Happy Chinese New Year! Over the weekend, I celebrated by guest chef-ing at Ted and Amy Supper Club in Brooklyn. We served a four-course meal for 14 people: shrimp and chive dumplings, watercress and mushroom noodle soup, red-cooked chicken with chestnuts, and for dessert, homemade black sesame ice cream with almond cookie crumble. Even I left in a food coma, and I had spent most of the day running around.
(Clockwise from top left: 1) Black sesame ice cream with almond cookie crumble, 2) Kara setting up beforehand, 3) Dinner underway, 4) Four tables long!)
It has been a while since I’ve featured a dumpling recipe on this site, so on Saturday afternoon, in the midst of preparing for the dinner, I pan-fried some extra dumplings for lunch and snapped a few photos.
The beauty of shrimp dumplings, other than being delicious, is that they take about half the cooking time of the standard pork dumplings, only about 3 minutes in the pan instead of 5 or 6. Chives add a refreshing crispness without overwhelming the delicate flavor of the shrimp, as scallions or leeks might. So if you’re a huge dumpling fan, try out this recipe below, for Chinese New Year or just a fun weekend project. The most challenging part is the folding. But once you get comfortable and crank out all 50, you can freeze extras for later. (And if you’re in New York, I also offer entire classes on dumpling making.)
(Mmm…crispy…)
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Shrimp and Chive Dumplings
Makes about 50
- 1 pound fresh shrimp
- 1/4 cup finely chopped chives
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 pinch pepper, preferably white
- 1 pack dumpling wrappers
- 1 to 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Peel, devein, and finely chop the shrimp.
- In a large bowl, combine the shrimp, chives, soy sauce, vinegar, and pepper.
- Unwrap the dumpling wrappers and keep them covered in plastic or under a damp towel.
- If you’re just starting out with dumpling folding, follow this step-by-step guide that shows a basic method with 3 pleats per dumpling. If you’d like to work your way up to 5 pleats, start in the middle and do 3 pleats towards the middle from one direction and and 2 pleats toward the middle from the other. (See these photos for reference.)
- Pan-frying*: Have about 1/3 cup water, a large skillet, and a lid for the skillet handy. Heat the skillet with about 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat. Wait about 1 minute for the oil to heat up. (You can also use a small piece of extra dumpling wrapper or piece of bread to test whether the pan is hot enough; it should sizzle immediately upon being placed in the pan.) Once the pan is hot, place the number of dumplings you want to cook smooth side down in the pan. Allow them to sear for about 1 to 2 minutes, until the bottoms turn golden brown.
- Add the water, cover immediately with a lid, and let the dumplings steam for another 1 minute. Uncover the lid to allow any extra water to evaporate before turning off the heat. Loosen the dumplings with a spatula and transfer them to a plate. (Whatever you don’t cook can be frozen for later. Dumplings can be put on the pan frozen, no defrosting required. Just add one extra minute of steaming.)
- Transfer to serving plates, and serve with soy sauce.
*Note: To boil the dumplings instead, bring a pot of water to boil. Add dumplings and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain well.
Looks so good! Wish I lived in New York!
These are absolutely stunning, Diana! I am so inspired to make them :)
Kelly – Thanks! They were fun to make too. And relaxing.
The dumplings are gorgeous! I need to get in the kitchen and get some practice making some- my last attempt was less than successful!
I just learned how to fold dumplings from a Chinese friend a few weeks ago. She taught me to do a pork and cabbage filling and we fried them in a pan too. I’m excited to try your shrimp dumplings!
WOW–these dumplings are beautiful. I’ve never made dumplings myself but really want to give it a try this year!
Wrapping dumplings is so satisfying – do you like the boiled ones too?
Oh my goodness, my knees buckled when I saw these! So beautiful. I need to practice my dumpling wrapping/folding!
-Joanne
Hungry Female – Yup! I like the boiled ones too, just not has much as pan-fried dumplings. The crispiness somehow enhances the juiciness of the dumpling fillings. :)
Now this is something I can get behind. Great pic and recipe. Thanks.
Wow these are so pretty! I just had dumplings a friend made and I’m so inspired to try this now. Hopefully I can find the dumpling wrappers nearby. Thank you!
I am such a sucker for dumplings and these look absolutely amazing!!! Dumpling wrappers aren’t readily available in Israel so I’ll have to make my own, but it’s totally worth it :-) I would love to take one of your dumpling classes when I’m next home in New York!
Katherine – Please do! I teach dumpling classes about once a month these days. And I’m so curious what Chinese food in Israel is like.
I made my first dumplings a few months ago. They were time consuming, but sooooo good!
http://www.aroundtheworldfood.com/2012/01/29/chinese-pork-dumplings/
The photo guide is 404? Would love to learn how to make these…
John – It looks like the photo guide page is back up, after some server errors before. Thanks for pointing it out and I hope you enjoy the dumplings!
Amazing! I found this on Stumbleupon and I’m already drooling! I told my friend and she is already looking up where to buy dumpling wrappers in our area (we live in New Hampshire). Thank you so much for sharing this!