How to Make Gluten-Free Chinese Dumplings (and a Recipe for Regular Dumplings Too)

Chinese New Year is coming up soon and dumplings are one of my family’s favorite foods to celebrate the new year. Dumplings symbolize good luck and can be eaten so many ways – steamed, boiled or pan-fried (my favorite, also know as guotie in Chinese or potstickers here in the US) and can be filled with so many different things. I prefer a vegetarian mix with chives, noodles and mushrooms or shrimp and chives, while my family prefers the pork and chives combination.

Ingredients

Gluten-free dumpling skin

1/2 cup tapioca starch
3/4 cup millet flour
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch
2 tsp xantham gum
3/4 to 1 cup hot water
1-2 tbsp cold water

Filling

3/4 to 1 lbs lean pork, ground (substitute with white meat chicken, ground or a combination of Chinese dry/fried tofu, finely chopped mushrooms or rice noodles for a vegetarian option)
2 fresh bunches of chives (about 2 cups), finely chopped (substitute with Chinese cabbage, choi sum or cabbage kim chee)
1 tbsp sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
1-2 tbsp Coconut Aminos (as a substitute for soy sauce but you can use soy if you don’t have an allergy)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Dipping sauce

1-2 tsp Coconut Aminos (or soy sauce – we avoid soy now that my husband is allergic to it)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
Asian hot sauce to taste
1/2 tsp vinegar

Directions

1. Make the dumpling skins by mixing all but 1/3 cup of dry ingredients and then slowly add hot water to the mixture. Knead the dough well, and then add the cold water.

2. Portion dough into silver dollar sizes. Then roll out the silver dollar portions into traditional dumpling skin sizes (about 3 inches wide). You’ll need the remaining 1/3 of dry flour mixture to roll out the dough. It can get sticky so keep trying. Makes about 2 dozen dumpling skins.

3. In a separate bowl, mix pork and chives well. Then add sesame oil, salt, pepper, ginger and Coconut Aminos. Mix well.

4. Spoon 1 tsp of the pork and chives filling into a dumpling skin. Keep a reserve of warm water in a small bowl nearby. Once the dumpling skin is filled, dab a finger into the water and spread on half of the inner dumpling skin. Fold ends together and twist gently to seal dumpling. Or you can also just fold over into half moons. Garnish with sesame seeds.

5. Heat a pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp of oil to the pan. Once oil is heated, add 5-6 dumplings and cook for about a minute. Then add 1-2 tsp of water and cover with a lid. Let the water cook off, then uncover the pan. Cook for a few more minutes, then flip over to pan fry the other side. Remove from heat.

6. Combine all dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl or ramekin.

Enjoy!

Prefer to make regular dumpling skins? You can just swap out the gluten-free recipe for this gluten version:

Regular dumpling skin

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
3/4 cup hot water
1-2 tbsp cold water

Follow the same directions as above.

This post was written by

Tracey – who has written 406 posts on Don't Mess with Mama.
Tracey Black is the founder and editor-in-chief for Don't Mess with Mama, the sassy mom's guide to parenting, green living and travel. She is a regular contributor to Redbook's Mamarama blog, and a social media strategist working with eco-friendly brands such as Stonyfield, Juice Beauty and others. She has three boys and lives in San Diego, Calif.