Sammy Shi from Shanghai Street in Melbourne fries the bottom of the dumplings until golden, before placing a lid on the fry pan and cooking them through. Photo: Simon Schluter
Have your say
Ingredients
For dumpling skin:
500g flour (low-gluten)
220ml cold water (plus or minus 10ml depending on texture)
1g salt
* Alternatively, dumpling wrappers can be bought at most Asian grocery stores.
For filling:
500g chicken mince
30-40 prawns, depending on the size
100ml water
100g ginger, finely chopped
2g ground white pepper
15g salt
7g sugar
3g chicken powder (optional)
10g sesame oil
Method
* See photo gallery at bottom of recipe to see how Sammy Shi makes dumplings.
For filling:
1. Mix the chicken mince and water until sticky
2. Add salt, sugar, chicken powder (optional) and ginger and combine
3. Add roughly chopped prawn and combine
4. Add the white pepper, then sesame oil and combine well
For dumpling skin:
1. Put flour, water and salt together, mix until smooth
2. Wrap the dough with cling wrap for about half an hour
3. Pull off some of the dough and roll it into a long snake-like cylinder
4. Cut off a small portion, press it flat with your hand
5. Using a small rolling pin, roll the small piece of dough into a circle. Use one hand to roll and the other to turn the dough, so it's a circle.
6. Using a small wooden spatula, place the filling in the centre of the dumpling skin.
7. Fold the bottom half of the dumpling wrapper, the side closest to you, over the filling so it meets at the edges. Press and the sides together so the filling is contained.
Cooking the dumplings:
These dumplings can be boiled or fried.
Boiling:
Place dumplings in a wok (or pot) of boiling water. Using a slotted spoon gently move them around to prevent sticking on bottom. When the dumplings are cooked they will float to the surface.
Frying:
Heat a fry pan then cover the bottom with about half a centimetre of vegetable oil, just enough to brown the bottoms of the dumplings. Once happy with the colour, add 1-2 ladles of hot water to the pan and cover with a lid to steam and fry the dumplings (about 6-8 minutes).
Keep the lid on for about 4 to 4.5 minutes, until the water steams off. The noise will reduce as this happens. Take the lid off and keep cooking the dumplings for 15-25 seconds, which will help the dumplings to be crispy.
NOTE: The water and oil will splash up when adding water into the hot pan, so put the lid on very quickly and proceed with caution. Also, when the lid comes off, be careful of the splash.
Click for more photos
Making dumplings at Shanghai Street
Mixing the dumpling dough by machine, but Shi also makes dough by hand. Photo: Simon Schluter
