

Prep: 1

Total: 4

Yield: 48

Serving Size: 1 Serving

Nutrition Facts: calories 71.4 , Carbohydrate 8.4 g, Cholesterol 6.8 mg, Fiber 0.2 g, Protein 3.0 g, Saturated Fat 0.8 g, servingSize 1 Serving, Sodium 210.3 mg, Sugar 1.4 g

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 pound ground pork
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• 3 inches fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

Instruction:

1. To start dough, add starter ingredients in a small bowl. Stir together and let sit for 30 minutes until it foams.
2. Mix starter with other dough ingredients except flour. Stir together well and then slowly start to add flour. Once all the flour is added, bring the dough together in a ball.
3. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is very soft, about 10 minutes. If the dough is ever very sticky, knead in more flour.
4. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl to rise until it triples, about 2.5-3 hours.
5. Meanwhile, make the sauce and filling. For the sauce, just mix together ingredients and chill until needed.
6. For the filling, mince scallions, ginger, and cilantro very fine. Then stir with other filling ingredients and set aside until needed.
7. To make dumplings, punch dough and then cut it into quarters. Working with one quarter at a time, stretch it out and flour it lightly. Then cut the dough into 12 pieces. It’s okay if they’re not perfectly even.
8. Working with one piece at a time, add about a tablespoon of filling to the middle of the dough and then fold the ends up and over the filling. Twist the top of the dough so it sticks together.
9. Once you have 12 dumplings done, let them rest for 20-30 minutes before steaming them.
10. Add the dumplings to a bamboo steamer, leaving some space between each dumpling to prevent them from sticking together, and steam them over a pot or wok until they are cooked through, about 18 minutes. To make sure the dumplings don’t stick to the steamer, lightly oil the steamer or lay down some lettuce leaves in the bottom of the steaming racks.
11. Let the dumplings cool briefly when they come out of the steamer and then serve them immediately with the sauce.
12. Tip: As an optional filling, try diced ham and cheddar cheese. Serve with mustard.

How to Make Chinese Dumplings (recipe) 饺子