Taiwanese Dumplings Recipes

CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For Dough:.
• Place flour in a bowl and make a well.
• Crack eggs in a separate bowl and lightly whisk.
• Add eggs, oil, and half the water and mix together to make a dough.
• Add more water as needed. The dough should not be sticky (similar to pasta dough).
• Knead dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes.
• Cover and set dough aside to rest for 1/2 hour.
• For filling:.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl to combine. Do not overwork the meat.
• Cover filling and put in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour for flavors to blend.
• To assemble:.
• Roll out dough into sheets, as thin as you can but won't break. I use a pasta roller, it makes it so much easier.
• Use a large round cookie cutter (about the size of a tuna can or a little larger) to cut out the rounds.
• Fill 1 round with 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture and dampen the edges of the round with water and then seal.
• Do the rest of the rounds.
• To cook:.
• Steam the dumplings for 12 minutes.
• You can serve them as is or you can then:.
• Stir-fry them in a little peanut oil just until they get a little crispy.
• Serve them with your favorite dipping sauces.
• Enjoy.
• If you're not going to eat them right away, after you steam them let them cool off and place them in a zip top bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Mix half of the chives and all of the filling ingredients together. Spread 1 heaped tbsp of filling onto each wonton skin and spread out a little.
• Bring the wrapper up and around the pork until you have a small, firmly-packed dumpling with an open top. Repeat with the rest of the mix. Can be made up to a day ahead.
• Steam the dumplings for 10 mins until the wrappers are translucent. Top with remaining chives and serve with dipping sauce.

TAIWANESE BAH-TZANG DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• The day before you want to serve, fill a large saucepan with water and bring to the boil. Add the peanuts and simmer for 25 mins. Remove the peanuts, drain and soak overnight in fresh tepid water. Rinse the rice in a sieve under cold running water and leave to soak overnight.
• To make the filling, put the dried shiitake mushrooms and dried shrimp in two separate bowls and cover with boiling water. Leave for 15 mins or until completely softened. Remove the mushrooms from the liquid with a slotted spoon and squeeze any excess water back into the bowl. Roughly chop the mushrooms to a similar size as the shrimp. Drain the shrimp and set aside.
• Cook the bamboo leaves to make them flexible. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add the leaves and cook on a high heat for 5 mins. Turn off the heat and keep the leaves in the water for 20 mins. The water should turn a little brown. Rinse and drain the leaves. Drain the rice and peanuts and mix together in a big bowl.
• Meanwhile, for the filling, put the diced pork in a pan of boiling water. Simmer for up to 1 hr or until the meat is tender and falls apart easily. Drain and set aside. Heat a large wok on a medium-high heat and add the pork. As some of it is quite fatty, you shouldn't need to add any more oil, but if it begins to stick, add a little vegetable oil.
• Once the pork is browned, add the sliced shallots, shrimp and mushroom. Add the soy sauce and sugar. Cook for a further 1-2 mins until the meat is slightly caramelised. Take the pork off the heat and add the crispy shallots. Using a microplane or box grater, grate the salted egg yolk, if using, into the mixture and mix. Season.
• To wrap the bah-tzang, cut around 10 lengths of butcher's string to around 50cm.
• Lay one cooked bamboo leaf on top of another to give a double thickness. Fold the leaves in half and use your hands to form a pointed cone shape. Hold the cone in your hand, point-side down, like a sushi hand-roll or an ice cream cone.
• Pack the rice and peanut mix around the outside and the bottom of the leaf-cone to make a layer of rice over the entire surface. Continue until it's about two-thirds full. Spoon the pork, shrimp and mushroom mixture into the centre of the rice and pack it down tightly. Add another spoonful of rice on top so the filling is completely covered.
• To close the bah-tzang, fold the top edge of the bamboo leaves over the rice and tuck it in to seal the gap. Pull the leaves tightly so they enclose the rice and pork, tucking in any loose edges. Use one length of string to secure the parcel, winding it up in the string and leaving a length at the top. Make sure you tie the knots as tightly as possible so none of the filling escapes. Fill the remaining bamboo leaves, and tie them all together.
• Bring a large pan of water to the boil, lower in the bah-tzang and cook for 45 mins to 1 hr, then remove them from the water, drain and serve immediately. Untie the string and peel away the leaves (don't eat them) to reveal the sticky rice and tender pork. Serve with pickled chilli or radish and a sweet and salty soy-based dipping sauce. We've cut our bah-tzang open so that you can see the cross-section inside, but you would normally serve them unwrapped.

TAIWANESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Spread cabbage and cilantro over a clean dish towel. Gather up towel and squeeze out as much moisture from the cabbage as possible.
• Transfer cabbage and cilantro to a bowl. Add pork, egg whites, jalapeno peppers, ginger, and sesame oil. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Season with salt and pepper.
• Cover 2 baking sheets with waxed paper. Fill a small bowl with water.
• Hold a potsticker wrapper in the palm of your hand. Place a tablespoonful of the pork mixture in the center. Dip a finger in water and use it to wet the edges of the wrapper. Fold up edges and pinch together to seal. Transfer dumpling to a prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and pork mixture.
• Freeze dumplings until firm, about 2 hours. Transfer to large resealable plastic bags.

DUMPLING DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place the chili powder or chile flakes into a heatproof bowl.
• In a small saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil.
• Pour the hot oil into the chili powder. Let it cool.
• The chile oil can be stored in the fridge in an airtight jar or container if not used immediately.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In a small bowl, combine the garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and 1 teaspoon of the hot chile oil. Whisk until well combined.
• Serve with your favorite dumplings.

