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Recipe

Chinese New Year Dumplings

70 min • 4 to 6 servings •
Kathy Chen
A plate of freshly steamed dumplings with a small bowl of soy sauce, set on a kitchen counter.

Ms. Cherry’s class made dumplings to celebrate Chinese New Year this year — and then ate them! The dumplings, filled with meat and cabbage or other ingredients, are similar in shape to ancient Chinese money. Chinese eat them during the holiday in hopes that will bring them lots of money in the coming new year.

Ready

  • ½-pound ground pork, marinated (see recipe below)
  • 2 slices ginger, minced
  • 2 green onions, minced
  • ⅓ cup water
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups Chinese cabbage, minced and uncooked
  • 1 package dumpling wrappers, room temperature (available in produce section of local grocery stores)

    • Marinade

  • 1 teaspoon cooking wine
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce (can substitute with light)
  • dash salt
  • dash sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch

    • Set

  • 1 small bowl for marinading ground pork
  • 1 large bowl for mixing filling
  • 1 bowl filled with water
  • mixing spoon
  • small spoon to scoop filling
  • 1 cookie sheet, dusted with flour for putting wrapped dumplings
  • 1 large pot with water, set to boil
  • 1 slotted spoon, to scoop up dumplings

    • Go!

  • Mix pork with marinade in small bowl, and let sit for 30 minutes (in fridge is fine).
  • Put marinaded pork, ginger, green onion and salt in big bowl.
  • Add 1 tablespoon from the ⅓ cup of water to the mixture. Stir IN ONE DIRECTION for three minutes. Add another tablespoon and stir for three more minutes in the same direction. Repeat until all the water is absorbed. (This is to tenderize the meat; you can skip if you find too time consuming, and just mix up the ingredients.)
  • Add the minced cabbage and mix again. Let filling mixture sit for 30 minutes so flavors can meld.
  • To wrap the dumplings, take one wrapper and put a small spoonful of the filling (about 1-½ teaspoon, but use your discretion) in the middle of the wrapper.
  • Moisten all edges of the wrapper with a finger dipped in the bowl of water.
  • Then fold over the wrapper in half and press down, so it looks like a half-circle (if using round wrappers) or rectangle (if using square wrappers). Press down tightly to seal; you can make creases along the sealed edges for a pretty effect. Place on the floured baking sheet.
  • Repeat until all filling is used up.
  • Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a bowl on high heat. When the water is boiling, carefully put in the dumplings. (If too many, you may want to do this in batches.)
  • When the dumplings come to the surface, they should be ready to eat. (You can cut one open to make sure the pork is cooked through.)
  • Serve hot, with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil and dash of red-pepper oil if you like.

    • Recommendations

    If not serving immediately, toss the dumplings in some cooking oil (avoid strong-tasting oil like peanut or olive oil; stick with corn or vegetable oil) and lie flat on a plate so the dumplings don’t stick together.
    The dumplings can also be fried in oil after they cool down for “pot-stickers.”

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