Date Published: Dec 16th, 2021 | Last Updated: Dec 16th, 2021
Author: Abby |Category: mains, Asian, vegetarian
Serves: ~100 dumplings | Prep time: 30 mins | Cook time: 15 mins

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These veggie dumplings are a mix of carrots, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and chives. The slight crunch of the veggies with the umami soft mushrooms make these my go-to dumplings to make! They’re also great to bring at parties when you don’t know everyone’s dietary preferences. I think they’re best pan-fried but you can also steam or boil them too.

Warning: this recipe makes a buttload of dumplings (~100), but don’t worry, they last ages in the freezer and is perfect for those days when you don’t feel like putting in any effort to feeding yourself or if you just want something quick and easy. This is pretty much the rule of most Asian households when it comes to making dumplings. You either make a ton of dumplings for yourself and cram it in the freezer to slowly eat them throughout the next year or gift them to friends and family. When you break it down, on average I’ll eat about 15 dumplings per meals (20 if I’m really hungry), which only results in 6-7 meals.

Fun story: at the start of the COVID pandemic when everyone was raiding all the supermarkets, Toby and I bought a ton of minced pork and made 500 dumplings in one night incase there actually was a food shortage or if the pandemic became too out of control and we couldn’t safely leave the house to buy groceries. From memory the pork wasn’t too expensive, but the napa cabbage we used was like $10 😐.

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the recipe! If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section! You can follow me on instagram, youtube and facebook to see all the recipes I post!

Happy cooking!

Recipe adapted from: Woks of Life

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 2 Tbsps minced ginger
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 3 cups shiitake mushrooms*, chopped
• 3 cups cabbage, finely chopped
• 3 cups carrot, finely shredded
• 2 cups garlic chives, finely chopped
• 1 tsp white pepper
• 1.5 Tbsps sesame oil
• 6 Tbsps Shaoxing cooking wine or dry sherry
• 4 Tbsps soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• ¼ cup oil
• salt, to taste
• 2 packages of pre-made dumpling skins (~100 skins) (follow the original recipe if you want to make your own skins instead)

* You can use either fresh shiitake mushrooms or the dehydrated ones and rehydrate them by soaking in hot water for 10 mins. You’ll have to cut off the hard woody stems before chopping. I find the dehydrated mushrooms to have better umami flavour than the fresh ones.

Directions:

Over MED heat, cook the minced ginger in some oil until fragrant (~30secs). Then add the onions to the pot and stir-fry until translucent.

Add the mushrooms to the pot and cook until tender.

Add the cabbage and carrot to the pot until veggies are tender and the released liquids have been cooked off. Transfer the entire mixture to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixing bowl: chives, white pepper, sesame oil, cooking wine, soy sauce, sugar, oil, and salt to taste (the soy sauce is usually enough).

Mix all the ingredients together. You’re ready to wrap! (If there’s too much liquid, you can add some cornstarch to thicken the liquid, but some liquid pooling at the bottom will be inevitable due to the salt drawing out the fluids from the veggies.)

After wrapping them, you can either cook them straight away (see instructions below), or freeze them. When freezing, arrange the dumplings neatly in a tray and try not to let them all touch or else they’ll stick together when frozen. Once the dumplings are frozen, you can place them in an airtight container or bag.

How to Cook Dumplings:

Check out this post on more detailed step-by-step instructions.

There are a few methods to cook dumplings, but my favourite way is to pan-fry them for that extra crunch. If you prefer to be a little healthier, then boiling them would be the way to go.

A. Pan-frying

You’ll need a flat wok or pan with a lid for this method. The method is essentially first steaming the dumplings with a bit of water and oil. The steam from the water cooks the filling and the skin of the dumpling, then the remaining oil cooks the bottom of the dumplings for crispiness. 👌

1. Heat up a flat wok or pan on MED heat. Add a drizzle of neutral oil and place the dumplings fat side down on top of the oil. Try not to crowd the dumplings so they don’t stick together and makes it easier to flip.
2. Add 1 cm of water to the pan and put the lid on.
3. Once all of the water evaporates, remove the lid and continue cooking the dumplings until the bottoms are toasty golden brown. Then flip the dumplings over and cook the other side of the dumplings until it’s golden brown. You can add a little extra oil into the pan to help the other side brown. Serve!

B. Boiling

This method is a lot more straight-forward. You’re essentially boiling the dumplings until the insides are cooked. Make sure your dumplings are sealed well, otherwise the filling will fall out in the boiling process. Try not to over boil it, or else the skin will become too soggy and break apart. If your dumplings are stuck together from the freezing process, just throw them in the pot altogether. Do not try to break them apart of else the skin will break. They will naturally separate in the pot.

1. In a large pot, fill 2/3 of the pot with water and bring it to a boil.
2. Once the water is boiling (we want a big boil where the water is moving vigorously, not just a simmer), gently add in the dumplings.
3. When the water starts boiling again, add in a cup of cold water.
4. When the water starts boiling again, add in ANOTHER cup of cold water.
5. When the water boils a fourth time, the dumplings should be ready. The dumplings should be floating and you’ll see little pockets of air under the skin to signify the inside is cooked. If not, boil them for a little longer.
6. When the dumplings are cooked, strain them from the pot to a plate and add a drizzle of sesame oil (or neutral oil) and mix it around to prevent them from sticking together. Serve!

Summarized Recipe: