Ingredients for Pork Pot Sticker Recipe

To make these pork pot stickers – or guotie as we call them back home – you need to prepare the stuffing and the skin. Because I didn’t want to go through the trouble of making my own dumpling skin, I went to the Chinese shop next door to get ready-made ones. It took me around 2 hours to unfreeze them so plan ahead if you’re going this route.

If you want the full homemade experience, you can make your own pot sticker dough. It’s fairly simple and will elevate your pot stickers.

For stuffing, I chose minced pork. You can replace it with minced chicken, or lamb. If you’re vegan, you could use firm tofu instead. My daughter won’t eat eggplant on its own due to its texture, but she seems to be ok if I cook it as part of the stuffing when making Baozi (steamed bun) or dumplings.

Here’s the full ingredients list I used for this recipe:

• 1 x pack of frozen dumpling skin (pre-defrosted)
• 250g minced pork (replace this with other minced meat or firm tofu)
• 2 x spring onions
• 1 x eggplant
• 6g fresh ginger
• 180g peeled raw prawn
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce/vegan oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn flour

Got your ingredients assembled? Great! Now, let’s get to prepping and cooking.

How to Make This Pork Pot Sticker Recipe

You only need to go through four main phases to turn the above ingredients into delectable pork pot stickers.

• Prep the Filling:
  • Shred 1 eggplant, salt, and drain for 10 mins.
  • Finely chop 2 spring onions and 6g fresh ginger.
  • Mix minced pork (or alternative), ginger, spring onion, squeezed eggplant, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sugar, and salt.
• Assemble Pot Stickers:
  • Place a piece of dumpling skin in your hand.
  • Add ⅔ tbsp of filling and top with a raw prawn.
  • Wet edges and press to seal.
• Cook Pot Stickers:
  • Dissolve 1 tbsp corn flour in 10 tbsp water.
  • Heat oil in a pan and place pot stickers.
  • Brown on medium heat, then add corn flour mix.
  • Cover and steam for 7-10 mins.
• Serve:
  • Garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.
  • Accompany with sweet chili sauce or hot sauce.

Sweet chili sauce is what we typically eat these with but I like a whole lot of spice. If you’re a fan of hot sauce and can stand a good amount of heat, try Gekikara from 3D Spice. It comes with 3-layered wrapping and a super cool design. The unique spice blend and sour flavors infused with two of the world’s hottest chili peppers, perfectly complement guotie. Crack open a cold beer and you’ve got the best version of comfort food for a movie or game night.

Enjoy! (请慢用 qǐng màn yòng)

Fancy Other Dumpling Recipes

If you’re looking for a different kind of dumpling recipe, check out a few of my other recipes:

• Pork and Fennel Dumplings: For those who adore the anise-like flavor of fennel, these dumplings offer a unique twist on the classic pork filling.
• Chinese Steamed Dumplings: Light and delicate, these steamed beauties are perfect for health-conscious foodies without compromising on the rich taste of traditional pork dumplings.
• Pork Sheng Jian Bao: A Shanghai favorite, these pan-fried buns with juicy pork filling are a delightful combination of soft and crispy textures.

Easy Pork Pot Sticker Recipe

Recipe by LinCourse: DumplingsCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

3

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 x pack of frozen dumpling skin (pre-defrosted)

• 250g minced pork (replace this with other minced meat or firm tofu)

• 2 x spring onions

• 1 x eggplant

• 6g fresh ginger

• 180g peeled raw prawn

• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce/vegan oyster sauce

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 1 tablespoon corn flour

Directions

• Shred the eggplant and spread some salt over it, set it aside for 10 mins, wash the salt off and squeeze, and drain the eggplant well until dry.
• Cut the spring onion and fresh ginger to small chunks and blend them well (or chop them into very tiny bits).
• Put your minced meat (or Tofu) together with ginger, spring onion mix, add eggplant, 1 tbs light soy sauce, 1tbs oyster sauce (vegan oyster sauce), 1 tsp sugar, and salt to taste.
• Blend all ingredients well in your blender/mixer, or hand bland to make sure everything is mixed well.
• Grab one piece of the dumpling skin, place it on your hand, scoop ⅔ tbs of the stuffing, and place it in the middle of the dumpling skin.
• Place a raw prawn on top, put some water on your finger, and press the two ends firmly to close the side.
• Mix 1 tbsp of corn flour with 10 tbs of fresh water, mix well.
• Heat up your cooking pan, add a little vegetable oil, and spread it well in the pan.
• Let the oil warm up, gently place your pot stickers into the pan, careful not to burn your hand.
• Lower your heat to medium, give it 1 or 2 minutes until the bottom of your guotie is nicely browned.
• Take your corn flour and water mix, mix it again, and add it to the cooking pan, half of your Guotie should be bathed in the mix.
• Cover with lid and steam for 7-10 mins with medium or medium-low heat until it dries up (keep checking through the lid, make sure it is not burned).
• You should see the bottom of the guotie form a nice and crispy brown layer, make sure to double check your food is thoroughly cooked.
• Garnish with some green onion and sesame seeds (optional)
• Serve with sweet chili sauce or hot sauce!

