COOK: Homemade Fish & Scallion Dumplings
- Fish Dumpling Serving Ideas & Suggestions
- Fish & Scallion Dumpling Ingredients
- Kitchen Equipment Needed
- How to Make Fish & Scallion Dumplings
- Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
- Homemade Fish & Scallion Dumplings
I made these delicate fish dumplings last week for Chinese New Year, and to transform some basic pan fish and ground pork into something really special! These tender little dumplings are filled with a dollop of fish, juicy pork, and scallion or Chinese chive mousse.
Dumplings and whole fish are traditionally eaten in the Lunar New Year celebrations to bring abundance (the word for “fish” is similar to the word for abundance in Mandarin, and “dumpling” sounds similar to “out with the old, in with the new”).
They have a bit of heavy cream and egg to add richness to the rich but mild-ly flavored filling, and are lightly seasoned with rice wine, garlic, ginger, soy, and a hint of sweet spices. I’ve included substitution ideas if you don’t eat pork, so don’t let that turn you off of these tasty dumplings.
They’re not a strictly traditional Chinese fish dumpling recipe with the addition of the cream and pork. It’s more of an Asian-fusion recipe, influenced by French fish mousseline or quenelle recipes, but they are absolutely delicious!
You could even skip the dumpling wrapper step and use just the fish mousse dumpling filling recipe to make poached fish and chive quenelles in broth for a simple and elegant first-course, or as a garnish to show off a superb homemade fish broth or consomme.
You can use a homemade dumpling dough or make these with store-bought round dumpling or small wonton wrappers for convenience. I pleated these into a traditional crescent moon dumpling shape, but you can do a simple half-moon fold, or make a round dumpling gathered and pinched at the top, or any other shape that you prefer!
Fish Dumpling Serving Ideas & Suggestions
You can steam, boil, or pan-fry these fish dumplings, and serve them for dim sum, lunch, or dinner. We like to steam them, and pair them with pan-seared pork or vegetable pot-stickers, sauteed or steamed vegetables, and a pot of rice. Or, poach them gently in chicken or fish broth and serve them as a dumpling soup with a garnish of thinly sliced green onion or chive.
Serve these fish and scallion dumplings with a dish of black vinegar with a slice of fresh ginger, soy sauce, chili oil, or your favorite dumpling sauce. If you want an easy sweet and sour sauce instead, try our sweet chili garlic sauce canning recipe.
Fish & Scallion Dumpling Ingredients
Fish:
You can use various lean, firm, mild-flavored white-fleshed fish in these dumplings. Use fresh or frozen fillets, or freshly filleted pan-fish. I made these with fillets from a bunch of small bluegill that I had in the freezer, but you could also use perch, cod, whitefish, pike, or bass.
If your fillets are not boneless, carefully remove any bones as well as the skin with a sharp knife. Cut the fillets into 1-2″ chunks and keep cold until you prepare the filling.
Pork:
Ground pork adds richness, flavor, and structure to the filling. If you don’t eat pork you can substitute ground chicken, lamb, or veal.
To make these dumplings completely pescatarian, you can increase the fish in the filling in lieu of the ground meat.
Scallions:
You can use small green onions or Chinese chives in these fish & scallion dumplings. Either way, chop them before adding to the food processor.
If you use green onions, wash them carefully, trim the root end and peel any tough outer layers. Include the chopped whites and the tender green parts.
Egg:
One large egg adds a silky richness, bounce, and helps emulsify the filling.
Heavy Cream:
Adding cream is not necessarily a traditional ingredient in Asian fish dumplings, but a splash of heavy cream adds a mousseline velvety texture to the filling in these fish dumplings that makes them extra delicious.
Seasonings:
Garlic, ginger, white pepper, Shaoxhing rice wine, soy sauce, and a pinch of 5 spice powder.
Dumpling wrappers:
You can make your own homemade dumpling wrappers or use store-bought ones. I used commercial round Hong Kong-style wrappers for these, which are bright yellow and include egg or yellow coloring, and are very close to a fresh egg pasta dough in texture.
You can use white dumpling wrappers (without egg) if you prefer or if that’s what you have available… either is fine. If your store doesn’t have round dumpling wrappers but does have wonton wrappers, you can use square wonton wrappers and fold them instead of pleating them, or use a circle cutter to make rounds (save and fry the scraps for a crunchy soup or salad garnish).
Kitchen Equipment Needed
Food processor:
You’ll need a food processor, or a professional blender (like a Vitamix) to make the dumpling filling. In a pinch, you could finely mince the fish, scallions, and garlic by hand, or run them through the fine plate of a food grinder and then mix well, but the filling will have a very different texture and will not be smooth.
