Gluten-Free Dumplings With Dipping Sauce

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It’s rare that I’ll put more than 30 minutes of actual laboring into cooking a meal. But some things are worth the effort. As a kid, my favorite food to order from a Chinese restaurant was always their dumplings; I love the soft, doughy exterior with the savory filling dipped in a sweet sauce. I never even thought to make these gluten-free until I saw them on another blog and wanted to give them a shot. Unfortunately, that recipe didn’t work out for me at all. A few kitchen sidesteps and 2 hours later I had 30 cooked dumplings and 1 burnt pan(but that’s a story for another day).

I’m not going to pretend these are a nice simple recipe for a weeknight; they aren’t. But what they are is incredibly impressive to make and very flavorful. Make a batch over the weekend and you can enjoy them through the week.

Gluten-Free Chinese Dumplings

Ingredients(Makes 30-36 dumplings):

  • 4 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour(such as Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 3/4 cup cold water
  • 4 eggs, divided
  • 1lb ground pork or chicken
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons sesame oil

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To make the dough, mix together the flour, water, and 3 eggs. Work the mixture until it forms a tough dough and roll it into a ball.

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To make the filling, mix together 1 egg, the meat, ginger, onion, garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Knead the mixture together until the ingredients are emulsified.

Roll the dough into balls and pound them into disks about 1/4-inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide. Be sure not to pound them too thin or else they’ll tear.

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Scoop a tablespoon of filling onto each disk biased onto one side.

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With dry fingers, lift up the other side and bring it over to make a pouch. Pinch down to seal the edges. If any part shows sign of tearing, take a little extra dough and make it into a patch, pressing down lightly on the thinning area.

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To steam these, boil a pot of water with a fitted steamer on top. Add as many dumplings will fit without layering them on top of one another. Steam for 10-15 minutes until the outside starts turning a deep yellow and the filling is cooked through.

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To pan-fry these, heat a large skillet with a few tablespoons of oil in the pan. Once hot, add the dumplings and cook 5-7 minutes on each side until the breading is crunchy and cooked.

Gluten-Free Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 6 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil(preferably toasted)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped green onion

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To make the dipping sauce, mix the sesame oil and soy sauce well. Add the chopped onion on top as garnish right before serving. Be sure to mix the sauce again any time you serve it as the oil will separate.

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These were a pain to make. But it all became worth it with the first bite of doughy, savory goodness. I think I preferred the pan-fried ones both on flavor and ease of cooking. The sauce is a perfect balance of brininess and depth to match the filling. These are undeniably not take-out food.

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29 Responses to Gluten-Free Dumplings With Dipping Sauce
  1. Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg
    January 6, 2011 | 10:28 am

    These definitely look like they’re worth the effort!

  2. Nourhan @ Miss Anthropist's Kitchen
    January 6, 2011 | 10:49 am

    Those dumplings look totally worth it. All I need is sesame oil (and meat) and I can make these!

  3. christina
    January 6, 2011 | 12:34 pm

    those are precious. can i call them that? i absolutely love dumplings.

  4. Kate (What Kate is Cooking)
    January 6, 2011 | 1:12 pm

    Those definitely look like they’d be worth the time 🙂

  5. jenny
    January 6, 2011 | 1:40 pm

    this is genius. i am making these for sure.

  6. Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen)
    January 6, 2011 | 2:22 pm

    Great looking dumplings! I am sure my boys would love this one!

  7. Nicole, RD
    January 6, 2011 | 4:04 pm

    Those look so good!! And I learned a very important, silly thing today: GF all-purpose flour exists. WHY did I not know this?!

  8. Corey @ the runner's cookie
    January 6, 2011 | 4:29 pm

    They look so doughy, hard to believe they’re GF! My previous roommate’s mom used to make homemade dumplings that were awesome – she would send bags of 50 frozen and when we didn’t feel like cooking we’d pull some out.

  9. Baking 'n' Books
    January 6, 2011 | 4:40 pm

    I love dumplings in soup.

    Have you ever read the book “Gluten-Free Girl” by Shauna Ahern? (She has a blog as well). I’m not GF, but I enjoy reading about other food “cultures”(for lack of a better word) and the way she writes about it is amazing!

    The best part of it is her focus simply on choosing the right ingredients – it’s about that really! Focusing on Fresh, flavorful, natural and rich.

    • Wannabe Chef
      January 6, 2011 | 4:59 pm

      I’ve never read her book but I follow her on Twitter and have checked out her blog on occasion. She’s certainly one of the trail blazers for gluten-free cooking becoming mainstream.