The post Easy Pork Pot Sticker Recipe Crispy Dumplings appeared first on Lin's Chinese Kitchen.

I have to admit it was a bit of a shock when I first discovered that only fennel root was commonly sold in local shops here in the UK but not the stalks and fronds. If you happen to have the whole plant, don’t rush to throw away the upper part of this vegetable, as there are many ways to make good use of the stalks and fronds.

In this recipe, I will share with you my favourite dumpling stuffing mix with fennel stalks, fronds, and minced pork.

Making Chinese Dumplings

The first couple of times it may seem challenging to make the dumplings. But after a few tries, you will get the hang of it and soon realize how easy it is to make and how versatile this dish can be as well as your life easy feeding a big family.

One of the most important parts of dumplings is the dumpling skin/dumpling wrapper. You could easily purchase them from your local Chinese shop. Or, you could try our handmade dumpling wrappers recipe to make fresh dumpling skins at home! If you are making the dumpling skins at home, my suggestion is to work on your stuffing while your dough is resting. This will greatly reduce your overall cooking time.

Fennel Stalks and Fronds Dumplings Recipe

Recipe by LinCourse: DumplingsCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

20

minutes

This recipe shows you how to make delicious and healthy Chinese pork dumplings with fennel stalks and fronds.

Ingredients

• Fennel stalks and fronds 270g

• Minced pork 500g

• Spring onion 11g

• Fresh ginger 5g

• Fresh garlic 8g

• Bay leaf 1 piece

• Star anise 1

• Sichuan peppercorn powder 3 shakes

• Oyster sauce 1 tbsp

• Sugar 1 tsp

• Chinese cooking wine ¼ tsp

• Light soy sauce ½ tbsp

• Sesame oil ½ tbsp

• Salt to taste

• Dumpling skin (store-bought or handmade)

Directions

• Finely chop 11g spring onion, 5g fresh ginger, 8g fresh garlic, set them aside.
• Wash and drain your fresh fennel stalks and fronds, finely chop them, set them aside.
• Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil into a saucepan, and heat up the oil using medium heat.
• Add 1 piece of bay leaf, 1 piece of star anise, 3 shakes of Sichuan peppercorn powder, cook until the bay leaf is nicely browned. Turn off the stove.
• Add your finely chopped spring onion, fresh ginger, and garlic mix to the hot oil and mix quickly to release the aroma. Pick the bay leaf and star anise out, leaving the rest to cool on the side.
• Add 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ¼ of Chinese cooking wine, ½ tbsp of light soy sauce and ½ tbsp sesame oil into your minced pork, mix well.
• Add the cooled oil mix to your minced pork and mix well.
• Add your finely chopped fennel stalks and fronds into your minced pork mix, use your hand or your kitchen aid until the stuffing is well mixed.
• Take 1 piece of dumpling skin/wrapper, put a tsp of stuffing in the middle of the dumpling skin.
• Take the top edge and bottom edge and push them together, I don’t usually use water for this, but if your dumpling skin is store-bought and hard to stick together, you could try using some water to get the job done.
• Fold the sides with one of your hands, while the other hand holding your dumpling.
• I usually start boiling water when I start to fold the dumplings, with my big cooking pot, I could usually boil 10-15 dumplings in one go.
• Normally when you see the dumplings are floating, that means they are ready. I roughly boiled them for 6-7 mins before plating them.
• Serve.

How to Serve Chinese Dumplings

The traditional way to serve dumplings is with Chinese dark rice vinegar and chili oil. Garlic is also great when eating dumplings, you could try mince a few cloves and soak the garlic in your dark vinegar. If your dumpling is not salty enough, you could add some light soy sauce to your dipping sauce.

Variations

We hope you have enjoyed our fennel stalks and frond dumpling recipe. If you are not a fan of pork, you could easily replace the minced pork with scrambled eggs. Fennel fronds and scrambled eggs’ taste go very well together. 请慢用（qǐng màn yòng )!

