All Din Tai Fung fans know how good their Spicy Wontons are. Here’s my copycat! Wontons served in a spicy, savoury, homemade chilli sauce. Easy. Fast. OBSESSED.

Serve with fried rice and Ginger Bok Choy to create your own little restaurant experience.

Din Tai Fung’s famous Spicy Wontons!

Ahhh, wontons. I love those bite size dumplings with irresistible slippery flappy bits. I love them in soup form. One of my ultimate 10 minutes convenience meals.

But my favourite way is with a spicy chilli oil sauce. Specifically, the Din Tai Fung version, a global dumpling chain that declares itself makers of the best dumplings in the world (and many people agree!)

The Din Tai Fung chilli sauce for wontons is less oily, less vinegary and slightly less spicy than standard Chinese dumpling houses. Because of this, they are generous with the amount of sauce so you can eat each slippery, plump, juicy wonton with a spoonful of the sauce without blowing your head off with a chilli explosion.

Any other Din Tai Fung devotees reading this who can vouch for how good they are?? I LOVE ‘EM!

The spicy chilli sauce

The key, unsurprisingly, to the awesomeness that is the Din Tai Fung Spicy Wontons is their secret chilli sauce. Team RecipeTin is mighty proud that we cracked the code!

While easy recipes will use just chilli oil and maybe some chilli paste or chilli crisp, the reason Din Tai Fung’s sauce is so tasty it because it’s flavoured with garlic, spices and sauces. It’s also got a lovely savouriness to it, with more flavour than what you can get from just using salt or soy sauce.

I won’t say ours is a dead ringer but it’s very, very close. Actually, Team RecipeTin prefers ours to Din Tai Fung’s because it’s got fresher flavours, it’s less oily, and it’s not as sweet. Intentionally!

What you need to make the chilli sauce

• Chinese chicken stock powder – The secret ingredient! It’s the tastier salt. It’s got a cleaner, less artificial flavour than Western chickens stock powders. In fact, when I run out of liquid chicken stock/broth, I use Chinese stock powder mixed with water, over western chicken stock powders.

  I use Knorr brand, yellow can with a green lid. Get it at any Asian grocery store here in Australia, it’s so common, and good value, a little bit goes far. Substitute with any regular chicken stock powder, or crumbled bouillon cube.

• Chilli oil – Any Chinese brand red chilli oil (check the label). Chili oils vary in spiciness between Asian countries, so best to stick with Chinese as in my experience, they are relatively consistent in spiciness between brands.

  Alternatives – Chilli crisp will also work here but obviously adds lots more crispy “bits” into the sauce and less oil! For a non spicy option, substitute some or all with sesame oil (toasted, the brown oil, not yellow un-toasted). Obviously no longer spicy, but a lovely sesame-forward flavour!

• Sichuan pepper – Whiteish pepper powder that has a “cold” spiciness to it, used in famous dishes like Kung Pao chicken. I use pre-ground for convenience here because it’s a small amount, just 1/4 teaspoon. Kudos to anyone who makes their own: toast, grind, sift, measure!

• Chinese Five Spice Powder – Blend of (you guessed it!) five spices that is sold at regular grocery stores, in the dried spices aisle.

• Chilli flakes (red pepper flakes) – Takes the sauce to “pretty spicy” range but very enjoyable for people who love spicy Asian food. Omit, or stir in at the end bit by bit, for less spicy.

• Soy sauce – Use either light or all purpose soy sauce. But not dark soy sauce – flavour is too strong and the colour is too intense! More on which soy sauce to use when here.

• Garlic – Fresh (don’t talk to me about jarred!), finely minced with a knife or use a garlic crusher.

• Rice vinegar – For a touch of tang, to balance out the other flavours. Substitute with any clear vinegar, or Chinese black vinegar.

• Sugar – Just a small touch to mimic the flavour of the Din Tai Fung chilli sauce. Though ours is less sweet than theirs, I actually find the Din Tai Fung one a little too sweet.

The wontons

You can use any wontons you want, homemade or store bought! Though there’s a hierarchy, unsurpsingly. Homemade wontons trumps Asian store frozen wontons trump regular grocery store wontons.

There is no shame in buying wontons. Frozen are pretty good these days! The classic is pork and prawns/shrimp (this is the filling in my wontons recipe). But feel free to use any type of wonton.

How to make Din Tai Fung’s Spicy Wontons

Ready to see how easy it is to make? Here we go!

1. Sauce flavourings – Put the spices and garlic into a metal or heat-proof bowl (garlic, red chilli flakes, Sichuan pepper, five spice powder, sugar and stock powder).

2. Heat oils – Heat the chilli oil and vegetable oil in a small pan until hot.

3. Sizzle! Pour the hot oil over the garlic etc. Enjoy the sizzle! But don’t worry, it’s not scary, it doesn’t spit. Then give it a quick mix.

4. Mix in soy and liquids – Next, whisk in the soy sauce, vinegar and a little hot water which we use to dilute the otherwise very intense flavoured sauce. Too intense to slop up spoonfuls with the wontons!

   And that’s it! Just set aside until ready to use. It’s fine if it cools down, the heat from the wontons will reheat it.

5. Cook your homemade or store-bought wontons in boiling water. You will know when they’re done because they will rise to the surface (they sink to the bottom when raw). Freshly made non-frozen wontons will cook in 4 minutes and frozen ones will cook in 6 to 8 minutes. Don’t thaw, just plonk them in frozen!

