Easy Pan-fried Shrimp and Chive Dumplings
I decided to make shrimp and chive dumplings (韭菜虾饺), but had no patience making the wheat starch skin from scratch. Moving forward, I wanted my shrimp dumplings and I wanted them pronto; I thought of a way to cheat, which I have seen at a few dim sum restaurants.
The answer is wrapping the shrimp dumplings with regular dumpling/potsticker wrappers or wonton skin. So, I settled on wonton skin.
I was going to make har gow or the ever-popular Cantonese shrimp dumplings but the thought of folding the delicate morsels discouraged me.
When it comes to cooking or eating, I am very spontaneous. It’s about what comes to mind at the very moment when I am hungry–a recipe from a cookbook, a mouthwatering picture online, or a sudden craving.
Cook’s Tips
Now, what is the technique to make shrimps Chinese-restaurant crunchy–the springy texture and mouth feel as if the shrimps “bounce” in your mouth and “crunch” when you bite into them? A secret that no Chinese chefs would teach you, but I will. Click here to learn all about it.
Crunchy and Delicious Shrimp and Chive Dumplings
Anyway, here is my shrimp and chive dumplings recipe–a popular pan-fried dumpling on dim sum menu. These shrimp and chive dumplings perked me up as soon as I had the first bite, and yes, those shrimps did “crunch” and “bounce” in my mouth and as delicious as the ones served at dim sum restaurants (I am serious!).
Click on the image in the gallery above to view complete photoset and also step-by-step picture guide on how to make shrimp and chive dumplings.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
5 Secrets to 20 Min Dinners
Get tricks for quick & easy meals!
Shrimp and Chive Dumplings
Shrimp and Chive Dumplings (韭菜虾饺) - These are a quick fix when you need dumplings fast!
Ingredients
- 12 oz. peeled and deveined shrimps, medium to big size
- 1 oz. chives, cut into very short pieces
- 1 teaspoon egg white
- 1/2 teaspoon tapioca starch 菱粉
- 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 3 dashes white pepper powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon oil
- wonton skin
- some cooking oil for pan-frying
Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Chinese black vinegar
Directions
-
1
Clean and rinse the shrimps with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels. Mix the soy-vinegar dipping sauce and set aside.
-
2
Cut the shrimps into small pieces (about 3-4 pieces per shrimp), add chives and mix well. Marinate the filling with the rest of the ingredients for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
-
3
Lay a wonton skin on a flat surface. Dab your index finger with some water and trace it along the four outer edges of the wonton skin. Add a teaspoon of the filling and fold the wonton skin towards the middle.
-
4
Dab some water to the wonton skin to seal tight. The dumplings should look somewhat round. Repeat the same until the filling is used up.
-
5
Heat up a pan on medium to low heat and add some oil. Transfer all dumplings into the pan and cover it with its lid. Pan-fry the dumplings on one site until golden brown, and then turn over to pan-fry the other site. (Add more oil to the pan if required.)
-
6
Repeat to make sure that both sites are equally done. Dish out and serve immediately with soy-vinegar dipping sauce.
Recipe Notes
You can use regular potsticker/dumpling wrappers but they are round in shape (hence smaller and harder to fold). If you use wonton skin like I did, buy those wonton skins which are not yellowish, but pale white or grayish white in color.
Sharon
Can I make a bunch of these and freeze them ?
Heide
I’ve heard you can only make ahead and freeze if you don’t use previously frozen shrimp. Otherwise if you use fresh shrimp, yes you can.
Joyce
Thank you for this recipe! I don’t have a food scale, do you know by volume what the ratio of chive to shrimp to should be, roughly?
Rasa Malaysia
It doesn’t matter. If you like chives use more, less if you don’t like it that much.