Try It Yourself!

And there you have it! This is how you can make pork and fennel Chinese dumplings. Give it a go and show us your creations on Instagram by tagging us at @linschinesekitchen.

The post Pork and Fennel Stalks & Fronds Dumplings Recipe appeared first on Lin's Chinese Kitchen.

Chinese New Year Dumpling Traditions

During Chinese New Year, we usually put a clean coin in one of the dumplings and boil the dumplings close to midnight on New Year’s eve. The receiver of the coin will have good luck and good fortune in the upcoming year. This is an oddly similar tradition to what the Greeks do with their new year vasilopita. Let us know if in your country you have similar customs during special holidays or events.

Types of Chinese Dumplings

There are many types of dumplings in China. The most common types are boiled dumplings (水饺 shuǐ jiǎo), pan-fried dumplings (煎饺 zhēng jiǎo) and steamed dumplings (蒸饺 jiān jiǎo). This recipe is great for boiled and pan-fried dumplings. I usually prepare the stuffing when the dough is resting, which will greatly reduce your overall cooking time.

What are Chinese Dumplings Wrapped In?

Authentic Chinese dumplings are covered in a wrapper, also known as a skin. It’s chiefly made with flour and water as well as a little bit of salt. The process of making dumpling wrappers is straightforward. Rolling them, though, takes a little bit of practice. The secret is to get them down to a thinness that’s enough to keep them intact during boiling without being so thick they’ll be hard to eat.

Chinese Dumpling Wrapper Ingredients

To make authentic Chinese dumpling wrappers, you only need a few ingredients:

• 500g of plain flour – This is the base of the wrappers and can potentially be subbed with gluten free flour or other alternatives.
• 2g of salt – Just barely enough to add some seasoning.
• 240-250g of 30℃ temperature water – Of course you’ll need to make the flour wet in order to mould it.
• About 1 cup of extra flour for the rolling and shaping process

How to Make Chinese Dumpling Wrappers

The whole process of making the wrappers is quite simple:

1. Mix your 500g of flour with the 2g of salt. Then add the water and mix well until fully combined. You might have to experiment with the amount of water you use as I’ve found that different brands require different amounts.
2. Wash and dry your hands to prepare for the kneading process. Then knead for 3-5 mins until you get a consistency similar to pressing on your ear lobe.
3. Place the dough in a container and cover with cling film. Let it rest of 20 minutes.
4. Bring out the dough and knead it for another 1-2 minutes. Then put it back in the container, cover it with cling film then let it rest for 1 hour.
5. Sprinkle your extra flour on your working surface and poke a hole in the middle of your well-rested dough.
6. Gently and evenly expand it into a circle, then cut it into four equal sections. Take only one of them to work and put the remaining 3 back into the container and cover again with the cling film (this is important to keep the rest of the dough moist).
7. Roll the only dough that’s left on your working surface, until thin and long, then cut it into 2cm cubes (approximately 9g each).
8. Sprinkle some more extra plain flour on top of the cubes. Take one cube and sort it into a ball with your palms. (Do the same to the rest of the cubes). Flatten the balls with your palms.
9. Take your rolling pin and roll the flattened mini doughs into a thinner sheet. Now, this is important. Use one of your hands (not your dominant hand usually) to hold the top edge of the sheet, use the other hand to roll the bottom edge of the sheet while gently turning the sheet. (the reason for this step is to make the edges thinner because we will make folds with the edges). The size of your dumpling skin should be around 8-9 in diameter.

Storing Your Chinese Dumplings

The amount of dough for this recipe should be enough to serve 4 people. When I make dumplings I tend to make more and freeze the extra dumplings (uncooked). It can store up to 3 months. When I feel too bored to cook, I usually just take the frozen dumplings out and pan-fry them.

Now that you know how easy it is to make handmade Chinese dumpling skins/wrappers, check out our dumpling recipes and get inspired!

Handmade Chinese Dumpling Wrappers

Recipe by LinCourse: Dumplings, StapleCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

40

minutes

Cooking time

5

minutes

This recipe shows you how to make authentic handmade Chinese dumpling wrappers with the best method for keeping them thin and solid.