6. Sauce them! Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cooked wontons directly from the water into a serving bowl. Then pour over the chilli sauce, sprinkle with a little green onion (if you want) and EAT!

   (PS If you’re brave, add an extra drizzle of chilli oil. I like to be brave. )

Scooping up a good spoonful of the sauce with every wonton is essential here. In fact, as mentioned earlier, the sauce is intentionally designed as such. Just shovel the whole spoonful in and eat in one mouthful!

This really is very similar to the Din Tai Fung spicy wontons. Though, as noted above, less sweet and less oily. Both good things!

Big shout out to my brother and our Chef JB for doing the legwork to crack the code! You’d be surprised how many iterations it took before we were all in agreement it was as good / better than Din Tai Fung’s. It’s not a hard recipe to make, but getting the ratios just right and figuring out the flavourings was a challenge. The Chinese stock powder was the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle.

Spicy Asian Food Lovers, rejoice! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

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Spicy Wontons – Din Tai Fung!

Recipe video above. Everybody knows Din Tai Fung* has the best Spicy Wontons. Here's my copy-cat! Very specific mix of spices, it's less spicy, less vinegary and more savoury than typical Chinese dumpling houses, designed so you can slop up every bit of that tasty sauce with the wontons without blowing your head off! So, so, very good!

* Global dumpling restaurant chain that declares itself the world's best dumplings. Many Sydney-siders would not disagree.

Course Mains, Starter

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword spicy wontons, wontons in chili oil

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 12 wontons

Calories 72cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Wontons:

• 10 – 12 wontons , preferably homemade else store bought. Frozen: DO NOT THAW (Note 1)
• 1 tbsp green onion , sliced then roughly chopped, for garnish
• Extra chilli oil , for drizzling (Note 5)

Chilli oil sauce for wontons:

• 2 garlic cloves , very finely minced
• 1 tsp caster / superfine sugar (sub regular sugar)
• 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes (red pepper flakes), OPTIONAL, for spicy food lovers (Note 2)
• 1/4 tsp sichuan pepper powder (Note 3)
• 1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 4)
• 1/2 tsp Chinese chicken stock powder , or regular western stock powder (Note 5)
• 2 tbsp Chinese chilli oil (⚠️ Note 5), adj for spiciness (sub with sesame oil)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (sub canola, peanut or other natural oil)
• 2 1/2 tsp light soy sauce , or all-purpose soy (Note 6)
• 1 tsp rice vinegar (sub other clean vinegar)
• 2 1/2 tbsp hot water (just tap is fine)

Instructions

Chilli oil sauce for wontons:

• Mix spices – Put the garlic, sugar, chilli flakes, sichuan pepper, five spices and stock powder in a medium mixing bowl.
• Heat oil – Heat the chilli oil and vegetable oil in a small frying pan over medium heat until hot. Pour over garlic mixture. Enjoy the sizzle! (Don't worry, it doesn't spit)
• Add sauces: – Whisk in soy sauce, rice vinegar and hot water. The oil will remain a little separated on top. Set aside while you make wontons.

Serving:

• Cook wontons – Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add wontons and cook until they float: 4 minutes for freshly made, 6 to 8 minutes from frozen.
• Assemble – Transfer to serving dish using a slotted spoon. Pour over sauce, add an extra drizzle of chilli oil (if you dare!), sprinkle with green onion. Serve immediately!

Notes

SPICE note: Pretty spicy, not blow-your-head-off.  To make this kid-friendly, omit the chilli flakes and sub the chilli oil with sesame oil.

---

1. Homemade wontons trump Asian store frozen wontons, trump regular grocery store wontons. If I don’t have homemade wontons in the freezer, it makes me insecure so I’ll do an emergency run to the Asian store.

Classic wonton filling is pork and prawns/shrimp (this is the filling in my wontons recipe). But feel free to use any type of wonton!

2. Chilli flakes – Takes the sauce to “pretty spicy” range but very enjoyable for people who love spicy Asian food. Omit, or stir in at the end bit by bit, for less spicy.

3. Sichuan pepper – Whitish pepper powder that has a “cold” spiciness to it, used in famous dishes like Kung Pan chicken. I use pre-ground for convenience here because it’s a small amount. Kudos to anyone who makes their own: toast, grind, sift, measure.

4. Chinese Five Spice Powder – blend of (you guessed it!) five spices that is sold at regular grocery stores, in the dried spices aisle.

5. Chinese chicken stock powder (photo in post) – Slightly cleaner, less artificial flavour than Western chickens stock powders. I use Knorr brand, yellow can with a green lid. Read in post for more info, I am a fan! It’s my go-to sub for liquid stock.

6. Chilli oil – Stick to a Chinese brand to be safe (unless you have one you know) as chili oils vary in spiciness between Asian countries. In my experience, Chinese chilli oils are relatively consistent in spiciness. Chilli crisp will also work here but obviously adds lots more crispy “bits” into the sauce and less oil!

LESS SPICY OPTION: sub some or all with sesame oil (toasted, the brown oil, not yellow un-toasted). Obviously no longer spicy, but a lovely sesame-forward flavour!

7. Soy sauce – Use either light or all purpose soy sauce. But not dark soy sauce – flavour is too strong and the colour is too intense! More on which soy sauce to use when here.

