This recipe gives you classic Chinese Pork and Cabbage dumplings that are tender and juicy! You can use the same recipe with any meat of your choice. Follow the tips to ensure the meat is moist every single time, to make the filling ahead, to freeze dumplings and more!

Dumplings are one of the most popular dishes from Chinese cuisine. They are often associated with Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival), but these days they are eaten year round in most places. The crescent-shaped dumplings we commonly see are known as ‘jiaozi’ in Chinese language. In the Western world, they are also known as potstickers.

Dumplings typically consist of ground meat and / or vegetable fillings wrapped in dough skins. In this post, I’ll be focusing on the classic Chinese Pork and Cabbage dumplings. You can use the same recipe with any meat of your preference (lamb, beef, chicken, etc.) I like them best served with a simple dipping sauce and chilli oil!

Origin of Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi)

In China, there are different folk stories and theories behind the origin of this dumpling and it’s name jiaozi. I’m sharing one of my favorite ones here, and I assure you it’s beautiful!

A long time ago, in the era of the Eastern Han (AD25 – 220), there was a great physician of traditional Chinese medicine. His name was Zhang Zhongjing. He was returning to his hometown one winter, after being away for a long time. On his way, he saw many of his villagers sick and suffering in the cold, without warm clothes or food. Most of them had frostbitten ears. He was very sad and was determined to help them. Zhang cooked lamb with black pepper and some warming medicinal herbs that could promote blood flow and thaw cold ears. He shredded the cooked mixture, wrapped it in dough skins, shaped them like ears and boiled them. He then put these ‘ears’ in bowls of broth, and distributed them to everyone affected by the cold. These ear-shaped dumplings were very tasty and people loved them. Zhang continued to distribute the dumpling soup for many days. By New Year’s Eve, everyone had recovered and they celebrated by imitating Zhang’s recipe and making these dumplings at home. They were called ‘jiao’er (tender ears) which later became known as ‘jiaozi’.

It is also believed that jiaozi may have been named so because they are shaped like horns. The Chinese word for horn is ‘jiao‘. Yet another theory is that they resemble the silver / gold ingots called ‘yuanbao‘ that were used as currency during the Ming dynasty. Later on, the first paper currency introduced was called ‘jiao zi‘. Serving ‘jiaozi‘ dumplings during Lunar New Year was thus thought to bring prosperity and wealth.

Dumplings – A Lunar New Year tradition

Lunar New Year is celebrated not only in China but also in many East Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc. There are several traditions associated with this celebration, one of which is families gathering together and making dumplings on the eve of Lunar New Year. They prepare the fillings, wrap them in thinly rolled discs of dough, and fold them into beautiful dumplings, while catching up on what’s been happening in each other’s lives. It’s a happy and interactive family-wide activity after which everyone eat the dumplings at midnight.

Students living far away from their homes may not always be able to go home to celebrate with families as the flight tickets are always very expensive during this time of the year. For them, friends are family. I am lucky to have experienced this tradition with some Chinese friends who were students at Singapore. We made dumplings and ate together at midnight. One of my special memories from life at Singapore!

How can you make Chinese Pork and Cabbage dumplings?

First, clean and chop napa cabbage finely, mix in some salt and keep aside. The cabbage will release water as it rests. This step is important because we need to remove as much water as possible from within the cabbage to ensure the filling is not wet. A wet filling is difficult to wrap and the wrappers will get soggy.

While the cabbage does its thing, combine ground meat with remaining ingredients. Read the tips in the next section to get moist and juicy dumplings when cooked.

After 15 minutes of keeping the cabbage aside, squeeze it with cheesecloth or your bare hands to drain all the liquid. Then, combine the drained cabbage and meat mixture. The dumpling filling is now ready.

Place the filling at the center of the dumpling wrapper. You can use either homemade or store-bought wrappers. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water, fold and pinch to seal. Watch the video to see a simple folding technique to make dumplings. Alternately, you can use dumpling moulds. Place the shaped dumplings on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Cook the dumplings by steaming, boiling or pan-frying. You can also serve these dumplings in soups. For this recipe post, I have steamed the dumplings using a traditional bamboo steamer (also shown in the video).

Serve dumplings warm with a dipping sauce.

How can you make the dumpling filling moist and juicy?

Whichever meat you end up using to make the dumpling filling, the following tips will help you make it moist and juicy:

• Use ground meat with at least 20% fat. Since most ready-to-use ground meat available in stores these days are lean meat, you can buy a meat cut with a high fat content (20% or more) and mince it yourself using a cleaver or food processor.
• Add a neutral oil. If you are using lean ground meat or simply don’t want to use animal fat, add some neutral-tasting oil like canola, sunflower or vegetable oil. This is what I most often do.
• Beat water into the meat. I always do this! Add some water into the filling and swirl it continuously in one direction till all of the water is absorbed by the meat, and the filling is sticky. The quantity of water that you need to use is something you have to determine through trial and error. I find that 3tbsp of water (added in parts) for 450g of meat works fine for me. You can also use stock or the water drained from cabbage in place of pure water. If the liquid already contains salt, don’t forget to reduce the salt you add to the filling.

What can you use in place of Napa cabbage?

Some good substitutes for Napa cabbage in this recipe are:

• Bok choy
• Savoy cabbage
• Green swiss chard

Whichever you choose to substitute napa cabbage, be sure to follow the same preparation method – add a few pinches of salt, leave aside to draw the natural water content out of the vegetables, and drain all of the liquid by squeezing the vegetables with a cheesecloth or your bare hands.

Can you make the dumpling filling ahead?

If you want to prepare the filling ahead and wrap the dumplings later, combine all ingredients except napa cabbage. Store the mixture in a airtight container or wrap the bowl tightly using plastic wrap. Refrigerate till you are ready to go. When it’s time to wrap the dumplings, drain all the liquid from napa cabbage as explained in the previous section and add to the filling mixture.

Freezing Dumplings

Place uncooked dumplings in a freezer-safe container ensuring the dumplings are not sticking to each other. If using sheet pan lined with parchment paper, seal the sheet pan tightly with plastic wrap after placing the dumplings on it.

Allow the dumplings to freeze completely. I leave them in the freezer overnight. To save freezer space, transfer the frozen dumplings to Ziploc bags and return to the freezer for later use. Cook frozen dumplings without thawing.

How to use or store extra filling / wrappers

• Freeze unused wrappers in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag for later.
• Add a small quantity of oil to a wok / skillet and stir fry the extra filling with or without more vegetables. Serve the stir fry with rice.
• Roll the extra filling into meatballs and fry them. Serve immediately or cool completely and freeze for later.

More East Asian Recipes

• Chinese Dumpling Dipping Sauce
• Thai Dipping Sauce (Prik Nam Pla)
• Hainanese Chicken Rice
• Rendang
• Thai Fried Rice (Khao Pad)

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