Ingredients

• Plain flour 500g

• Salt 2g

• 30 ℃ water 240-250g

• Extra plain flour 1 cup

Directions

• Mix 500g plain flour with 2g salt.
• Add 240g to 250g warm water, I find flour from different brands may require a different amount of water.
• Mix well using a fork or a pair of chopsticks.
• Wash and dry your hands, knead the dough for 3-5 mins. Press the dough gently with your finger, the texture should close to when you press your ear lobe.
• Cover with a piece of cling film and let the dough rest for 20 mins.
• Knead the dough again until the surface is smooth, approximately 1-2 minutes. Cover with a piece of cling film and let it rest a second time for 1 hour.
• Sprinkle some extra plain flour on your working surface, poke a hold in the middle of your well-rested dough.
• Gently and evenly expand the circle, cut it into 4 equal sections.
• Take only one of them to work and put the rest 3 back into the container and cover again with the cling film (this is important to keep the rest of the dough moist).
• Roll the only dough that’s left on your working surface, until thin and long, cut it into 2cm cubes (approximately 9g each).
• Sprinkle some more extra plain flour on top of the cubes.
• Take one cube and sort it into a ball with your palms. (Do the same to the rest of the cubes)
• Flatten the balls with your palms.
• Take your rolling pin and roll the flattened mini doughs into a thinner sheet.
• Now, this is important. Use one of your hands (not your dominant hand usually) to hold the top edge of the sheet, use the other hand to roll the bottom edge of the sheet while gently turning the sheet. (the reason for this step is to make the edges thinner because we will make folds with the edges.)
• The size of your dumpling skin should be around 8-9 in diameter.

Try It Yourself!

And there you have it! This is how you can make authentic handmade Chinese dumpling wrappers. You can use these to make any kind of dumpling with any stuffing you wish. Give the recipe a go and be sure to show us your creation by posting on Instagram and tagging us at @linschinesekitchen.

The post Handmade Chinese Dumpling Wrappers Recipe appeared first on Lin's Chinese Kitchen.

In this post, I’m going to give you what I consider to be the best Shumai recipe that can be made at home.

What are Shumai Dumplings?

Shumai (烧卖 shāo mài) is a type of traditional Chinese steamed dumpling commonly seen in Cantonese style restaurants. The historic record shows that a local dish of a similar description already existed in the Yuan dynasty, therefore people believe its history can be traced back at least 700 years ago.

Where Does Shumai Come From?

The story of Shumai is quite inspiring. Once upon a time, there was this restaurant. Compare to other restaurants nearby, this one was always quiet, and soon it might face being permanently shutting down. The owner of the restaurant one day looked at all the leftovers from the previous day, decided to mix the rice and meat, stuff them in a dumpling and sell them. However, because the stuffing was too much, he failed to close the dumplings as normally they would have, so instead, he just left them open and steamed them as they were. Without a name for this newly created dish, he told his staff to cook(烧) them and sell (卖) them. Unexpectedly these new dumplings sold out fast and gained a good reputation in the neighbourhood. Since then the name Shumai has been passed down through generations. There are many variations of Shumai in China, from north to south, ranging from vegetable to seafood to different kinds of meat as well as sticky rice (糯米 nuò mǐ) as stuffings.

How are Shumai Made?

In traditional Cantonese cuisine, Shumai are stuffed with either ground pork or shrimp mixed with other ingredients such as ginger, mushrooms, and spring onions. The cool thing about Shumai (and any kind of dumpling, for that matter) is that you can make it your own.

In this post, we are going to make pork, scallop and sticky rice stuffed Shumai together. It is not easy to find Chinese sticky rice (糯米 nuò mǐ) so I replace it with pudding rice, which works just fine.

How to Steam Shumai Without a Steamer?

Let me tell you a little secret: I do not own a steamer! The horror, I know right? Well, not quite. Steamers can be somewhat overrated, especially when you have a more versatile piece of equipment like a big pot. What I do is add enough water to last a few rounds of steaming. Then I use a steaming stand and make sure that the boiling water won’t reach the Shumai. I also cut a baking sheet into squares roughly a bit larger than the bottom of my Shumai to make sure the dough doesn’t stick to the stand. After that, all you need to do is turn on the heat, place the dumplings in once you get a rolling boil, and cover the pot.

Can You Reheat Shumai?

Yes, you can reheat Shumai. I believe the best way is to just steam them using the method I described above. Alternatively, you can lightly fry them, which is a treat in itself. The added crunch gives the dumplings a whole new dimension so I recommend making extra to fry later.

Shumai

Recipe by LinCourse: Dumplings, MainCuisine: Chinese, CantoneseDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

hours 

Cooking time

50

minutes

This recipe shows you how to make authentic homemade Cantonese Shumai with a ground pork and rice stuffing.

