15 BEST CHINESE DUMPLING RECIPES (2024)

FAQs

What is the most popular Chinese dumpling? ›

Jiaozi (pronounced "jow-zee") are perhaps the most common type of Chinese dumpling. Crescent-shaped and formed with an opaque wrapper made from wheat dough, jiaozi are usually filled with ground pork, cabbage, and scallions, and served with a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.

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.

Depending on the number of dumplings you're cooking, bring a medium to large pot of water to a boil. Drop in the dumplings, and stir immediately so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot. Bring back to a boil, and boil for 6-8 minutes, depending on their size, until cooked through.

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.

“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.

Popular meat fillings include ground meat (usually pork, but sometimes beef or chicken), shrimp, and even fish. Popular mixtures include pork with Chinese cabbage, pork with garlic chives, pork and shrimp with vegetables, pork with spring onion, and garlic chives with scrambled eggs.

What are dumplings made of? The dumpling dough is made of three main ingredients: flour, water and salt.

Dumplings are most commonly formed from flour or meal bound with egg and then simmered in water or gravy stock until they take on a light cakey texture. Many recipes call for herbs, onions, grated cheese, or chopped meat to be rolled into the dough before cooking.

A pinch of salt seasons the dumplings and enhances the flavors of the other ingredients. Cold butter or margarine is cut into the flour mixture to bind the dry ingredients together. It also keeps the dumplings light and tender. Whole milk helps create a smooth, moist dough.

He goes on to explain the reason why black vinegar is the best choice for soup dumplings, noting that the "acid from the vinegar, mixed with the aromatics from the ginger, helps to balance the rich fattiness from the dumpling."

Is it better to steam or boil Chinese dumplings? ›

Steaming is a much faster method as you only need to bring a few cups of water to a boil instead of an entire pot. Texturally, it'll also leave the skins a little stretchier and firmer. I generally prefer this texture to the softer texture boiling gives.

There are two general categories of Chinese dumplings. The crescent-shaped dumplings are called gao. And the more purse-shaped and round ones are called the bao.

In English people usually call jiaozi “dumplings” instead of its Chinese name; but other Chinese dishes like wontons, baozi, xiaolongbao, har gow, tangyuan, etc.

You can prepare dumplings by steaming, boiling, or pan-frying: 1. Steam: Steamed dumplings are dumplings that are cooked using hot water vapor. Dumplings are usually steamed using a steamer, particularly a specialized bamboo steamer, which is made for steaming dumplings.

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

Xiao long bao are a type of Chinese dumpling hailing from Shanghai. Xiao long bao differ from traditional pork dumplings in one key way: the inside of the dumpling also contains a small amount of rich, delicious soup broth. For this reason, xiao long bao are also commonly referred to as soup dumplings.

Jiaozi (Dumplings)

They also represent prosperity because their shape resembles ancient Chinese money; a gold coin is put inside of one of the dumplings for a lucky guest to find. Jiaozi can be filled with ground pork or beef and always feature vegetables, such as bamboo shoots, Napa cabbage, and green onions.