CHINESE DUMPLINGS (POTSTICKERS) RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine all pork filling ingredients until well combined.
• You will need a clean workspace, wonton wrappers, prepared pork filling, a small bowl of water, and chopsticks.
• Begin by filling the wonton wrapper with about a tablespoons worth of pork filling. Wet your finger, and run along the edges of the wonton wrapper. This will help to seal it closed.
• If your wrapper is round, fold the wrapper over the filling to create a half-moon shape, pinching the edges to seal. If you wrapper is square, scroll up to view the step by step images of how I fold my dumplings into a little purse dumpling.
• Once you have filled the dumplings you can freeze them or eat them fresh.
• Place the dumplings in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes.
• Then place in a ziplock baggie, where they can be frozen for up to 3 months.
• Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the skillet and place dumplings in an even layer. Fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden.
• Add 1/3 cup of water and cover with a tight fitting lid. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low.
• Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve with soy sauce and thinly sliced green onions.
• Place dumplings in a steamer basket on a single layer of cabbage leaves or a piece of parchment paper and steam for about 8 minutes.
• Whisk together all ingredients and serve in a shallow bowl to dip your potstickers in! You can make this ahead and store it in the fridge for up to a week.

HOW TO MAKE CHINESE DUMPLINGS (JIAOZI)

Steps:

• Mix a small pinch of salt with flour, dig a hole in center and then stir the water in. Mix the flour with water with chop-stickers during the process so you can adjust the water amount if necessary. Then knead the dough for 8-10 minutes with a stand mixer or by hand until the dough is almost smooth. Cover and rest for 15 minutes. Then re-knead the dough for 2-3 minutes so we can get a very smooth dough. Cover and continue resting for 1 hour.
• When the dough becomes soft and smooth, cut into halves and knead each half into a round ball. Take one half and dig a small hole in center. Then shape it to a large circle round. Cut so we will end up a long log. Shape the log around 3cm in diameter. Divide the long log into small dumpling dough pieces (each around 10g). Dust each of them so they will not stick together. Press one down and then roll it into a wrapper around 10cm in diameter. You can refer to the video for the technique.
• Get your assistants here and begin to wrap the dumpling at the fastest speed, because the wrappers will get dried out soon and become harder to seal together.
• In a mixing bowl, add ground pork, a small pinch of salt, egg, light soy sauce, white pepper, oyster sauce grated ginger and salt. Then place the green onion on top and drizzle hot oil on green onions. This helps to improve the aroma of the green onion.
• Stir the filling in one direction for 2-3 minutes until getting a paste texture and the filling becomes quite sticky. Set aside for 1 hour or cover with plastic wrapper and overnight.
• Finely chop chives and mix with 2 tablespoons of sesame oil or other vegetable oil. Mix chive with pork before wrapping.
• Brush 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan (nonstick pan recommended for beginners), place the dumplings in. Pleats side up.
• Heat over medium fire until one side becomes browned. Swirl around 1/2 cup of water and then cover the lid immediately. Continue heating until all of the water is evaporated.
• Slow down your heat and heat until the bottom becomes crispy and golden brown.
• Heat a large pot of water to a boiling, add a small pinch of salt. Then cook the dumplings in batches. Slightly move the dumplings with a large ladle or scoop so they will not sticky to the bottom. Then the water begins to boil again, add around 1/4 cup of cold water. Repeat once. When the dumplings become transparent and expand because of the air inside. Transfer out.

PORK CHINESE DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• For the dough:
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, 2 teaspoons of salt and the warm water (not boiling) and mix until smooth.
• Roll out dough on a floured surface and knead until smooth. Knead for about 10 minutes.
• Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a cloth and let it rest for 1 hour in a cool, dry place.
• For the filling:
• In the meantime, work on the filling.
• Chop the spring onion, garlic and ginger finely, then do the same with the cabbage and grate the carrots.
• Transfer everything to a pan with olive oil and let it cook for about 10 min, adding salt & pepper and 1 tbsp of soy sauce. And let cool.
• In the meantime in a bowl with the minced pork add 2 tbsp of soy sauce, salt & pepper and mix until smooth.
• Finally add the vegetables to the pork and mix well, until the mixture is smooth. To make Chinese dumplings:
• There are several ways to work the dough, I'll show you my method.
• Take the dough and cut it into 4 equal parts.
• Form a ball, and roll it out on a floured surface with the help of a rolling pin, making a sheet about 2 mm thick.
• Help yourself with a round shape or with a glass to cut small disks.
• With the rolling pin, thin only the edges of the disc of dough while you rotate it with the other hand. This way it will be thicker in the center, where the filling is placed, and thinner at the edges, which will be attached during the closing.
• At this point you can form the dumplings. Add about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of your discs.
• Close them with your finger, fold half of the wrapper over the filling and, using your fingers, crimp the edges to seal. Repeat with the remaining fillings and wrappers.
• Your Chinese dumplings are ready to cook!

CHINESE PORK DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon chives, sesame seeds, and chile sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Mix pork, garlic, egg, 2 tablespoons chives, soy sauce, sesame oil, and ginger in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Place a dumpling wrapper on a lightly floured work surface and spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling in the middle. Wet the edge with a little water and crimp together forming small pleats to seal the dumpling. Repeat with remaining dumpling wrappers and filling.
• Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place 8 to 10 dumplings in the pan and cook until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Pour in 1 cup of water, cover and cook until the dumplings are tender and the pork is cooked through, about 5 minutes. Repeat for remaining dumplings. Serve with soy sauce mixture for dipping.