Chinese Style Chicken Dumplings

I am a huge fan of all things dumplings and dim sum. I could eat my weight in dim sum on a regular basis, I love it that much. For some reason I had never tried making my own dumplings, but now that I have I don't think I am stopping any time soon. These dumplings are really easy to make (though they do take some time) and I was beyond happy with the end result. Serve these with a little soy dipping sauce and you are good to go! I made these for dinner, along with a salad, and it was a great meal. For wrapping the individual dumplings, I followed this YouTube tutorial, which was simple and easy to follow. I used coconut aminos in this recipe since one of the guinea pigs trying these dumplings has a soy allergy. This is a very easy swap and it still tasted great.

Recipe adapted from The Kitchn

Makes about 70 to 80 dumplings.
1 pound of Napa cabbage
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 pound ground chicken
5-6 scallions, thinly sliced (1 cup total)
1 bunch of cilantro, finely chopped (3/4 cup total)
3 tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos
3 tablespoons grated ginger (about a 2-inch piece)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 eggs, whisked
1 12-ounce package of wonton wrappers (I used square but round works too)

Begin by preparing the Napa cabbage. Slice the cabbage into quarters, lengthwise. Slice the cabbage leaves into very fine ribbons, cutting across horizontally. in a colander, toss the cabbage strips with the tablespoon of salt. This will allow some of the moisture to be released from the cabbage. Allow the cabbage to sit for 5-10 minutes.

In the meantime, combine the chicken, scallions, cilantro, soy sauce, grated ginger, sesame oil and eggs in a bowl. Once the cabbage is ready, pick up small handfuls and squeeze out any remaining liquid form the cabbage. Add to the bowl with the chicken mixture. Add all the cabbage, and mix until fully combined.

Prepare your workstation for making the dumplings. set our your wonton wrappers, a small bowl of water, and a few cookie sheets lined with parchment paper (or just lay some parchment paper on your kitchen bench top).

Follow the YouTube Tutorial (here) to create your dumplings. At about 30 seconds is where you will see the folding technique. I used a scant tablespoon of filling for each one. Place the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Dip your finger in the water bowl, and wet 2 adjoining side of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half so they the side you moistened connect with the sides you did not. Pinch the edges together, removing any air pockets from the dumplings. Once you have the triangle shape ready, moisten one of the bottom corners of the triangle. Fold this towards the center and join it to the other bottom corner. Pinch the ends of the wonton wrapper together. Place on your parchment paper and continue with the next dumpling.



Once you have prepared the dumplings, you can either freeze them for later, or prepare them.

To prepare them, Heat about one scant tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Once heated, place a layer of dumplings in the pan. Don't over-crowd the pan as you don't want them to be touching. Fry for about one minute, or until the bottoms of the dumplings are golden. Add 3 tablespoons of water to the pan, cover and reduce heat to low. This will steam the dumplings. Cook for 5-10 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked through and the wonton wrapper have a noodle-like texture. Remove from heat and continue with the rest of the dumplings.

Enjoy with a side of soy sauce or your favorite dipping sauce.



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