This pork and chive dumpling recipe is truly restaurant-worthy. While we posted a recipe from our cousin (who grew up in Beijing) back in 2014, we have since come up with a new version that we think is the ultimate pork and chive dumpling recipe!
Don’t worry, if you want the old version of the recipe, it’s still available here as well! (Scroll down to the end of the post.)
We used store-bought wrappers for our new recipe, while the older version includes a method for making your own dumpling wrappers. This is a great option if you can’t find store-bought dumpling wrappers near you. It’s just all-purpose flour and water, and ANYONE can do it!
Note:
We originally posted this recipe on December 3, 2014. We have since updated the recipe itself (though the old version is also available below), along with new photos, metric measurements, nutrition info, etc. Enjoy!
A Traditional Combination
Pork and Chive Dumplings are one of the most traditional dumpling flavors you’ll find in China. Chinese chives, also called garlic chives, are readily available at most Asian grocery stores. They’re also a perennial and a snap to grow (really…they grow like weeds! Learn how to grow garlic chives here).
As if the chives coming back year after year and providing pretty white flowers in late summer weren’t enough, they’re also a cut and come again crop. After you harvest some, more come back! When they’re available in our garden in the spring and summer, we make these dumplings often.
The garlic chives have a super aromatic flavor, making them a wonderful complement to the ground pork in the filling.
Always Improving!
For the original version of this recipe, we enlisted the help of my cousin’s husband Willy, who hails from Beijing and has an expert dumpling-making mother. We recorded the recipe that he makes all the time at home! They are simply prepared, boiled, and dipped in vinegar, as is common in Northern China.
The hallmarks of that version of the recipe are the addition of “cooked” oil, which is heated on the stove. It is then cooled and added to the filling to create nuttiness. Willy’s version also uses raw egg as a binder, and only sesame oil, salt, and soy sauce for flavor.
We know that every recipe can be improved and made better, so that’s exactly what we did with this one, experimenting with our own version of the recipe.
Our new version packs in more flavor, with an infused oil mixture containing Sichuan peppercorn, star anise, and garlic. We also add dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, and a hint of five spice, along with a puree of ginger and scallion.
It may sound like there’s a lot going on, but these layers of flavor come together harmoniously to create what we think is the ultimate pork and chive dumpling. Sarah says that it tastes similar to the pork and chive dumplings from a well-known (sadly now closed) spot in Manhattan Chinatown that she and Justin used to go to: Lam Zhou.
Recipe Notes Before We Begin
- It is important to use fatty ground pork here. Chinese grocery stores usually offer the right ratio of meat to fat in their ground pork. The fat really helps with the texture of the filling, making it juicier and less dry.
- This dumpling filling has about a cup of liquid, which may seem like a lot. However, this is another key to making the dumplings juicy. The meat readily absorbs the liquid, and what’s amazing is that you can’t see the liquid in the filling at all! In order to achieve this texture, you must whip the filling in one direction thoroughly until it resembles a paste. Please read the recipe at least once before starting—it is important to follow the steps.
- To make the dumplings easier to wrap, you can chill the dumpling filling in the fridge for 1 hour. This will firm up the filling a bit.
- This recipe makes 4 dozen dumplings. If you have leftover wrappers, try our easy scallion pancake hack. If you have leftover filling, form them into small patties and pan-fry them or steam for 8 to 10 minutes.
- If you want to make your own wrappers, follow the original recipe for the wrapper dough. You can also visit our dedicated dumpling wrapper recipe and scale it according to the number of dumplings you’re making. Using metric measurements will yield the most consistent results.
- For more details on dumpling making, check out our posts on How to Wrap Dumplings (4 Ways, from Easy to Advanced) and How to Cook Dumplings (Boiling, Steaming & Pan-frying)
If you like this recipe, you must visit our collections of dumpling and wonton recipes and dim sum recipes, where you’ll find a variety of dumplings, potstickers, and popular dim sum dishes.
Pork & Chive Dumpling Recipe Instructions
To a small saucepan over medium heat, add the oil, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and garlic cloves. Heat the oil and allow the spices to infuse it for about 5 minutes, until the garlic cloves are lightly browned. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
Add the water, ginger, and scallions to a food processor. Puree until smooth.
Add the ground pork to a mixing bowl. Add the ginger scallion puree to the pork in three batches, whipping in one direction until the pork completely absorbs the liquid puree each time before adding the next batch.
Next, add the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, five spice powder, and salt. Mix well, whipping the filling in one direction until the mixture resembles a paste.
In a separate bowl, mix together the finely chopped garlic chives (you must finely chop them, or the filling may not bind together as well) and the infused oil (pour it in through a strainer).
Combine the chives with the meat mixture, and whip until well-combined. Now you are ready to wrap the dumplings!
Set up a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, a small bowl of water, and keep your dumpling wrappers under a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out.
To assemble a dumpling, dip your finger into the water, and wet the outer edges of the round wrapper. Add about 1 tablespoon of filling to the center of the wrapper, and pleat closed, making sure that the dumpling is tightly sealed. (Learn how to pleat dumplings here.) Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan so the dumplings are spaced slightly apart, and repeat until you’ve run out of filling/wrappers.
At this point, you can either cook the dumplings fresh, following our dumpling cooking instructions for steaming, pan-frying, or boiling. Alternatively, you can freeze them. Cover the tray with clean plastic grocery bags, and place in the freezer overnight. Once the dumplings are frozen solid, transfer to freezer bags for longer term storage (they keep at best quality for about 2 months in the freezer).