8. Leftovers – Like all dumplings, wontons are best served freshly made but will last 3 days in the fridge. Microwave reheating is best, so they stay nice and juicy.

Nutrition per wonton, assuming 12 wontons and all the sauce is consumed.

Nutrition

Calories: 72cal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 0.4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 0.01mg | Sodium: 91mg | Potassium: 9mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 0.4g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 0.3mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.1mg

Life of Dozer

Daily situation.

The post Spicy Wontons in Chilli Sauce – Din Tai Fung! appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

The meat-free version of Chinese san choy bow. You never knew vegetarian lettuce wraps could be so delicious! Crumbled tofu makes the filling meaty while vegetables add lovely texture, smothered in a glossy, savoury sauce. Healthy food was never so delicious. And interesting. And easy. {Just 245 cal for a generous serving}

Vegetarian lettuce wraps (san choy bow)

Today’s recipe is a meat-free version of the Chinese restaurant favourite san choy bow which is a lettuce wrap with a pork filling.

I hate that I used the word “awesome” for a recipe name (in caps! 😅) but I couldn’t think of another way to capture your attention for these lettuce wraps. A vegetarian one, no less, made with lots of vegetable and tofu.

So if you’re reading this, perhaps the somewhat childish name I’ve bestowed upon these lettuce wraps worked! Because they are Awesome – with a capital A. Not just “ok”, not just “good”. That doesn’t make the cut to be shared on my website. They. Are. AWESOME!

(I need a new word. My high school English teacher would be horrified if she read this post).

Right, let me go straight to an up-close-and-personal of this tofu and vegetable filling that is the star of today’s show. Try telling me this doesn’t look delicious!

And before it was that, it was this:

1. Tofu crumbled up like mince (that’s ground meat, to you folks in the States). Much more effective for flavour absorption than dicing (plus, easier); then

2. Sauced with san choy bow sauce that stains the tofu an enticing mahogany colour and coats everything in a glossy savoury sauce.

Ready to see how to make these vegetarian lettuce wraps?? Let’s do this!

What you need for Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

Here’s what you need:

The filling

• Firm or extra-firm tofu – Use a firm or extra firm tofu, not silken tofu. It needs to be firm enough so you can crumble it like mince / ground meat. Tub label will give you clues – it will be labelled as such. 😂 Also, give it a squeeze. It should feel like soft rubber, rather than a very fragile jelly (silken tofu).

• Vegetables – Green beans, carrot and mushrooms are the mix I’m using today. Love the texture the green beans and carrots give to the filling, and the savouriness the mushrooms bring.

  Having said that, feel free to use what you’ve got! Any sauté-able vegetables will work fine.

• Garlic and onion – Aromatics. Don’t skip these – they become more important in vegetarian dishes!

San choy bow sauce for filling

The sauce used for these vegetarian lettuce wraps is the same as the one I use for my classic pork san choy bow. It’s glossy and savoury, and each ingredient contributes to the flavour so please don’t skip any. This sauce, it can make anything taste amazing – even tofu! (There, I said it, go ahead and call me immature 😂).

• Cornflour / cornstarch – This makes the sauce shiny and thickens it so it coats the filling ingredients beautifully.

• Oyster sauce – A whole lot of flavour, jammed into one bottle! As the name suggests, the sauce is made with oysters – not that you would ever pick it. It just tastes savoury and sweet.

  Alternatives – Vegetarian options available these days, even at large grocery stores in Australia. Else, Hoisin works great (though you get a five spice flavour which is lovely, just different!)

• Light soy sauce provides salt but doesn’t stain things a brown colour and has a mild soy flavour. Can be substituted with all purpose soy sauce but not dark soy sauce (too intense). More on different soy sauces here.

• Dark soy has intense colour (this is what makes the sauce and stains the tofu a brown colour) and much more intense soy flavour. It can be substituted with more light or all-purpose soy sauce but the sauce flavour will be more mild, and the tofu won’t go brown.

• Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” Chinese dishes. It adds depth of flavour and complexity into sauces. More info on Chinese cooking wine here.

  Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic sub – use 1/2 cup (125 ml) low sodium chicken broth/stock instead of water + Chinese cooking wine.

• Sesame oil (toasted) – For lovely sesame flavour in the dish. Use toasted (brown oil) not un-toasted (yellow oil) as it has stronger sesame flavour. For fellow Aussies, toasted is the standard sesame oil sold in grocery stores. Un-toasted is harder to find (generally in health food stores).

The lettuce wraps & toppings

Filling sorted, now here’s what you need to make the wrap. The peanuts and sriracha or other chilli paste/sauce is highly, highly recommended for a great lettuce wrap!

• Lettuce leaves – Chinese san choy bow lettuce wraps served at restaurants here in Australia use iceberg lettuce. At fancy places, they cut into neat rounds!

  But honestly, any lettuce leaves where filling can be bundled inside, or have a natural cup shape works fine. Crispy (cos / romaine lettuce) or soft, pliable leaves (like butter lettuce).

• Sriracha or other chilli sauce – Highly recommended. It just works so well to add a hit of spiciness to the freshness of the vegetable filling!

• Peanuts – For an authentic san choy bow experience, chopped peanuts is also highly recommended!

