Colourful dumplings for Chinese New Year
Appetizing & tasty, these colourful dumplings with pork and prawn filling make a perfect festive dish for family & friends.
- Prep time
- 50 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 80 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 150 g all-purpose flour
- 75 ml water
- 150 g all purpose flour
- 200 g spinach
- 200 ml water
- 150 g all purpose flour
- 250 g carrot
- 150 ml water
- 150 g all purpose flour
- 200 g purple cabbage
- 150 ml water
- 400 g minced pork
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground Sichuan pepper
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp scallions (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 200 g minced prawns
- 160 g shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped (40g in dried form)
Instructions
- 1
Bring water to a boil. Briefly blanch spinach then drain. Transfer to a food processor to puree.
- 2
Use a fine sieve to extract 75 ml of spinach juice for the dough (add a little water if necessary).
- 3
Set the leftover spinach aside.
- 4
Simmer sliced carrot in water for 5 minutes. Then transfer everything to a food processor. Blend until very smooth.
- 5
Use a sieve to extract about 90g semi-liquid puree for the dough.
- 6
Set the leftover carrot aside.
- 7
Simmer purple cabbage (cut into small pieces) in water for 5 minutes.
- 8
Drain the cabbage to get 75 ml purple liquid for the dough.
- 9
Add water/green dye/orange dye/purple dye to the flour gradually. Mix until no more loose flour can be seen. Then combine and knead with your hand until smooth.
- 10
Leave to rest covered for 40–60 minutes.
- 11
Place pork in a mixing bowl. Add salt, Sichuan pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, scallions & ginger.
- 12
Gradually add 5 tablespoons of the water in which the shiitake mushrooms have been soaked (or just water) to the meat while swirling in one direction until no more liquid can be seen.
- 13
Add minced prawn, mushroom and 200g carrot puree, 150g spinach puree that was left from the last process. Mix well.
- 14
Roll part of the dough into a rope then cut into small pieces (always keep the unused dough covered).
- 15
Press each piece into a small disc. Then use a rolling pin to flatten it into a thin disc (Please refer to the video below). Dust with flour if the dough sticks.
- 16
Place a spoonful of filling in the middle of a wrapper. Seal the wrapper into the shapes of your choice (Please refer to the video below). You can learn other shapes in my post “Ten ways to fold dumplings”).
- 17
Bring a pot of water to a full boil over a high heat. Gently slide in dumplings. Push them around with the back of a spoon to avoid sticking. Cover with a lid.
- 18
When the water comes back to a full boil, add about 120 ml / 0.5 cup of cold water then cover. Repeat the procedure twice. When fully cooked, the dumplings should be plump and floating on the surface.
- 19
Transfer the dumplings to a colander. Briefly run cold water over. Drain and serve immediately.
- 20
Heat up a little oil (just enough to cover the surface of your pan) over a high heat. Place in dumplings.
- 21
When the bottom part of the dumplings becomes golden brown, pour in cold water (enough to cover 1/3 of the dumplings). Cover with a lid.
- 22
Uncover when the water evaporates completely. Cook another 30 seconds or so to crisp up.
- 23
Place dumplings in the steamer basket (To avoid sticking: coat with oil/line with parchment paper/using carrot slices).
- 24
Bring the water to a full boil, then place the basket in. Cook with lid on over a medium heat for around 10 minutes.