Serve with vinegar, chili sauce or better yet, make our favorite dumpling sauce recipe!
Pork Chive Dumplings
Pork and Chive Dumplings are one of the most common you’ll find in China. We think this recipe is the ULTIMATE pork and chive dumpling!
serves: 8
Prep: 1 hour 35 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 2 hours
Instructions
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To a small saucepan over medium heat, add the oil, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, and garlic cloves. Heat the oil and allow the spices to infuse it for about 5 minutes, until the garlic cloves are lightly browned. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
-
Add the water, ginger, and scallions to a food processor. Puree until smooth.
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Add the ground pork to a mixing bowl. Add the ginger scallion puree to the pork in three batches, whipping in one direction until the pork completely absorbs the liquid puree each time before adding the next batch.
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Next, add the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, white pepper, five spice powder, and salt. Mix well, whipping the filling in one direction until the mixture resembles a paste.
-
In a separate bowl, mix together the finely chopped garlic chives (you must finely chop them, or the filling may not bind together as well) and the infused oil (pour it in through a strainer). Combine the chives with the meat mixture, and whip until well-combined. Now you are ready to wrap the dumplings!
-
Set up a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, a small bowl of water, and keep your dumpling wrappers under a damp paper towel to prevent them from drying out. To assemble a dumpling, dip your finger into the water, and wet the outer edges of the round wrapper. Add about 1 tablespoon of filling to the center of the wrapper, and pleat closed, making sure that the dumpling is tightly sealed. (Learn how to pleat dumplings here.) Place on the parchment-lined sheet pan so the dumplings are spaced slightly apart, and repeat until you’ve run out of filling/wrappers.
Tips & Notes:
Follow our dumpling cooking instructions for steaming, pan-frying, or boiling. Alternatively, you can freeze them. Cover the tray with clean plastic grocery bags, and place in the freezer overnight. Once the dumplings are frozen solid, transfer to freezer bags for longer term storage (they keep at best quality for about 2 months in the freezer).
nutrition facts
Calories: 421kcal (21%) Carbohydrates: 40g (13%) Protein: 17g (34%) Fat: 21g (32%) Saturated Fat: 5g (25%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g Monounsaturated Fat: 10g Trans Fat: 0.03g Cholesterol: 47mg (16%) Sodium: 743mg (31%) Potassium: 299mg (9%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 1g (1%) Vitamin A: 498IU (10%) Vitamin C: 8mg (10%) Calcium: 64mg (6%) Iron: 3mg (17%)
Old Version:
Below is Willy’s version of the recipe, the original recipe we posted on December 2, 2014.
Makes 5-6 dozen
Ingredients:
- 7 cups all-purpose flour – 975g
- 2 1/4 cups water – 530 ml
- 1/4 cup oil – 60 ml
- 1 1/4 lbs ground pork – 565g
- 1 egg
- 7 cups Chinese chives (chopped finely) – 420g
- 3 tablespoons sesame oil – 45 ml
- 1/4 cup soy sauce – 60 ml
- salt (to taste)
Instructions:
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl. Gradually add the water to the flour and knead into a smooth dough. This process should take about 10 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let the dough rest for an hour.
While the dough is resting, prepare the filling. Start by adding the oil to a small pot over medium high heat. Heat the oil for about 7 minutes and allow it to cool. This “cooking” of the oil is supposed to bring out a nuttier flavor in the filling. This tip comes straight to you from Willy’s mother, a Beijing local, and an authority on dumpling-making!
Once the oil is cooled, add the ground pork to a large bowl, along with the egg, chives, sesame oil, soy sauce, and cooked, cooled oil. At this point, make and boil a test dumpling and try it to ensure the taste is to your liking. You can then adjust by adding more salt if needed.
Once the filling tastes right to you, begin assembling the dumplings. The best way to do this is to divide the dough into manageable pieces and then rolling each piece into a rope. Cut them into small pieces (in a size similar to if you were cutting gnocchi, or about the size of the top part of your thumb).
Roll the pieces out into circles, and add about 1½ teaspoons of filling to the center (it helps if you have an assembly line going, with one person cutting out the dough pieces, one person rolling it out, and one person filling/folding).
You can then pleat the dumpling closed, or you can just fold the circle in half and press them together. Willy’s method is to fold the circle in half, press it together at the top, and then make two folds on either side. Whatever way works for you…they don’t have to be pretty to taste good.
Place the dumplings about a centimeter apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
When you’re ready to cook, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Carefully drop the dumplings into the water and keep them moving, so they don’t stick to the bottom of the pot. Bring back to a slow boil, and cook until they float to the top and the filling is cooked through (about 5 minutes).
You can also steam or pan-fry these dumplings. For a full tutorial on how to cook dumplings (steaming, boiling, and pan-frying), check out this article.
Nutrition Info (about 6 dumplings):
Calories: 477kcal (24%) Carbohydrates: 57g (19%) Protein: 17g (34%) Fat: 19g (29%) Saturated Fat: 5g (25%) Cholesterol: 48mg (16%) Sodium: 500mg (21%) Potassium: 298mg (9%) Fiber: 3g (12%) Sugar: 1g (1%) Vitamin A: 1035IU (21%) Vitamin C: 13.9mg (17%) Calcium: 43mg (4%) Iron: 4.4mg (24%)