• Green onion – Sprinkle of fresh. Not as highly recommended, but it can be skipped if you don’t have it.

How to make vegetarian lettuce wraps

1. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl in this order: cornflour/cornstarch and water first until lump free, then mix in everything else. Why? Because it’s easier to dissolve cornflour in less liquid than too much liquid.

2. Crumble tofu – Drain tofu. Cut into 5mm/0.2″ slices then use your fingers to crumble into a mince. It will crumble with little effort. Don’t make the crumbs too fine, you can always break the tofu up more when cooking – just like cooking mince/ground meat!

   No need to press the tofu – There’s no need to press water out of the tofu using weights. The water contained in the tofu prevents it from being too dry.

3. Filling – Using a large non stick pan, heat the oil over high heat then cook the onion, garlic and carrot for just 1 minute. Add green beans and mushrooms then cook for 2 minutes. The green beans should still be firm. This is good! The texture the green beans add to the filling is really nice.

4. Add tofu and just toss through. Tofu doesn’t need to be cooked to eat it so for this recipe we just need to warm it through.

5. Sauce it! Pour in the sauce then let it come to a simmer. As it heats up, the cornflour in the sauce will make it thicken. Stir for 1 minute or until it becomes thick and glossy so it coats the mixture nicely. See the photo in step 6 for what the filling looks like once the sauce thickens. Look at all that flavour on the tofu and vegetables!

   If the sauce reduces and thickens too quickly (which might happen if you’re using an extra large pan or an extra strong stove <– I’d love this problem), then just add a splash of water.

6. Serving – Transfer the filling into a bowl. Put it out on the table with the lettuce leaves, green onion, peanuts and bottle of sriracha. Then let everyone make their own wraps!

7. DIY lettuce wraps – Spoon filling into lettuce leaf.

8. Toppings – Drizzle with sriracha, sprinkle with peanuts and green onion. Bundle / wrap (for soft lettuce leaves) or fold like tacos (for crisper lettuce leaves) then devour!

I have to confess, this recipe took me by surprise. I made it during one of those patches when I was trying to “be healthier”. (But then mango pancakes and chili dogs happened which derailed my good intentions, followed by pizza bread and carbonara which didn’t help.)

Even though I knew the san choy bow sauce had flavour-power, the thought of a tofu-vegetable medley wrapped in yet more vegetable (lettuce) wasn’t exactly making me excited.

How very, very wrong I was. It’s not just “good”. It’s extremely tasty. As in – I WANT to have it for dinner tonight.

The fact that it’s just 245 calories for a generous dinner-size serving is a bonus.

And with that, I’m done in my efforts to convince you to try this. Perhaps I didn’t even need to do all this writing and the excellent name I christened this dish was enough?? Awesome Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps. Full points for creative writing! 😂 – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

San choy bow = san choy bau = san choi bow = lettuce wraps!

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AMAZING vegetarian lettuce wraps

Recipe video. The meat-free version of Chinese san choy bow. You never knew vegetarian lettuce wraps could be so delicious. I never knew either, until I made these!

Crumbled tofu lends the filling a meaty texture while vegetables add lovely texture, all smothered in a glossy, savoury sauce. Vegetarian food (and healthy, no less!) was never so delicious. And interesting. And easy. It's AMAZING!

Feel free to substitute the veg with other sauté-able vegetables of choice.

Course Light mains, Main, Starter

Cuisine Asian, Chinese

Keyword Lettuce wraps, San Choy Bow, vegetarian food

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 – 4 people

Calories 245cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

San choy bow sauce:

• 1 1/4 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 1)
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 1)
• 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce (Note 2)
• 1 tsp sesame oil , toasted
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (or sub Mirin or dry sherry, Note 3)
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 tsp finely grated ginger (sub garlic)

Filling:

• 250g/8oz extra firm tofu (Note 4)
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 garlic , finely minced
• 1/2 onion , finely diced
• 1/2 cup carrot , chopped into 5mm/ 0.2″ pieces
• 1/2 cup green beans , sliced into 5mm/0.2″ rounds
• 1/2 cup mushroom , chopped into 5mm/ 0.2″ pieces

Wraps:

• 12 lettuce leaves (+/- depending on lettuce size, Note 5)
• Peanuts , finely chopped (I like salted, but unsalted fine)
• Green onion , finely sliced
• Sriracha , for drizzling (highly recommended)

Instructions

• Sauce – Mix cornflour/cornstarch with water until lump free. Add everything else, then mix.
• Crumble tofu – Drain tofu, then cut into 5mm/0.2" slices. Use your fingers to crumble into a mince. Not too fine crumbs, can always break up more when cooking (just like cooking mince/ground meat!).
• Filling – Heat oil over high heat in a large non stick pan. Cook onion, garlic and carrot for 1 minute. Add green beans and mushrooms. Cook 2 minutes – green beans should still be firm.
• Sauce it – Add tofu and toss through. Pour in the sauce. Stir for 1 minute or until the sauce thickens and is coating the mixture nicely. (If it evaporates too quickly, add a splash of water)
• Serving – Transfer filling into a bowl. Lay out on the table with lettuce leaves, green onion, peanuts and bottle of sriracha.
• DIY lettuce wraps – Spoon filling into lettuce leaf. Drizzle with sriracha, sprinkle with peanuts and green onion. Bundle / fold, eat!