Bamboo or metal steamer (optional):
This is not required, but I prefer to steam these rather delicate flavored dumplings. You can also gently boil them in a pot of water or broth, or pan-fry and prepare them like pot-stickers (pan-sear in a skillet with a lid and then steam them by adding a splash of hot water and covering the pan to cook them through). Or, use wonton wrappers and fry them in hot oil for a very different dish using the same filling.
How to Make Fish & Scallion Dumplings
make fish and scallion dumpling filling:
- Start with very cold ingredients. You can pre-chill your food processor bowl and blade if you are working in a hot kitchen.
- Fillet the fish (if you are working with fresh fish) & remove the skin if possible. To do this, lay the fillets skin-side down on the cutting board and slide a thin, sharp knife parallel to the cutting board to remove just the skin while leaving the flesh intact. Scrape the skin to get the rest if your blade wobbled… or just buy skinless fillets if your knife skills aren’t there yet!
- Cut the fish into 1-2″ pieces, and marinate in a small bowl with the rice wine, soy, five-spice, garlic powder, and white pepper. Keep cold.
- Wash and chop scallions or Chinese chives. Peel & mince garlic and ginger into a paste.
- Add the marinated fish, ground meat, and garlic and ginger paste to the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the scallions or chives and pulse some more until well combined.
- Add the egg, pulse and blend until the mixture is well emulsified, then drizzle in the cream and blend until light and creamy.
- Chill until ready to assemble dumplings.
roll or thaw dumpling wrappers:
- Using your favorite dumpling dough recipe, pre-roll your wrappers into 3″ circles, or use store-bought dumpling wrappers.
- If you are using commercial wrappers or used a lot of flour or starch to roll out your homemade ones, you will need a small dish of water to moisten the wrappers around the edges to get them to seal.
add the fish dumpling filling:
- Drop a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a wrapper.
- I use a #70 portion scoop, you can use a similar small cookie scoop for convenience and to keep your hands clean.
- Moisten the edges of the wrapper with your fingertip or a small brush (you may prefer to do this before adding the filling- try it both ways and see which works better for you!)
fold & pleat the dumplings:
- Fold, pinch, and pleat the wrapper over to seal in the filling. There are lots of different traditional shapes. Use whichever you prefer!
- Start with a simple half-moon fold (like a pirogi or potsticker) if you are new to these. Homemade wrappers are harder to make but easier to pleat than drier commercial dumpling wrappers.
- Once that simple fold and seal is easy, try adding more pleats and tucks to form crescent moons like these (with all the pleats on one side), alternating side pleats, or s-curve pleats (switch sides in the center), or gather all the edges into a central top-pleat to form a round dumpling.
- Pinch well to make sure that the dumplings stay sealed, especially if you plan to boil the finished dumplings.
- You can pleat your dumplings into different shapes for different kinds of fillings, so that you can easily tell them apart if you’re making multiple kinds in the same steamer.
store dumplings in a single layer:
- Lay the finished dumplings on a tray or sheet pan. You can dust the pan lightly with cornstarch or rice flour so they don’t stick.
- Chill the finished folded dumplings for up to a day, cook them immediately, or freeze them flat on a covered tray before transferring to a freezer bag or air-tight container.
cook & serve:
- To cook, lay the dumplings out on a bamboo or metal steamer above a pot of boiling water. You can line the steamer with a cabbage leaf or individual squares of parchment paper under the dumplings if you like.
- Steam fresh dumplings for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through. Frozen dumplings will need an additional few minutes. You can check the internal temperature of one with a thermometer to make sure they’re at least 165F to be sure.
- Alternately, gently boil in a pot of water. Remove dumplings after they are floating and cooked through (frozen dumplings will take longer).
Storage & Make-Ahead Tips
You can store the finished filling in the fridge for up to three or four days before filling the dumplings. Keep the filling very cold while you work, and cover it tightly so that it doesn’t dry out or pick up off-flavors.
These fish and scallion dumplings freeze well for several months. Freeze them flat on a sheet tray, and then transfer to a freezer-bag or storage container. I like to use these deviled egg containers to freeze and store homemade dumplings or filled pastas so that they don’t break or crack in the freezer!
I don’t recommend refrigerating them for longer than a day, as the filling will soak through and make the wrapper soggy. This makes them easier to break when you try to cook them. Fold and cook them when you want them, or make and freeze them.
Make up a big batch of homemade dumplings and stash them in your freezer for quick, homemade convenience food! I like to keep a few different kinds of homemade and commercially prepared dumplings on hand in our freezer for easy and delicious dinners.
