Authentic Chinese Dumplings

Chinese Dumplings are one of my favorite delicacies, but I often find that the wonton wrappers are too thick. Most made by restaurant are frozen anyhow. I would rather have a thin wrapper with loads of fresh filling, like my buddy Willis makes!

Authentic Chinese Dumplings is a recipe straight from a Chinese restaurant owner. Learn how to make perfect little folds and the fry and steam techinque of cooking. #chinesedumplings #porkdumplings www.savoryexperiments.com


 

Authentic Chinese Dumplings is a recipe straight from a Chinese restaurant owner. Learn how to make perfect little folds and the fry and steam techinque of cooking.

How does a good Italian girl come across Authentic Chinese Dumplings? It just so happens that one my dearest friends is Chinese and his family owned a Chinese food restaurant in Detroit, Michigan for decades.

I’ve enjoyed learning about traditional Chinese cuisine compared to the Americanized dishes, one of which are dumplings.

Did you know that the expertise of a dumpling maker comes with how many folds they are able to crease in a single dumpling? There are also endless varieties of ways to fold a dumpling. My friend uses the “potsticker” fold.

Authentic Homemade Dumplings (Potstickers) recipe! Learn how to make pork and shrimp dumplings using a real Chinese restaurant recipe! Plus a tutorial on how to fold a dumpling and dumplings dipping sauce.

After the dumplings making scene in Crazy Rich Asians, I’m sure a lot more people are aware of the long history and family significance of not only folding dumplings, but the dumpling filling.

My buddy shows us how to do an eight creased potsticker, but some of the masters can you use this same size wrapper and pinch 16! Different folds are preferred for different cooking methods, like triangular for deep frying or the “purse” and “nurse cap” for steaming.

In order to do the fold, hold the filled dumplings in the palm of your hand and using your thumb and forefinger, pinch together the folds. Don’t worry if you can’t do eight. I was only able to get about five.

Authentic Chinese Dumplings is a recipe straight from a Chinese restaurant owner. Learn how to make perfect little folds and the fry and steam techinque of cooking. #chinesedumplings #porkdumplings www.savoryexperiments.com

Pinching the folds will not be the most challenging part of making your own Authentic Chinese Dumplings though, it will be finding circular wonton wrappers, sometimes sold as wonton skins.

We get ours at a local Chinese grocery store, most cities will have at least one. After that, the rest of ingredients are pretty mainstream.

Authentic Homemade Dumplings (Potstickers) recipe! Learn how to make pork and shrimp dumplings using a real Chinese restaurant recipe! Plus a tutorial on how to fold a dumpling and dumplings dipping sauce.

We used both pork and shrimp for filling our dumplings, but you can omit either, if you’d like. If you take out the ground pork, the filling won’t be as cohesive, as the mixture and the fat helps to hold it all together.

Make sure you make a potsticker dipping sauce, egg roll dipping sauce or homemade Chinese hot mustard to accompany them.

Make Authentic Chinese Dumplings for an appetizer or as an entree, a regional favorite in Detroit. You can also make them ahead of time and freeze for 3-4 months.

Authentic Homemade Dumplings (Potstickers) recipe! Learn how to make pork and shrimp dumplings using a real Chinese restaurant recipe! Plus a tutorial on how to fold a dumpling and dumplings dipping sauce.

If you enjoyed this Chinese recipe, check these out:

Authentic Chinese Dumplings is a recipe straight from a Chinese restaurant owner. Learn how to make perfect little folds and the fry and steam techinque of cooking. #chinesedumplings #porkdumplings www.savoryexperiments.com
Authentic Homemade Dumplings (Potstickers) recipe! Learn how to make pork and shrimp dumplings using a real Chinese restaurant recipe! Plus a tutorial on how to fold a dumpling and dumplings dipping sauce.

Authentic Chinese Dumpling Recipe

4.34 from 15 votes
Authentic Chinese Dumplings is a recipe straight from a Chinese restaurant owner. Learn how to make perfect little folds and the fry and steam techinque of cooking. 
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 50 dumplings

Ingredients

Dumplings:

Dipping Sauce:

Instructions

  • In a large mixing bowl, combine ground pork through sesame oil and 2 egg whites. Mix well using your hands. In a small bowl, combine remaining egg white and a splash of water to use as the binder on your won ton wrapper.
  • Place on wrapper on a flat surface and using your fingers and the egg white mixture, moisten the edges. Place a ball of 1-2 tablespoons of pork mixture in the center. Fold wrapper in half and secure one end with your thumb. Gently pinch one small fold and move your thumb over it, pressing lightly to deal. Continue with seven more folds (or however many you can get) to secure it closed. Repeat with remaining wrappers.
  • In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add a few dumplings, making sure to not crowd the pot and gently fry on all sides until nice and brown, approximately 3-4 minutes.
  • Add a small amount of water, just a splash, and cover to finish cooking by steaming, approximately 2-3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet. You can place them in a warm oven to stay hot until all batches are complete. Add additional vegetable oil as needed to prevent dumplings from sticking.
  • After you are done pan frying and steaming all of your dumplings, add all of the dipping sauce ingredients to the same frying pan without rinsing it out. Stir until it comes to a low simmer, then remove and serve immediately with dumplings.
  • If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how they were! 

Nutrition

Calories: 73 kcal, Carbohydrates: 6 g, Protein: 5 g, Fat: 2 g, Saturated Fat: 1 g, Cholesterol: 30 mg, Sodium: 400 mg, Potassium: 66 mg, Vitamin A: 20 IU, Vitamin C: 1.2 mg, Calcium: 23 mg, Iron: 0.8 mg
Author: Jessica Formicola
Calories: 73
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: chinese dumplings, pork dumplings, shrimp dumplings
Did you make this recipe?I’d love to see your recipes – snap a picture and mention @savoryexperiments or tag #savoryexperiments!
Jessica Formicola in her ktichen

About the Author

Jessica Formicola

Jessica the mom, wife and food lover behind Savory Experiments. She is obsessed with butter, salt and bacon and spends all her time in the kitchen and behind a camera. Jessica is a contributor to PopKitchen by Parade, Better Homes & Gardens, The Daily Meal Food + Travel and more!

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Questions and Reviews

  1. I am going to “try” to make these for my family along with other Asian dishes for a dinner. My question is, can these be completely made a day ahead? How would I store? Or, can I cook the meat and such up? Appreciate any info. Also, no luck on round skins, have to do with square. Thank you! Love your website!

    1. Thank you, Mary! You can totally make these the day before. Just assemble everything and put them covered in the fridge. You can also freeze them! Let us know how it goes- the wrapping is the only hard part, the rest is pretty easy.

  2. 5 stars
    They are super delicious! Thank you so much for this Recipe. From now on this Will be my go to dumpling recipe 🙂

  3. Where, and at what point is the Shrimp added to the mixture? I do not see that stated in the directions.

      1. This does not address Christies question! When is the shrimp added in or is the ingredient a mistake that shouldn’t be included in the recipe.

        1. Actually it does address her comment, “ground pork THROUGH” sesame oil includes all ingredients in the list between ground pork and sesame oil, including shrimp.

  4. Yes, Yes, Yes! I love dumplings but they are one of the Asian dishes I’ve been afraid to try. Thanks for the detailed instruction!

  5. 5 stars
    We love Chinese dumplings although have always been somewhat intimidated by the thought of making them from scratch. Thank you so much for this insightful and inspiring post!