Ingredients

• Pudding rice ½ cup

• Green peas ¼ cup

• Sweet corn ¼ cup

• 10% fat minced pork 300g

• 10 dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms (香菇 xiāng gū)

• 1 purple onion

• 1 green bell pepper

• 3 spring onions

• 2 medium-sized carrots

• 5 cloves of garlic

• Scallops 50g

• Wangshouyi 13 spices ¼ tsp

• Light soy 1 tbsp

• Dark soy 1 tbsp

• Oyster sauce ½ tbsp

• Sugar 1 tsp

• Purple cabbage leaves x 5

• 3 tsp white vinegar

• Plain flour 240g

• Corn starch 120g

• Salt ¼ tsp

Directions

• Prepare the dough
• Boil 5 pieces of purple cabbage leaves in a cooking pot.
• Use a hand blender to blend and filter the juice (now it is dark purple).
• Add 3 tsp white vinegar into the juice, stir and wait for it to turn pink. Set it aside to cool.
• Mix 240g plain flour, 120g corn starch, ¼ tsp salt in a container.
• Divide the flour mix into two containers, each one should be around 180g.
• Pour 80-90g water into one of the flour mix, stir and knead. Pour 80-90g cooled pink cabbage juice into the other flour mix, stir and knead.
• Cover both doughs with a film and let them rest for 30 mins.
• Prepare the stuffing
• Soak 1/2 cup pudding rice in fresh water overnight.
• Soak 10 dried Chinese shiitake mushrooms in fresh water for 1 hour. Wash thoroughly before soaking.
• Peel the carrots and squeeze the mushrooms dry. Cut the mushrooms, bell pepper and carrots into small cubes, then place them in a bowl with green peas and sweet corns. Save the juice from the shiitake mushrooms for later use, because we don’t want all that flavour to go to waste.
• Finely blend the purple onion and 5 cloves of garlic.
• Finely blend the scallops.
• Stir fry the finely blended onion and garlic with a tsp of vegetable oil until softened.
• Add minced pork with blended scallops.
• Add 1 tbsp light soy, 1 tbsp dark soy, ½ tbsp oyster sauce, ¼ tsp Wangshouyi 13 spices and 1 tsp sugar into the mix. Stir fry well until thoroughly cooked. Turn off the stove. Add in the vegetables and mix well.
• Drained the soaked pudding rice, and put them in your slow cooker/rice cooker. Add your cooked and seasoned minced pork and vegetable mix to your rice.
• Pour the saved mushroom juice with fresh water into your slow cooker until the liquid reaches the surface of all the ingredients.
• Mix well and close the lid. Turn on the “rice” option and let it work the magic.
• After it is done. Don’t open the airway immediately to let the steam out. Instead, let it sit for another 10 mins.
• Open the lid, sprinkle some diced spring onion, mix well and let the rice stuffing cool while we prepare the Shumai skin.
• Assemble your Shumai
• Sort the rested dough into a long roll (white) and a larger piece with the same length (pinkish purple).
• Gently wrap the pinkish-purple skin outside the white dough. Roughly 2 cm diameter.
• Cut the long dough into small pieces (1 cm in length).
• Spread flour on top and flatten them.
• Use a rolling pin to roll the mini doughs into dumpling skins.
• Spread more flour between skins to prevent them from sticking to each other.
• After the rice stuffing is cool, spread the stuffing on a piece of skin. Remember to leave some space on the edge.
• Close your hand gently, while using the other hand to squeeze the “neck” of the Shumai. The first two may not come out the way you expected but it is ok. Keep trying and you will get the hang of it.
• After you are done with them, add baking sheets squares underneath each one and place them gently on your steamer or steaming stand (while the water underneath is boiling).
• Cover the lid and let them steam for 5 minutes. Voila!
• You could serve them with Chinese dark vinegar, eat them as they are, or like Yannis, eat them with his favourite sweet chilli sauce One bite is a mouth full of flavours. 您慢用(nín màn yòng)！

Try It Yourself!

And there you have it! You now know how to make authentic Chinese Shumai with ground pork, scallops and sticky rice. Give the recipe a try and let us know how it goes in the comments! We’d love to hear from you. Also, be sure to share your creation on Instagram and tag us @linschinesekitchen.

The post Authentic Shumai (Siu Mai) Chinese Steamed Dumplings Recipe appeared first on Lin's Chinese Kitchen.