Just stack up a steamer tray or two on top of a pot of boiling water and serve with rice and vegetables for a light, healthy dinner. Alternately, cook them in or over a pot of ramen or broth for a simple but filling soup supper.
Homemade Fish & Scallion Dumplings
Ingredients
- 48 each dumpling wrappers or dumpling dough
marinate together:
- 12 oz boneless, skinless fish fillets (mild white fish like cod, perch, or other firm fleshed lean fish) cut into 1-2" pieces
- 3 tbsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp finely ground white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ⅛ tsp Chinese five-spice powder
other filling ingredients:
- 4 oz ground pork substitute ground chicken, veal, or increase fish above by 4 oz for pescatarian-friendly dumplings
- 1 tbsp ginger paste (fresh ginger, peeled & minced, or use prepared paste)
- 1 clove fresh garlic (minced to paste, or prepared garlic paste)
- ¾ cup chopped scallions, white parts and green tops substitute Chinese garlic chives if you can get them
- 1 large egg
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
Instructions
make fish and scallion dumpling filling:
- Start with very cold ingredients. You can pre-chill your food processor bowl and blade if you are working in a hot kitchen.
- Fillet the fish (if you are working with fresh fish) & remove the skin if possible. To do this, lay the fillets skin-side down on the cutting board and slide a thin, sharp knife parallel to the cutting board to remove just the skin while leaving the flesh intact. Scrape the skin to get the rest if your blade wobbled… or just buy skinless fillets if your knife skills aren’t there yet!
- Cut the fish into 1-2" pieces, and marinate in a small bowl with the rice wine, soy, five-spice, garlic powder, and white pepper. Keep cold in the fridge or place bowl on ice.
- Wash and chop scallions or Chinese chives. Peel & mince garlic and ginger into a paste.
- Add the marinated fish, ground meat, and garlic and ginger paste to the food processor bowl. Pulse until the mixture is finely chopped. Add the scallions or chives and pulse some more until well combined.
- Add the egg, pulse and blend until the mixture is well emulsified, then drizzle in the cream and blend until light and creamy.
- Chill until ready to assemble dumplings. You can make and chill the filling 3-4 days in advance. Keep very cold.
roll or thaw dumpling wrappers:
- Using your favorite dumpling dough recipe, pre-roll your wrappers into 3″ circles, or use store-bought dumpling wrappers.
- If you are using commercial wrappers or used a lot of flour or starch to roll out your homemade ones, you will need a small dish of water to moisten the wrappers around the edges to get them to seal.
add the fish dumpling filling:
- Drop a heaping teaspoon of filling in the center of a wrapper.
- I use a #70 portion scoop, you can use a similar small cookie scoop for convenience and to keep your hands clean.
- Moisten the edges of the wrapper with your fingertip or a small brush (you may prefer to do this before adding the filling- try it both ways and see which works better for you!)
fold & pleat the dumplings:
- Fold, pinch, and pleat the wrapper over to seal in the filling. There are lots of different traditional shapes. Use whichever you prefer!
- Start with a simple half-moon fold (like a pirogi or potsticker) if you are new to these. Homemade wrappers are harder to make but easier to pleat than drier commercial dumpling wrappers.
- Once that simple fold and seal is easy, try adding more pleats and tucks to form crescent moons like these (with all the pleats on one side), alternating side pleats, or s-curve pleats (switch sides in the center), or gather all the edges into a central top-pleat to form a round dumpling.
- Pinch well to make sure that the dumplings stay sealed, especially if you plan to boil the finished dumplings.
- You can pleat your dumplings into different shapes for different kinds of fillings, so that you can easily tell them apart if you’re making multiple kinds in the same steamer.
store dumplings in a single layer:
- Lay the finished dumplings on a tray or sheet pan. You can dust the pan lightly with cornstarch or rice flour so they don’t stick.
- Chill the finished folded dumplings for up to a day, cook them immediately, or freeze them flat on a covered tray before transferring to a freezer bag or air-tight container.
cook & serve:
- To cook, lay the dumplings out on a bamboo or metal steamer above a pot of boiling water. You can line the steamer with a cabbage leaf or individual squares of parchment paper under the dumplings if you like.
- Steam fresh dumplings for 10-12 minutes, or until cooked through. Frozen dumplings will need an additional few minutes. You can check the internal temperature of one with a thermometer to make sure they’re at least 165F to be sure.
- Alternately, gently boil in a pot of water. Remove dumplings after they are floating and cooked through (frozen dumplings will take longer).
Nutrition
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