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Perfect Potsticker Dumplings for Jamie Oliver’s Food Tube

With Chinese New Year just around the corner, now is the perfect time to whip up a batch of potsticker dumplings

The combo of a lush, juicy pork filling and crispy golden bottoms is so divine that stopping at one is impossible! The crescent-shaped beauties are also said to bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year because they look like the golden ingots (a form of currency) of ancient China.

And as for the meaning of the spicy dipping sauce? Well, we just like it spicy!

If you’re left with any extra filling, just form into patties and pan fry for a delicious burger.

Serves
Makes about 32 dumplings
Ingredients

for the dough
300g plain flour
200mL boiling water
Pinch of salt

for the filling
300g pork shoulder or minced pork
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp corn flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of white pepper
3 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine, or dry sherry
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
200g bok choy, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely sliced
2 tsp ginger, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced

for the dipping sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp chilli oil

to cook
1 tbsp oil
100ml water

The combo of a lush, juicy pork filling and crispy golden bottoms is so divine that stopping at one is impossible! The crescent-shaped beauties are also said to bring good luck and prosperity for the New Year because they look like the golden ingots (a form of currency) of ancient China.

And as for the meaning of the spicy dipping sauce? Well, we just like it spicy!

If you’re left with any extra filling, just form into patties and pan fry for a delicious burger.

GET THE METHOD →

Mix the flour, salt and boiling water in a large bowl you have a rough ball shape. Remove from the bowl and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Divide the dough into two. Use your thumbs to make a hole in the middle of each piece, and them stretch them out into bagel shapes. Cover the ‘bagels’ with cling film and rest for 20 minutes.
OUR
TIP!
If making your own mince from pork loin, cut the pork into 1cm pieces before chopping into a fine dice – a cleaver or heavy knife will make this step easier.
Combine the pork mince, baking soda, cornflour, seasonings and liquid ingredients. Stir vigorously in one direction until all the liquid is absorbed and the pork begins to bind to itself. Mix in the bok choy, spring onions, ginger and garlic.
Lightly flour your work surface. Divide each piece of rested dough into 16 even-sized pieces.
OUR
TIP!
The easiest way to do this is to cut a ‘bagel’ in half to get two sausages of the same size. Line the two sausages up lengthways, then cut in half to create four mini sausages. Now line the four mini sausages lengthways to form a square shape, and then cut through all four sausages three times to form 16 small pieces of dough. This will ensure that each piece of dough is a similar size, leading to equal-sized dumplings!
Lightly dust the dough pieces with flour. Place a piece onto the work surface with its cut side down, and flatten with a floured palm. Roll each piece of dough into a thin disc, roughly 8cm in diameter.
OUR
TIP!
For a faster route to wrappers, you can roll the dough out to 1mm in thickness then use an 8cm cookie cutter.
Place a heaped teaspoon of filling into the centre of each wrapper. Fold over into a half moon shape. Cradle the wrapper in one hand and use the other hand to create pleats along the edge furthest away from you, pinching the two edges together after each pleat as you go, to create a crescent shape. Avoid getting any filling on the edges and be sure to pinch firmly as you pleat to create a good seal.
Watch the the video below for a step-by-step guide to wrapping potstickers.
Cook the dumplings in two batches of 16. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry the dumplings flat side down for about 2 minutes until a golden crust forms on the bottom. Add the cold water and immediately cover with a lid (or a heavy plate if your pan doesn’t have a lid). Let the steam cook the dumplings for 8 minutes or until all the water has evaporated. Remove the lid and let the dumplings to cook for a further minute until they lift off from the bottom of the pan easily. You might need a spatula to help them along if they are a little sticky, being careful not to break the wrapper. Repeat with the second batch.
While the dumplings are cooking, prepare the spicy soy sauce by mixing sesame oil, soy sauce, and chilli oil.
Serve the dumplings in a big pile, making sure to show off the golden bottoms. Drizzle the spicy soy sauce on top, or serve on the side for dipping.
  • Lee

    Thanks for all your videos and this video motivated me to make dumplings for the first time. Living in hk, not many of my family members know how to make this BC it too convenient for us to get it from shops. I plan to try your other recipes too! Please teach us how to make other dishes that we find in the 茶餐廳 too!

  • Ems

    Awesome!! Trying this recipe tonight. Wish me luck!!! 🙂

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  • You girls are amazing!! I love your youtube channel and your recipes

    • Thanks procrastinatorcook! I just revisited your blog – you had me at ‘meltaway’ oh dang! Hope all is going well with you food adventures 🙂 Ax

  • RM

    These are lovely!! Tried them tonight and they came out great (except I had the pan on too high & burnt a few near the centre) – thanks so much for this recipe/video guide! ^___^

    • Glad you found it useful RM 🙂 We sometimes burn ours a bit too cos it can taste even better!

