The best dumpling filling recipe is always MOM’S recipe!

This is the only way I would make my pork dumpling filling: pre cook the filling!

Because that’s how my mom made it, and my mom’s dumplings taste way better than any restaurant one.

Can you pre cook dumpling filling?

My answer is absolutely yes!

I have tried so many raw dumpling filling recipes, none of them taste as good as my mom’s precooked pork dumpling filling. 

Although there’s nearly no recipes on Internet teaching you how to pre cook your dumpling filling, and many posts are here telling you not to do it, I still insist that precooked pork filling tastes much butter than raw fillings!

Why you should pre cook your pork dumpling filling?

1. The Maillard reaction makes the pork more delicious.

When the meat reaches at 285 °F (140°C) or higher, Maillard reaction occurs as the meat is getting browning.

 The Maillard reaction is many small, simultaneous chemical reactions that occur when proteins and sugars in and on your food are transformed by heat, producing new flavors, aromas, and colors.      – Serious Eats

We all know that water boils at 212 °F (100°C), which is much lower than Maillard reaction’s happening temperature. Therefore, if we wrap our dumplings with raw meat, the Maillard reaction won’t occur to the filling, no matter you boil or steam the dumplings. 

While according to devour.asia, stir frying temperature is at least 450°F. Probably why stir fried or roasted meat always has more flavors than boiled or steamed one.😋

2. It’s easier to season your pork dumpling filling when it’s cooked.

Dumpling filling is very easy to make – you basically just need to finely chop and mix everything together in a large bowl.

The only tricky part of making dumpling filling is how to season it. If you make raw dumpling fillings, you won’t be able to tell how it tastes until you finally get to taste the final product – the dumplings. 

Obviously, by following my pork dumpling filing recipe, you can taste and adjust the seasoning as soon as the pork is fully cooked.

3. Pork food safety

Different from beef, raw pork or undercooked pork are unsafe to eat, because the parasites, like roundworms or tapeworms, in raw pork can make you sick.

When you boil dumplings that are made with raw pork fillings, it is very likely that the dumpling wrappers are already broken while the fillings are still pink.

Especially when you store your dumplings in the freezer, you will need to boil them for about 10 minutes to make sure that the pork filling is fully cooked.

Nevertheless, we will only need to boil our precooked-filling dumplings for about 3 minutes, no matter they are frozen or freshly made.

This recipe ensures that the pork is fully cooked and the dumplings won’t get mushy or fall apart due to the long cooking time.

Some Tips for making delicious dumpling fillings:

1. Get rid of extra water when you cook ground pork.

Some people might argue that the grease is where the flavor comes from. While, I personally think the liquid released from my ground pork stinks. So I’d either scope it out with a spoon, or absorb it with some kitchen towel. 

When the ground pork releases so much water, it feels like I’m boiling the pork instead of stir-frying it. Again, Maillard reaction won’t occur when there’s so much water in the pan.

2. Use the leafy part of the napa cabbage.

Traditional Chinese dumplings should be made by either napa cabbages or Chinese chives. If you can’t find them in your area, it’s also common for people to use cabbages as a substitute. 

Some recipes would teach you to marinate the napa cabbage leaves with salt and squeeze out all the water from the napa cabbage before using. This step is reasonable (it prevents the dumpling filling from being too wet) but unnecessary, because we can avoid wet dumpling filling by:

1. Only using the leafy part of the napa cabbage, because the stem part contains much more water than the leafy part;

2. Add cornstarch water (see instructions below) at the end to thicken the sauce.

3. Add shiitake mushrooms and oyster sauce.

These two ingredients can bring the dumpling filling a strong umami flavor. If you can’t find them in your local stores, you can also substitute them with Portobello Mushrooms and Hoisin sauce.

How to Wrap Dumplings?

Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of a wrapper, fold the wrapper in half, press to seal the edges together. Lastly press the two corners together to get an ingot shape dumpling.

Check out my cute dumpling recipe to learn how to make colorful dumpling wrappers with vegetable juices, and how to easily make cute anime style dumplings.

Check out my potsticker recipe to learn how to make postickers with a crispy skirt in 2 easy methods.

First of all, let’s fry some dumpling fillings~

How to make Pork Dumpling Filling 

EQUIPMENT

• Wok/Fry Pan

INGREDIENTS

• 1000 g ground pork – 70% to 80% lean (About 2.2 lbs)
• 350 g napa cabbage – leaf part
• 20 g ginger – minced
• 50 g green onion – finely chopped
• 100 g shiitake mushrooms (Can use both fresh or dried shiitake mushrooms. Can be substituted with other mushrooms of your choice)
• 1 large egg
• 6 tbsp cooking oil (I used vegetable oil)
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (Can be substituted with1 tbsp of vegetable oil)
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp regular soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp chicken powder
• 2 tbsp cooking wine (optional)
• 1 tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder (optional)
• ¼ tsp white pepper powder (optional)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (or potato starch)
• 2 tbsp water
• 80 dumpling wrappers (See my dumpling wrapper recipe)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cut a napa cabbage crosswise into halves, rinse the leafy part under cold running water, shake off the excess moisture. Wrap the white steam part with plastic wrap, keep it in the fridge for future use. Mince the leafy part by cutting the napa leaves into thin slices lengthwise, and cutting crosswise to mince them. Set aside.

2. Wipe shiitake mushrooms with a damp paper towel, chop them into tiny pieces. Mince ginger and finely chop green onions with a knife or a food processor.

3. Preheat a wok or frying pan over medium high heat for 1 minute, add in 3 tbsps of cooking oil, dump in the ground pork, stir fry. Optionally scoop out the excess grease (you can skip this step if you like the flavor of the grease).

4. Once the pork is cooked through and it stops to release more grease, add in another 3 tbsp of cooking oil and 1 tbsp of sesame oil, stir to mix well. Add chopped shiitake mushrooms and minced ginger to the pork, stir fry until the mushrooms turn soft and the pork turns slightly brown. Add chopped napa cabbages and green onions, stir fry until well mixed.

5. Add in seasonings (salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chicken powder, cooking wine, sugar, Sichuan peppercorn powder, white pepper powder) and 1 large egg, stir fry until well mixed. Taste and add more seasonings if it’s needed.

6. Dissolve 1 tbsp of cornstarch with 2 tbsps of cold water, pour the cornstarch water to the dumpling filling, stir fry until there is no liquid in bottom of the wok.

7. Transfer to a large bowl, let cool to room temperature. Wrap with dumpling wrappers. Check out my cute colorful dumpling recipe here!