  10. Anna S (History Running Girl)
    January 6, 2011 | 5:03 pm

    Between this and Top Chef, I really want dumplings!

    This looks delicious (unlike some of the Top Chef dishes).

  11. blackbookkitchendiaries
    January 6, 2011 | 6:42 pm

    this reminds me of the dumplings my mom and i would have over the weekends when we go out to our favorite dim sum place. They look absolutely delectable. thank you for sharing this.

  12. Averie (LoveVeggiesAndYoga)
    January 6, 2011 | 10:32 pm

    scott would do anything for dumplings…breading, meat filling, grease (fried)…i mean it’s pretty much a dream come true for him. Could i hire you to make these for me? lol

  13. 5 Star Foodie
    January 6, 2011 | 11:24 pm

    Wonderful looking dumplings! They sound healthy with the gluten free flour and the filling is super flavorful! Excellent!

  14. Maya
    January 7, 2011 | 12:29 am

    Ooh.. you made your own dumplings! They look so good and gluten-free too. I’ve never done this at home, but maybe you’ve inspired me to now. Thanks, Evan!

  15. Hannah
    January 7, 2011 | 1:05 am

    Oh how fabulous! My allergic-to-a-million-things mother hasn’t eaten dumplings in over a decade – I’ll have to make this for her 🙂

  16. Kristina at spabettie
    January 7, 2011 | 1:48 am

    impressive!! Jason and I had Chinese takeout tonight, and as he is VERY new to totally gluten free, he was sad about no dumplings, his favorite.

    I may just have to make these for him… 😀

  17. Stephanie @ The Brunette Foodie
    January 7, 2011 | 8:33 am

    I’ve avoided gluten-free foods like the plague, but these look really amazing. I’ve thought about trying out one or two recipes, but none seemed appetizing. I think I could handle these though!

  18. Grace
    January 7, 2011 | 11:59 am

    As soon as I saw your post in my inbox and I had to hurry up and get over here. I have never tried dumplings but I’ve always wanted to. These look amazing! Love your pic where you’re adding the filling – fantastic shot.

  19. Christi Silbaugh
    January 7, 2011 | 1:38 pm

    These look perfect! I am definately going to be making these. I have been craving dumplings for a while now.

  20. Stormy @LaMaoomba
    January 8, 2011 | 1:10 am

    Sounds delicious! I’ve tried making dumplings before and ended up with such a mess of stickiness – kudos to you for trying. My experiment involved a bag of “dumpling flour” from a local Asian grocery – it was a tapioca/rice flour blend that is GF. The trick was to use plenty of the dry flour to keep the dough from sticking to everything. I wonder if you might find something similar in your area. Will definitely have to try your filling recipe.

  21. Zenobia
    January 10, 2011 | 11:00 am

    What is the effect on the dough when you dont use eggs? I hate putting my hands in that wet dough (eggs or no eggs), so there is no way I am trying this just to find out it was an epic fail…

    • Wannabe Chef
      January 10, 2011 | 11:11 am

      The dough needs some protein to bind it and hold its shape. With wheat flour that’s gluten but with gluten-free flour egg is the best substitute.

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  25. Nicole Shrimpton
    January 26, 2012 | 6:23 pm

    Would you be able to use egg replacers instead of eggs?

    • Wannabe Chef
      January 26, 2012 | 8:11 pm

      I haven’t experimented much with egg replacers. My guess is that it could work but you’d have to adjust the water to get dough at the right consistency.

  26. SuzA
    March 12, 2014 | 3:22 pm

    I’ve had quite a bit of experience cooking and baking GF. There are a number of great sites, blogs and books on gluten free. There is an amazing couple of books about Asian Foods gluten free. This site reminds me of them as the directions are great and the pix are terrific!

    Regarding egg replaces…..I’ve worked with xanthate gum and ground flax. Currently I’ve perfected a super bread recipe for regular and cinnamon raisin. I make 3 loaves at a time. I did an experiment of 3 plain loaves (no raisins) where one had egg replacer ( looks like fine ground white gelatin), the second one had egg, and the third one flax. According to my taste testers, there was no discernible difference in appearance, texture or taste though I found the flax a bit drier.

    1 1/2 tsp replacer + 2 Tbsp water = 1 whole egg
    ” = 1 egg white
    1 1/2 tsp replacer + 1 Tbsp water = 1 egg yolk

    2 Tbsp ground flax + 3Tbsp water = 1 egg
    (let this mixture sit for 15-60 minutes prior to use)

    Good luck, peeps!
    Suzanne in Kelowna, BC, Canada