15 BEST CHINESE DUMPLING RECIPES (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular Chinese dumpling? ›

Jiaozi. One of the most ubiquitous types of Chinese dumplings, jiaozi (饺子) are usually steamed or boiled and have been enjoyed across China for millennia. They often have a mixture of minced pork, shrimp, vegetables, mushrooms, and aromatics, along with a paper-thin dumpling wrapper.

Hand-mincing meat and adding more pork belly results in the juiciest dumplings. Traditionally, some Chinese cuisine uses hand minced meat for their dishes. For example, lots of dim sum items like siu mai, pork buns, beef meatball, and more use hand minced meat to control the texture and fat content of the dish!

These dumplings start with all-purpose flour, which creates structure and holds the other ingredients together. Baking powder is a leavening agent, which means it releases gas that makes the dough expand. It's responsible for the dumplings' light and fluffy texture.

Unlike dumplings, potstickers are made with a thin wrapper, sometimes referred to as a dumpling skin. This is because they are steam fried to get a crispy golden bottom layer and to ensure that the filling is juicy and delicious.

Common dumpling meat fillings include chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, and fish which are usually mixed with chopped vegetables. Popular vegetable fillings include napa cabbage, scallion (spring onions), celery, leek, spinach, mushroom, carrot, garlic chives, and edible black fungus.

Milk: I use whole milk, which brings our dumpling batter together and helps make them tender. Butter: Adds flavor and keeps the dumplings moist. Spices: I add ground pepper, a bit of extra salt, and fresh parsley to the dumpling batter.

Instead of steaming these dumplings in water, we simmer them in a vinegary cornstarch and flour slurry that creates a lacy, crunchy golden crust as the water evaporates and the dumplings brown.

It's best to have your lid ready: Immediately add about 3 tablespoons of water to the pan, just enough to cover the base of the dumplings, then cover and cook for 3–4 minutes, or until the water has evaporated. Lift the lid and allow the dumpling to cook for another 30 seconds, to allow the bottoms to get extra crispy.

When done just right, the dumplings are light, fluffy, and tender. You slice into one with a spoon, scoop up a little chicken and broth, and the result is heaven.

I find boiling is best for dumplings that have a filling with a stronger flavour such as my lamb and onion dumplings. Pan-frying is better in fillings with a lighter flavour such as these vegetable dumplings where you can notice the extra fried toastiness.

Are Chinese dumplings healthy? ›

“If it's fairly lean meat to start with, the dumpling is going to be quite low in fat in that sense,” Austin said. The same goes for frozen dumplings you buy from the supermarket. As long as they're not pre-deep fried and contain whole, healthy ingredients they are an okay option, according to Austin.

If you're a lover of a Chinese-inspired feast, or perhaps a fan of a dumpling or five, you've probably already encountered chinkiang vinegar. A staple ingredient in China, this black vinegar is an ingredient that can transform your Asian cooking.

From-scratch dumpling dough requires only two ingredients — flour and water — and the water temperature yields different types of wrappers. Cold water is best for boiled dumplings because it causes the flour's proteins to form the gluten that makes dough chewy and able to withstand vigorously boiling water.

The trickiest part of the dumplings remaining fluffy lies with the cooking time. If the dumplings are cooked for too long, then they will become hard. If they are cooked and allowed to remain in the heated environment – in the hot liquid or covered in the hot pot, then the dumpling will contract and get hard.

Xiao Long Bao (小笼包)

The dumplings are a type of steamed bun filled with a mixture of minced pork, scallions, and a gelatinized broth called aspic.

nikuman, known as mantou or momo in China, was first divided into steamed filled and unfilled buns, and later the filled buns were called baozi. The difference between baozi and dumplings is that baozi is a fermented dough that is wrapped in a filling and steamed. Dumplings are unfermented dough.

Thin, round, yellow wrapper, thinner than the Shanghai style wrappers that allows for a more delicate texture (3.5” diameter).