Notes

Serves 2 as a meal (or 3 with small appetites), or 4 if you add a side like fried rice (try the miracle emergency baked fried rice, if you don’t have day-old rice).

1. Oyster sauce – vegetarian options available these days, even at large grocery stores in Australia. Else, Hoisin works great (though you get a five spice flavour which is lovely, just different!)

2. Soy sauces:
* Light soy sauce can be substituted with all purpose soy sauce but not dark soy sauce (too intense). More on different soy sauces here.
* Dark soy can be substituted with more light or all-purpose soy sauce

3. Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” Chinese dishes. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. More info on Chinese cooking wine here.

Non alcoholic sub – use 1/2 cup (125 ml) low sodium chicken broth/stock instead of water + Chinese cooking wine, expect to simmer filling for an extra 1 minute as it will take slightly longer to thicken.

4. Tofu – Use a firm or extra firm tofu, not silken tofu. It needs to be firm enough so you can crumble it like mince / ground meat. Tub label will specify it is firm tofu (also, give it a squeeze!).

5. Lettuce leaves – Chinese san choy bow lettuce wraps served at restaurants here in Australia use iceberg lettuce. At fancy places, they cut into neat rounds! But honestly, any lettuce leaves where filling can be bundled inside, or have a natural cup shape works fine. Crispy (cos / romaine lettuce) or soft, pliable leaves (like butter lettuce).

6. Leftover filling will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Not suitable for freezing.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 2 servings. Excludes toppings.

Nutrition

Calories: 245cal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Sodium: 1437mg | Potassium: 802mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 16198IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 130mg | Iron: 4mg

Life of Dozer

Before / during / after:

Before he realised it was plain baby spinach.

During the realisation.

After the realisation.

The post AWESOME vegetarian lettuce wraps appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Based on a famous Sydney Modern-Asian restaurant’s signature dish. Dare I say this version is even better? Worth the effort, it’s truly epic!

Find the recipe on page 106 of Dinner.

This is a cookbook exclusive recipe!

This recipe is exclusive to my debut cookbook Dinner which includes a how-to video for every recipe. Just scan the QR code!

Just to explain….

I know, it’s confusing! You’re so used to getting recipes on my website – there’s over 1,200 of them, after all. And here you are looking at a tasty recipe video and I haven’t provided the recipe. 🙀

I’m not just doing this to torture you, I promise.

This page exists to display the how-to video for this recipe which I exclusively created for my debut cookbook, Dinner. Every recipe in the cookbook has a tutorial video. To watch it, you simply scan the QR code with your phone or tablet and it will take you straight to the recipe video like the one shown above!

Curious about my cookbook?

• Read the cookbook overview

• Browse all cookbook exclusive recipes here

• Read the Cookbook Tales. Spoiler alert: there’s A LOT of dirty dishes!! And quite a lot of Dozer. 😂

Stay tuned for more on this page! Some cookbook exclusive recipes will have extra information added as well as extra tips. I am also looking at enabling comments for selected recipes so I can answer reader questions about cookbook recipes. I’m just a little snowed under during this launch period – book tours, getting 131 recipe videos out, launching the book overseas. Please bear with me! – Nagi x (10 October 2022)

The post Crispy Chinese Eggplant appeared first on RecipeTin Eats.

Just a mere 4 years after sharing classic pork Chinese dumplings, the vegetarian version has finally landed. Yep, it’s taken me that long to make sure you never again bite into a vegetable dumpling only to find it filled with unidentifiable tasteless mush!

Don’t get worked up about wrapping dumplings! Wonky dumplings taste just as great. And you can always just seal them flat. Fast. Easy. Effective!

Vegetable Dumplings

There’s nothing quite like freshly-made dumplings. Reheated dumplings are never the same. The imperative for fresh-out-of-the-kitchen is right up there with freshly-made fish and chips, burgers and steak.

And while there’s no shortage of excellent dumpling eateries here in Sydney, the sad truth is that when it comes to vegetable (rather than meat) dumplings, they range from mediocre to just plain bad. The biggest offence is mushy, unidentifiable, tasteless fillings.

Not to mention cost. Din Tai Fung, a famous dumpling chain from Asia with branches here in Sydney, declares itself to serve the world’s best dumplings. To be fair, their signature xiao long bau (soup-filled pork dumplings) are rightfully revered and I adore them. But a serve of 6 modestly-proportioned vegetable dumplings at Din Tai Fung will still set you back $10.90.

By my maths then, today we’re making $63.60 worth of dumplings with ingredients that cost less than $10!

My team also declares these homemade ones to be better than Din Tai Fung’s. (I can say that without feeling like I’m boasting because this recipe has been a team effort – me, Chef JB and my brother!)

What you need for vegetable dumplings

Here’s what you need to make Chinese vegetable dumplings:

• Round dumpling wrapper (gow gee pastry) – see next section below.

• Dried shiitake mushrooms – The primary flavour in the filling. Rehydrated in boiling water then finely minced, it brings a good hit of savoury flavour into the filling. Readily available these days even in the Asian section of large grocery stores in Australia.

  Substitute: Fresh shiitake mushrooms don’t have the same intensity of flavour so I really encourage you to seek out dried. But if you really can’t find it, use sautéd finely chopped fresh mushrooms. I’ve popped directions in the notes.

• Cabbage – The other primary ingredient. Salted then squeezed of excess liquid, this is more about creating volume rather than flavour.

