Recipes › Chives › Chinese Chive and Pork Dumpling Pan-Fry
Chinese Chive and Pork Dumpling Pan-Fry
These gyoza-style dumplings are packed with a fragrant filling of minced pork and a very generous amount of fresh chives — the chive flavour is bold, grassy and absolutely central to the whole thing. They're pan-fried to a golden crisp base then steamed in the pan to cook through, giving you that satisfying contrast of textures. It is a proper weeknight project that comes together in under 30 minutes if you use ready-made dumpling wrappers.
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Ingredients
- 80 g chives, finely sliced
- 400 g minced pork (about 15–20% fat)or use minced chicken thighs
- 20 fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp light soy sauceuse tamari for a gluten-free version
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 egg, beaten
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 32 round dumpling wrappers (gyoza-style, about 9cm diameter)
- 3 tbsp neutral oil (sunflower or vegetable)
- 80 ml water
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tsp chilli oil (optional)
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, sesame, soya, sulphites.
Method
- Put the minced pork, sliced chives, grated ginger, crushed garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, beaten egg and white pepper into a large bowl. Mix firmly with your hand or a wooden spoon for about a minute until the mixture is cohesive and slightly sticky — this develops the texture of the filling.About 3 min
- Set up a small bowl of cold water. Working with one wrapper at a time, place a heaped teaspoon (about 12g) of filling in the centre. Dip your finger in the water and run it around the edge of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half over the filling to make a half-moon shape, pressing the centre together first, then pleating and pressing firmly along the edge to seal. Place on a lightly floured surface. Repeat with all the wrappers and filling.About 10 min
- Make the dipping sauce by stirring together the dark soy sauce, rice vinegar and chilli oil (if using) in a small bowl. Set aside.About 1 min
- Heat 1.5 tablespoons of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan (about 28cm) over a medium-high heat. Arrange half the dumplings in the pan, flat-base down, without crowding them. Fry undisturbed for 2 minutes until the bases are a deep golden brown.About 2 min
- Pour 40ml of water into the pan — it will spit, so stand back. Immediately cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium. Steam for 4 minutes until the water has fully evaporated and the wrappers look translucent. Remove the lid and cook for a further 30 seconds to crisp the bases again. Transfer to a warm plate and repeat with the remaining dumplings and oil.About 6 min
- Serve the dumplings crisp-side up with the dipping sauce alongside.
Tips
- Do not skimp on the chives — 80g sounds like a lot but they cook down significantly and their flavour is the whole point of this filling. Garden chives snipped straight before cooking are noticeably more pungent and fresh-tasting than shop-bought.
- Sealing the dumplings properly is the most important step. Run your finger firmly along the pleat twice to make sure there are no gaps — any opening will let the filling escape into the pan water.
- If you want to get ahead, filled and sealed dumplings can sit on a floured tray at room temperature for up to 20 minutes before cooking. Beyond that, cover and refrigerate them — the wrappers start to absorb moisture and stick.
Ring the changes
- For a vegetarian version, replace the pork with 400g of firm tofu, pressed dry and crumbled, plus 100g of finely shredded white cabbage squeezed of excess water — increase the soy sauce to 3 tablespoons.
- Swap the gyoza wrappers for wonton wrappers and boil the dumplings in salted water for 4 minutes instead — serve in a simple broth of chicken stock, soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil.
Keeping it
Cooked dumplings are best eaten straight from the pan. Leftover cooked dumplings can be refrigerated for up to 2 days and re-crisped in a dry non-stick pan over medium heat for 3–4 minutes. Uncooked filled dumplings freeze well on a tray until solid, then bagged — cook straight from frozen, adding an extra 2 minutes to the steaming time.
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