Homemade Dumpling Soup 猪肉萝卜饺子汤

I love dumplings since I was a kid. A bowl of hot dumpling soup on a windy night is just perfect to warm the tummy. Toss in some noodles and you have a bowl of hot dumpling soup noodles. It's really an easy dish that is suitable for young and old alike.

While my mom made really mouth watering dumplings, its usually full meaty and with added MSG, so I came out with my own version that is more balance with added vegetable, free of MSG and sugar. It turned out pretty delicious, my little boy had 4 of the dumplings, an unusual number for a picky eater like him. Even my 16 month old baby girl had 2 which I smashed up and mixed into her rice.


Soup dumpling, the way I like it.

The freshly made dumplings, uncooked

The making of the filling is easy, the tricky part is actually wrapping them up into nice shape without falling apart. Let me share my methods here, it's really not that complicated as it seems... Believe it or not, this is my first time trying these wrapping methods :)



Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 8 min
Serving for: 30 dumplings

Ingredients:
A packet of dumpling pastry or Japanese gyoza pastry

For Dumpling Filling:
9 meatballs or about 250gm of minced pork (or you may use chicken meat as substitute), completely defrost
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped (you may replace with celery)
1 thumb size carrot, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten (only add half into the filling)

Seasoning for Filling:
1 table spoon soy sauce 晒油 一匙
1/2 table spoon of Xiu Heng wine (optional) 花雕绍兴酒 半匙
Few drops of sesame oil 麻油酱几滴
1/2 tea spoon of salt 盐 半匙
A dash of white pepper 胡椒粉适量

For Dumpling Soup:
Few leaves of cabbage, cut into long strips (or you may use Choy Sum too)
Some chopped scallions / green onions for garnish (optional)

Step-by-Step Guides:

1. Add seasoning into the minced meat, mix well, then add in all the remaining dumpling ingredient. Use only half of the egg, set the remaining aside.

2. Get ready a clean plate, dumpling pastry, filling and the bowl of remaining egg with a fork or a brush.

Wrapping Up the Dumpling:

Follow the steps below on wrapping the dumpling. I shared 2 methods here, pick either one as you prefer or just attempt both. The key of making the dumpling is to dab on some egg liquid, it helps to bind the dumpling pastry and avoid it from opening up when cooking.

Wrapping Dumpling - Method 1 一般饺子包扎法

Wrapping Dumpling - Method 2  元宝饺包扎法

3. Scope 1/2 table spoon of dumpling filling onto the dumpling pastry, fold the skin into half from the center.

4. Brush some egg liquid onto the edge of the pastry, then press using your finger to hold them in place. You can keep the dumpling as is or follow the shape as shown in pictures above.

Cooking the Dumpling

5. You can cook the dumplings right away, or keep them in the fridge and cook them only right before meal time to ensure freshness. Do not keep them overnight as the meat has already been defrosted.

6. Boil a pot of water, then add some salt to taste (I used the homemade anchovies powder, or you may use any vegetable or chicken stock you have).

7. Add the chopped cabbage, boil for about a minute, then add the dumping one by one. Make sure they do not stick to each other.

8. Continue boiling the dumpling on high heat for about 5 minutes or until they float on the surface of the soup. Turn off the heat, add a few drops of sesame oil and a dash of ground pepper, and your dumpling soup is ready to serve.

Garnish with some chopped green onions or fried garlic oil if you wish, I prefer mine clear and less greasy. It's just a personal preference, I did prepared a small sauce dish of fried garlic for my big guy thou.

Now, just indulge and enjoy yourself with some sumptuous dumplings :)

The serving for my little boy, he actually asked for more dumpling and told me he really loved his meal. I am certainly cooking him more dumplings in future :)

Useful Tips!

To ensure a nice shape for the dumpling, avoid putting too much filling and ensure you brush with sufficient egg liquid.

Dumpling cooks really fast, so it is always encourage to cook it only when you are ready to serve them otherwise it may get soft and soggy if left in the soup for too long.

Hope you find this recipe helpful, if you have any questions feel free to post them here and I shall try my best to reply.

Till later, thanks for stopping by!