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  • Made these last night and they were super yummy. Better than any of the bought ones I have had in the past. Making the wrappers from scratch really was worth it too – they were softer, more pliable and tastier too.

    • Fantastic! Thanks for the feedback, it’s great to hear that the recipe worked out well. Yes, it’s a little bit more work with the wrappers but we definitely think it makes for a better dumpling overall 🙂

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  • John-Paul Flores

    Are the big T’s tablespoons and the lowercase ones teaspoons?

  • ra

    if i use chicken breast or meat, do i have to use the baking soda and corn flour?

    • Yep, the same tip applies! Chicken breast in particular can become quite dry so the baking soda + cornflour addition makes a big difference 🙂

  • Dayna

    I made these before I went into work today, refrigerated them, and cooked them when I got home. These are absolutely amazing! I’m usually not a fan of chinese foods, but I’ve decided to begin eating more vegetables and generally ‘healthy’ foods. These have made me able to eat some greens without having to choke them down 😛 Thank you so much for sharing this!

    • Thanks for getting is touch Danya – it’s fantastic to hear that you had such a positive experience with our recipe! And yes, Chinese food is great for sneaking in veg 🙂 You might also enjoy our wonton soup recipe if you enjoyed the potstickers – they’re even easier *and* healthier. A&Jx

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  • Judith

    I’ve had this recipe in my bookmark folder for such a long time. I’m finally so excited to try out the recipe once my exams are over which is in another two days time. I always get sudden cravings for dumplings or potstickers and these look so good! Can’t wait! (-:

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  • Sheila

    Hi girls, can I use all-purpose flour instead of plain flour in this recipe?

    • Sorry for the delay! Yep they’re the same thing 🙂 ‘Plain’ in the UK is ‘All Purpose’ in the US. It’s confusing, we know! Hope you still went ahead with the recipe 🙂

  • Sheila

    Can I use all-purpose flour instead of plain flour for the wrapper?

  • Alessandra

    I am a New Yorker who loves to cook, but I’ve never tried to cook Chinese, because it’s too easy to order good Chinese food and have it delivered to your door. Last year I moved to Italy and the Chinese food here is pretty icky, but I miss it so much! These dumplings were my first attempt ever at any Chinese food …. and they were easy and AMAZING!!!!! Yaaay!! Thank you!!

    • Hi Alessandra – thanks for your kind comments! So pleased to hear that you’re starting to cook Chinese! We agree that good Chinese takeout is amazing, but it’s definitely satisfying (and easy!) to make your own too 🙂 Getting feedback like yours is why we love doing this! xx

  • Hi, I really like your videos, you both are so sweet. I definitely will try the recipe. But I have two question, actually I was looking for 水餃 recipe, the same shape but cooked in water / steam dumpling. So using this same recipe, Can I steam them instead of frying? And can I use 大白菜 (Napa Cabbage) instead of bok choy (cant find this at my local market)?

    • Yes you can absolutely steam these or cook them in water! They will still be delish. And Napa cabbage is perfect 🙂

      • Thanks so much for your reply. Also I cant find rice wine at my local market here. is it possible to substitute it with apple vinegar ? or should I just eliminate it at all?

        • Something like a dry sherry or dry white wine would work well as a substitute! But it is also okay to omit it altogether 🙂

          • Hi I tried with chicken meat (even as double batch from yours), I susbtitute rice wine with apple vinegar, after hours of work, I was happy because they were super delicious and my husband went crazy for that dinner :):) One last question, how is the dough should be? I used 600gr flour+440ml water but find the dough was quite wet and sticky so I added about 10gr more flour but still it wasnt completely not sticking on my hand though I’ve been working on it more than 30mnts. Is it normal for the dough to be sticky a bit? or should it be completely not sticking like italian pasta dough?

  • loisa

    Hi there, so happy to find your videos. I need your advice. I am planning to have it for a meeting, can I made it few days in advance and store them in refrigerator or should I cook them trough and reheated on the day? Because I will need to feed around 30 people. Thank you and looking forward your reply.

    • Hi there! The best thing to do is to freeze the raw dumplings once they have been formed. Refrigerating is not so good because the moisture will seep through the wrappers over time. To freeze: form the dumplings, pop some clingfilm on a flat baking tray and then freeze the raw dumplings in a single layer before transferring them to a bag or Tupperware for storage. They should keep for about 1.5-2 months. Cook them straight from frozen, just like we do for the fresh ones in the video, but add twice the amount of water and double the cooking time.

  • Klaara

    Hi! i made these and result ulalala so good 😀 Thank you for the best tutorial/recipe <3
    PS. Can i use rice flour too? Thanks for advance 😉

    • Hi Klaara! We’ve not tried it before, but a rice flour dough would probably be a bit too delicate for these dumplings unfortunately! But do let us know if you give it a go!

