Chinese dumplings (jiao zi) are a popular dish for the upcoming Chinese New Year. Traditionally, extended families gather to make jiao zi together as it symbolises wealth and prosperity. Although typically filled with ground pork, vegetables, and ocassionally prawns, I fell in love with lamb dumplings in Shanghai. The strong, gamey lamb flavour is balanced by the sweet onion, spices, and fatty pork belly.
Makes around 30 to 40 dumplings
250g ground lamb
100g ground pork belly
Half an onion, finely diced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
Half teaspoon ground cumin
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
Salt & pepper
Dumpling wrappers
What to do
Sweat onions ? in vegetable oil for about 10mins. Add garlic and cook for another 5mins. Set aside to cool.
Combine meat, onion, garlic, spring onions, cumin, soy sauce and cooking wine in a large bowl. Season with salt & pepper. Mix and add a little egg to help ingredients bind. Let stand for at least 1 hour to allow the flavours to meld together.
Place approximately 1 Tablespoon of filling into centre of each dumpling wrapper. Dab a little water around outside to help it to stick, fold into half and pleat one side of wrapper, pinching the wrapper together after each pleat.
Thanks Nick for taking the photos
How to cook dumplings
Steam for around 8mins, or
Boil in hot water until dumplings float, or
Pan fry in 2 Tablespoon vegetable oil for 5mins until base is crispy and golden, then add half cup water to pan, put lid on, and steam until water is absorbed.
Dipping sauce ingredients
1-part light soy sauce
2-parts Chinese black vinegar
Fresh ginger, julienned ?
Fresh chilli, chopped (optional)
Chilli oil to taste
I highly recommend chopping up your own meat, rather than buying pre-ground, as it gives the filling a little more bite in texture. Here I made dumpings two ways - boiled and pan fried. I like the crispy base on the pan fried version (which is where the name “potsticker” orginated), but boiling the dumplings allows the filling flavours to really shine through.