• Firm tofu – It needs to be firm tofu as custard-like soft and silken tofu is just too delicate and will disintegrate into a watery mess. This provides much-needed texture into the filling.

• Potato – The ingredient that cracked the secret of great vegetable dumplings! See above in the “What sets these vegetable dumplings apart from the competition?” box for more information.

  We just need 2 tablespoons of finely grated potato (including the liquid that leaches out while grating). It acts as the binding agent without turning the filling into an unpleasant mush which is what happens if you use starches like cornflour/cornstarch, potato starch, tapioca, or similar.

  Without the grated potato, all the finely chopped vegetables would tumble out of the dumpling. We can’t have that! We want them in our mouth!

• Green onion – For colour and freshness.

• Garlic and ginger – Aromatics.

• Sesame oil – To add a bit of richness to the filling.

• Soy sauce – For seasoning. Light or all purpose soy sauce is called for here. Don’t use dark soy sauce. Sweet soy can be substituted but skip the sugar. More on different soy sauces here.

• Salt, pepper, sugar – More seasoning! I like to use white pepper because it’s more common in Chinese cooking but black pepper is just fine too.

Dumpling wrapper (gow gee pastry)

These round dumpling wrappers made of wheat flour are even sold in large grocery stores these days, in the Asian section of the fridge alongside fresh noodles. Here’s the brand I use which is sold at Woolworths and Harris Farms in Sydney, and sometimes Coles:

How to make Vegetable Dumplings

Heads up: this section on how to make Vegetable Dumplings is quite long as I walk through making the filling, wrapping and cooking the dumplings.

I promise it isn’t hard if you don’t get too hung up about perfectly shaped dumplings. Remember – it will still taste fantastic even if yours are a bit lopsided. Beauty is only skin-deep (literally – it’s all about the fillings here!)

If you’re already a dumpling-wrapping master, feel free to skip straight down to the recipe or the recipe video.

How to make the filling

First up, the dumpling filling! Here’s how to prepare the components:

1. Wilt cabbage

• Finely slice the cabbage then chop it quite small like you’re mincing garlic.

• Toss through salt and leave for 20 minutes. This draws out excess water from the cabbage and makes it wilt. If you skip this step, the cabbage goes watery when steamed inside the filling. The cabbage is also too fluffy and voluminous which makes it impossible to wrap!

• Grab handfuls of the cabbage and squeeze out the excess water.

• Then place the cabbage into a large bowl to make the Dumpling Filling.

2. Shiitake mushrooms

• Rehydrate the dried mushrooms in a large bowl of boiling water. It usually takes around 30 minutes but the stalk can sometimes be stubborn and take 45 minutes.

• Grab handfuls and squeeze out the excess water.

• Finely slice then finely chop the mushrooms.

3. Firm tofu

• Slice the tofu into 3-4 mm slices.

• Stack the slices then cut into 3-4 mm batons.

• Then stack the batons up to cut the tofu into 3-4 mm cubes.

Be sure to use FIRM tofu, not silken / soft tofu which is too delicate. It will turn into mush!

4. Finely grated potato – for binding

The secret ingredient for the best vegetable dumplings filling! See above in the “What sets these vegetable dumplings apart from the competition?” box for an explanation for why.

• Peel the potato then use a microplane (pictured) or similar to grate the potato very finely.

• You must use a fine grater, not a box grater which will shred the potato into large strands not grate it finely. The potato needs to be grated really finely and will be watery, like pictured above, in order to work as the binder for the filling.

• Measure out 2 tablespoons of the grated potato and add it into the bowl.

Finely grated potato is the secret ingredient to the perfect vegetable dumpling filling. It absorbs water leached by vegetables and acts as a binder, without turning the filling into mush.

Note: I grate the potato just before adding into the mixture so it doesn’t turn brown/red from oxidisation. But it doesn’t matter if it does discolour because this does not mean the potato has gone off, and you can’t see the cooked potato in the end result.

5. Mix filling

Add all the above ingredients plus other remaining filling ingredients (soy sauce, seasonings, aromatics, green onion, sesame oil) and mix with a spoon until combined.

The mixture will be crumbly at this point, not sticking together and pasty. If the mixture was sticking together – like the countless times we made this with cornflour/cornstarch – then it ends up mushy once steamed. We want crumbly. We need crumbly!

How to wrap Chinese dumplings

I could spend a lot of page inches explaining how to wrap Chinese dumplings. But I won’t because there’s a recipe video below worth a thousand words instead!

Don’t get too hung up on the wrapping. I know the pleats look lovely and authentic, but if it’s too much of a challenge, just skip the pleats and seal the dumpling with a flat seam. It still tastes the same and is also much faster to make!

Along with the video, here’s a quick description and step photos explaining how to wrap dumplings:

Dominant hand – Right hand in my case; Non-dominant hand – My left hand.

1. Place a wrapper in the palm of your non-dominant hand. Dip your finger in a small bowl of water then run it along the lower edge of the wrapper, as marked in the photo above. This is for sealing.

   The dumpling seals more securely if you wet the bottom half of the wrapper as this is the side you pleat-and-seal. If you do the top rim, the pleat folds don’t seal as well. If you do the whole rim, you’ll understand quickly why you shouldn’t (spoiler: too much stickiness!).