  • Lisa G.

    Hi! I made these tonight (big hit~) and I have some prepared meat left over that I’m making the wrappers for tomorrow. My question is, can you freeze these?

    • Heya Lisa! Glad to hear they were are big hit. Freezing is great! Just make them up, pop some clingfilm on a baking tray and freeze the raw dumplings in a single layer before transferring them to a bag or Tupperware for storage. They should keep for about 1.5-2 months. Cook them straight from frozen, just like we do for the fresh ones in the video, but add twice the amount of water and double the cooking time. Good luck!

  • Lee

    Hi , I made these at the weekend along with the boozy hoisin chicken and oh my! They were amazing! So scrumptious, I really couldn’t believe they turned out so well. I picked up all the sauces and veg in the chinese supermarket which in Dublin so was much better value than a mainstream supermarket even got a mini rolling pin (€1.50 a total steal) . I didn’t quite get the hang of the dough doughnuts so my pastry was a little think but i’ll know for next time and there will definitely be a next time 🙂 keep those yummy recipes coming 🙂

  • sarah

    Hi there! Thanks for this lovely recipe and awesome video! Sealing the dumplings in a nice folded way seemed to be quite elusive to me until I saw how you guys do it. Yey! 🙂

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  • Are the t for tablespoons or teaspoons?

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  • Hey! This recipe looks so good that I would love to try it, but bok choy is impossible to get around in my country! Do you have any substitute options for it?

  • francescafrancy

    Hello!!

    Love your recipes, you make it look so easy that we just have to try it out!! I love chinese cuisine and this blog and your youtube channel have so many yummy recipes!! Just a quick question, what would you say are the most important ingredients that a person need to have at home to always be ready to cook chinese recipes? Thank you very much!!
    Looking forward to your next recipe ^^

  • Nori

    Hi. I love, love your videos. You girls are sooooo much fun to watch. Just wondering, did you use like a Chinese flour fir this ? Or would the all purpose flour here in the US would suffice?

  • Brit

    Can I use Cornstarch instead of Corn Flour???

    • Absolutely – it’s called cornflour in the UK, cornstarch in the US 🙂 Happy cooking!

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  • David Neilson

    kiwi here, trying to find shao xing rice wine in auckland. any advice?

    • Hi there, apologies for the late reply! I don’t know Auckland well, but you will be able to find rice wine in any Asian/Chinese supermarket 🙂

  • David Lawrence

    My wife, son , and I lived in central Taiwan for one year and we often would have as a condiment available on the table a what I would call a mellow thick soy sauce. Not at all salty like light soy sauce. Delicious! I see in the recipe above (which look like out favorite dumpling shop’s version from TW) calls for thick soy sauce. What is the name of this in Chinese so I can find in local Asian market. In Taiwan they called it jiangyou gou. Thank you for any help you can give. I LOVE your videos BTW.
    Dave Lawrence

    • Hi David,

      In the recipe we use ‘dark soy sauce’. Like you said it’s mellower in taste and less in-your-face salty, because it’s been fermented for longer. If you ask for dark soy you should be able to get your hands on a bottle 🙂

  • Mindy

    Hello! The video was so lovely and I can’t wait to try it out. However, I do have a question in relation to quantity… if I were making it for a larger family and wanted to make ~100 dumplings, do I triple everything in the recipe (ignoring the sauce and cooking part) ?? Just not too sure on the effect having 9 Tablespoons of water and 6 Tablespoons of sesame oil in the filling!

    Thank you

    • Hi Mindy,

      Yes you could simply triple everything – although we find that the recipe can actually make anything between 30-40 dumplings because everyone makes them slightly differently 🙂 I would suggest adding the liquid ingredients in stages (e.g. 3-5 stages), letting the pork absorb each portion after stirring before adding the next. Meat is surprisingly absorbent! Good luck with the recipe!

  • Hi Dumpling Sisters! Love this recipe – I’ve been using it for a year now and they’re the best. Just wondering whether I should use this wrapper recipe for other types of dumplings (i.e. just steamed) or whether I should use a different type? And if so, what type? Thanks!

  • monica

    after the two equal size sausages from each dough ball is floured is cut into 16 equal pieces.
    can the rest of the dough pieces stay out on the counter, until I’m done rolling out all of them, can I put each rolled out piece between wax paper & stack them or will they melt together?or should I work on one wrapper at time & refrigerate the rest of the dough? as I’ve tried the 1st method I mentioned with someone else’s wrapper recipe and after i had rolled out all of wrappers placing each between wax paper by the time i was done they had all melted together wax paper & all forty of them!!! it was a heart breaking disaster! should the dough pieces be covered with a damp towel while i roll out each one or is this not necessary.?