2. Place a loosely-packed tablespoon of filling in the centre of the wrapper. The filling doesn’t shrink much so you don’t need to overstuff the dumplings.

3. Keeping the wrapper in your non-dominant hand, use your dominant hand to fold the bottom half of the wrapper over the filling but don’t let it touch the top half of the wrapper (as soon as the water edge touches anything, it wants to glue itself to it).

4. Starting from the far left, use your dominant hand to fold one pleat, pressing to seal. Repeat, folding more pleats along the edge, working from left to right until you get to the end. If this is proving too difficult for you, just fold the wrapper over without pleats and seal flat. Your dumpling will look different but it will still taste GREAT!

The filling doesn’t shrink much as it cooks so you don’t need to overstuff the dumplings.

5. Here’s a close up of me pleating. Notice how I use the thumb of my non-dominant hand to create the pleat with my dominant hand.

6. One finished, stand the dumpling with the pleats upright. Then squish it down slightly to flatten the base, and shape it into a slight curve.

   Place the finished dumplings on a tray lightly dusted with cornflour/cornstarch (to prevent them from sticking). Keep covered with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out as you wrap the remaining dumplings.

How to cook dumplings (pan-steamed)

These dumplings can be steamed, but pan-fry + steaming is my favourite method of cooking because you get the best of both worlds: crispy base plus moist tops and insides!

1. Pan fry first – Use a non-stick skillet with a lid. The lid doesn’t have to match that skillet, just any lid that as large as or larger than the skillet is fine. You’ll see in the video that the lid I use is larger. Don’t have a lid? Use a baking tray or similar. Anything that will trap the steam in to cook the dumplings!

   Heat oil in skillet. Now place 12 to 15 dumplings in the pan and cook until the base is golden brown.

2. Golden brown base – This is your goal. It doesn’t need to be as golden as pictured in step 2 above. This is just the way I like it. Crispy from edge to edge!

3. Water for steaming – Once the base is golden brown, pour in 1/4 cup of water then quickly place the lid on to trap the steam in the pan.

   During this steaming phase, the crispy golden base does go soggy. But don’t worry! It comes back to life after the water evaporates.

4. Steam for 5 minutes or until the water has evaporated. The wrapping should be semi-transparent once cooked.

5. Remove lid. At this stage, you can leave the dumplings for another 30 seconds or so until the base really dries out to resurrect the crispy base.

6. Transfer the cooked dumplings to a serving plate using a spatula and serve with a dipping sauce.

   Dipping sauce – I like to serve with soy sauce mixed with chilli paste. A mixture of soy sauce and rice vinegar is also common.

What to serve with Vegetable Dumplings

With pork dumplings, I always feel like I need to add a side of vegetables. I think this is because my mother did such a great job of brainwashing me as a kid into believing that a meal is unbalanced without a sufficient representation of vegetables.

Isn’t it great then that these little babies are jam-packed with vegetables? So, mum, I’ll just have a big plate of these for dinner, thanks!😂

OK, OK, getting serious though. If you want to fill out the meal and make the dumplings go further, try it with a side of fried rice or Supreme Soy Noodles, and steamed Chinese Greens with Oyster Sauce (like you get at yum cha, and PS it’s not just Oyster Sauce in the sauce!) For a fresh salad, my go-to are the Chang’s Crispy Noodle Cabbage Salad (get an extra-big cabbage for the dumplings!) and my leafy Asian Side Salad.

Suggestions for things to serve on the side

Fried Rice

Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce (Gai Lan)

Supreme Soy Noodles (NEW recipe – finally!)

Australia’s favourite salad? Chang’s Crispy Noodle Salad!

Asian Side Salad

Asian Slaw – healthy, crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad

Phew! That was a long post.

Now, most importantly: Tell me how you went wrapping these. And remember, don’t get worked up about perfect dumplings! It doesn’t matter what they look like. They will still taste great! -Nagi x

The RecipeTin dumpling files

Chinese Dumplings – Pork (Potstickers)

Japanese GYOZA (Dumplings)

Wonton Soup

Siu Mai (Shumai) – Chinese steamed dumplings

Chinese Steamed Pork Buns

Watch how to make it

Print

Vegetable Dumplings (Potstickers!)

Recipe video above. 4 years in the making, my favourite vegetable dumpling! These are a standout because you can actually taste the vegetables and it's got good texture, rather than just being a wad of tasteless, watery mush which is sadly all too common.

Don't get too hung about about the wrapping part. If the pleating is too challenging, just seal it flat. Quicker, easier, and it tastes exactly the same.

Course Appetizer, Mains

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword Potstickers, vegetable dumplings, vegetarian potstickers

Prep Time 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes minutes

Soaking, wilting time etc 30 minutes minutes

Servings 30 – 35 dumplings

Calories 48cal

Author Nagi

Ingredients

Wilted cabbage for Filling:

• 2 cups green cabbage , finely chopped into 2mm pieces
• 1/2 tsp cooking/kosher salt

Filling:

• 8 dried shiitake mushroom (40 g total), medium size (Note 1)
• 3/4 cup firm tofu , finely diced into 3-4mm / 1/8" cubes (Note 2)
• 1/2 tsp garlic , finely grated
• 1 tsp ginger , finely grated
• 2 tbsp green onion , finely sliced then minced
• 2 tbsp finely grated floury potato , including juices, for binding (Sebago, russet, Maris piper, Note 3)
• 1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (Note 4)
• 1 tsp light soy sauce (or all-purpose, not dark soy)
• 1/4 tsp sugar (any)
• 1/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
• 2 pinches white pepper (sub black)

Cooking:

• 30 – 35 round dumpling wrappers (gow gee, Note 5)
• 2 – 3 tbsp canola oil
• 1/4 cup water per cooking batch

Cups – Metric

Instructions

Quick recipe (for pros):

• Wilt cabbage 20 min, squeeze. Soak mushrooms 30 min, squeeze, finely chop. Mix with remaining Filling ingredients. Wrap. Pan fry 2 min, 1/4 cup water, pan-steam 5 min.

Full recipe – filling:

• Prepare cabbage – Toss cabbage with 1/2 tsp salt in a bowl. Set aside for 20 minutes. Then grab handfuls and squeeze out excess water as best you can. Place squeezed cabbage in a bowl for mixing the filling in.
• Shiitake mushrooms – Soak mushrooms in 1 litre of boiling water for 30 minutes. Squeeze out excess liquid and finely chop into 2 mm pieces. Add to the filling bowl.
• Potato – Add grated potatoes to filling mix, including all the liquid that leached out when you grated it. We want all that starchy juice for its binding power!
• Filling – Add remaining ingredients into the filling bowl, mix to combine. It will look crumbly – don't worry, everything sticks together better when steamed thanks to the potato.

Wrapping:

• Dumpling wrappers – Take one wrapper from the packet. Keep unused wrappers covered so they don't dry out.
• Wrap dumplings – (See video at 1m 30s!) Place a wrapper in your non-dominant hand. Dip your index finger in water and run it along the lower half of the wrapper (edge closest to you). Place 1 loosely-packed tablespoon of filling in the centre. Fold the wrapping over the filling, then seal with pleats. (If this is too hard, skip the pleats and seal flat).
• Finished dumplings – Stand dumpling upright with the pleats on top, and lightly press down to flatten the base. Shape gently into a slight curve. Place on a tray lightly dusted with cornflour/cornstarch. Repeat for remaining dumplings. Keep completed dumplings covered with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out. If you're making ahead, cover dumplings with cling wrap and refrigerate. See storage notes.

Cook (pan-frying + steaming):

• Cooking vessel: Use a large non-stick pan with a lid (Note 6).
• Pan fry: Heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium high heat. Pan fry 12 to 15 dumplings for 2 minutes until the base is golden brown.
• Steam: Pour over 1/4 cup water over the dumplings in the skillet – it will steam and bubbly vigorously! Place the lid on and steam for 5 minutes or until the water in the pan has evaporated.
• Cooked! Remove the lid. The water should have been driven off, and the wrapping should be semi-transparent (indicating it is cooked). The base should be crispy again. If not, leave the pan uncovered for a bit until the base crisps up again in the oil.
• Serve: Scoop the dumplings up with a spatula and place on a serving plate. Serve with soy sauce and chili paste for dipping, or rice vinegar mixed with soy sauce. Best served fresh – I get another batch cooking as we eat the freshly cooked ones!

Steaming-only option:

• Using either a bamboo steamer set over a large wok with simmering water, or other larger steamer. Line with a fitted sheet of parchment paper with holes, and steam the dumplings for 8 minutes.

Notes

1. Dried shiitake mushrooms are better than fresh as they have a more intense flavour and won’t make the filing watery. Find them in Asian stores and the Asian aisle of large grocery stores.

To substitute with fresh mushrooms, finely chop then sauté in a little oil until the water leeches out and it’s dark brown. Cool then measure out 1 cup lightly packed. You’ll probably need around 250g / 8oz mushrooms.

2. Tofu – be sure to use firm tofu, labelled as such. Soft tofu and soft silken tofu is too delicate.

3. Potato – the secret ingredient! It binds the filling when cooked so it doesn’t crumble out everywhere while eating. Raw potato is superior to starch powders like cornflour/cornstarch, rice flour etc which make the filling unpleasantly mushy. Only 2 tablespoons makes all the difference!

4. Sesame oil – Use toasted (brown-coloured oil, standard in Australia) rather than untoasted (yellow).

5. Dumpling wrappers – Round white wrappers sold in the Asian fridge section of large grocery stores (I use Double Merino from Woolworths) and Asian grocers. They come in packs of 30 or so, so if you don’t think you’ll use them again soon, just get 1 packet. Else, if you’re a regular dumpling maker, get 2 packs as the filling is enough for up to 35 dumplings.

6. Lid – To trap the steam inside the skillet to cook the dumplings. Use one from any other pot or skillet, as long as it is the same size or larger than the skillet circumference. Alternatively use a baking tray.

7. Storing – Uncooked dumplings will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, either in an airtight container (single layers) or on a tray covered with cling wrap. They can also be frozen for 3 months. Thaw before cooking.

Cooked dumplings can be kept for 3 days. Best to reheat in the microwave or steamed again. But as mentioned right upfront, it is not the same as freshly made!

Nutrition

Calories: 48cal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 123mg | Potassium: 38mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 1mg

Life of Dozer

Dozer in guard dog mode? Not at all. Just waiting for the next person to come through the door for ear-rubs. Nobody comes inside without giving him ear-rubs!!

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