  • Sasha

    Hey so with the filling…i am not steaming it first the meat that is?or does it cook when its frying…

    • Hi there Sasha! The filling will cook whilst it is frying, and specifically when you add the water 🙂 The steam created is really powerful and it cooks the filling right through xx

  • Lauren

    Hi there! I can’t find Napa cabbage or bak Choi where I live so would Savoy cabbage be the next best option? Thank you!

    • Yes it will do the trick! But I’d chop it up smaller, as it is not quite as tender as the other vegetables ^_^

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  • Aysha

    If I use chicken breasts do how have to change any of the recipe quantities??
    Thanks
    Looks really tasty

    • Hi there Aysha! You can just substitute chicken mince exactly and keep the other ingredients at the same quantities too 🙂

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  • Min

    Made this for the first time… it was easy and yummy! Husband loved it! 8/10🌟🌟 Have to work on rolling out round dumpling skins and folding the dumplings . Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe.

    • Fantastic!! Very happy to hear that you and your husband enjoyed the recipe ^_^

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  • Kat

    Hi,
    I have just returned home from three weeks in China where I feel in love with the food. So far it seems that your recipe is the closet to the dumplings we at while there. So I am going to try the recipe and see how i go. But I just have one question. What is the difference between dark and light soy and can you recommend any brands?

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  • Shane

    Just made this for the family and we all loved it. The only thing that put us off it was how incredibly salted it tasted. Not sure if it was the 1.5 teaspoons of Salt or maybe the Soy Sauce. Next batch we make we will only use a pinch of salt instead of 1.5 teaspoons.

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  • my family loved them sadly i had to butcher your recipe… had no pork, used chicken and came up with my own vegetarian fillin…AND was absolutely unable to do the shape hahahaha they ended up being like cabagges. But they were delicious nonetheless.
    THANK YOU <3

  • Just made them and think they are AMAZING. And fairly easy to make, too!

    Because I’m allergic to about everything on this planet I had to substitute the bok choy for spinach, the ginger for lemon juice and the rice wine for (sorry…) vinegar. Tasted delicious none the less! Thank you for the recipe!

    • Great news!

      • I will make them again this week for my parents (my dad has been to China more than twenty years ago and all he remembers is the Chinese flu he picked up 😀 ).

        What is good to have with the dumplings besides the dipping sauce?

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  • Jon Matthews

    Quick question. After i made the dough and allowed it to rest, it was still pretty sticky and difficult to work with. Any tips?

    • Hi Jon. Firstly, thanks for giving our recipe a go! We’ve found that some brands of plain/all purpose flour absorb less water than others. So in New Zealand, the flour we use makes a much stickier dough than the when we use flour bought in London! So if you’re finding the dough a bit sticky, try starting with 190ml water and then add more as needed to form a soft but not sticky dough (something that’s just a bit softer than play dough). Hope that helps!

  • Z M

    Hello, have a very simple question regarding the corn flour used to tenderize the pork, is that the same thing as corn starch or is actually corn flour??

    • dumplingsisters

      Hi there! I think where the confusion arises is that there is a difference between US and UK usage! When we (UK) say cornflour, we mean corn starch. I know that you can also get really finely ground yellow cornmeal, which is also sometimes called cornflour. But the one we use is the fine white powder, i.e. corn starch 🙂

    • Corn flour is the name for cornstarch in the UK 🙂

  • Ellie Zwick

    We just made these and they are delicious! Just wondering though – what is the purpose of baking soda in this recipe?

    • Great question Ellie!

      Baking soda/bicarbonate of soda is commonly used in Cantonese cooking to tenderise meats. At the molecular level, it raises the pH which encourages proteins in the meat to relax (and therefore become less tough). It changes the texture of meat slightly too – making it a bit more ‘bouncy’ and smooth. You can leave it out if you like – but we recommend it! x

  • Lawrence Robinson

    I notice you don’t use Chinese chives? I never use baking soda by the way, mixing the minced meat with water does the trick of keeping it nice and juicy.

  • April Wyatt

    Omg so good, my man has asked for me to make them again the next day! And I love making my own wraps instead of buying them, thanking you so much for this recipe! =]

  • Berta lillo

    I love this recipe!!! But where I live it’s impossible to find bok choy, there os something that can be used instead?

    • Bakhtawar Khan Bangash

      I live in Dubai and over here they call it Holland Fennel. It’s the same thing. 😀

  • Maribel Figueroa Eldarazi

    Hello, I have a question can you freeze the dumplings. and for how long.

  • Kashyap Saigal

    Are you guys following the measurement as 1TBSP as 15ml. I ask this because as per the recipe it says 2TBSP of sesame oil and it measures to 30ml.

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