Fried Dumplings Recipe
I’ve officially started my maternity leave as of this weekend and I’m now 32 weeks pregnant. Millie (my unborn daughter’s name is Amelia) is very healthy and very active. As confirmed by one of my many midwives (we don’t get a permanent midwife here in Edinburgh) an active baby is a healthy baby and Millie is very active!
I think I’ve been quite lucky my with pregnancy so far as she tends to move around a lot during the day but less so during the night, let’s hope she stays like this when she’s born!. I’ve heard of a lot of pregnant women complaining about babies kicking them and they can’t get enough sleep but “so far” I’ve been lucky.
People have been asking me what it feels like to have a baby move around my belly and the best way I can describe it is it feels like a flower blossoming, albeit a strong one. I can feel her waving her arms and legs and if you can imagine it really does look/feel like a flower blossoming.
Any discomfort at this stage of my pregnancy? Yes! Recently I’ve been suffering from constant heart burn but I’ve learnt how to control it. Soy milk and ginger tea have been really helping me. Apart from that everything is good but I’m really confident that years of working as a chef have made me fairly strong and really fit so even though my belly has grown considerate, everything else; my bum/arms etc, are still fairly normal.
So this is my first recipe in a really long time (sorry!) and I decided to share with you a recipe for “Fried Dumplings” which I also cooked for my colleagues during my last two shifts. I promised them a really long time ago that I would bring in dumplings and finally I did.
If you follow my blog you will know I have cooked dumplings before. This time I changed the recipe a little bit for the filling and the cooking method is different compared with the older dumpling recipes.
Please find the recipe for the dumplings I made previously here: Dumplings Shui Jiao
The reason I changed the ingredients from Chinese chive to spring onion is Chinese chive has, during my pregnancy, made me feel quite ill. On the couple occasions I have eaten it I have felt really bloated so I replaced it. I also added some chopped fried eggs into the filling as it improves the texture but most importantly gives it a stronger flavour.
About changing the method of cooking, last time I boiled the dumplings, which I of course had to do again but I finished the dumplings off by frying them. When I lived with my parents my mother would fry left over dumplings from the previous night’s meal and turn them into a really delicious snack. In effect it gives the dumplings a new life!
Dumplings are fantastic as both a snack and a meal. Whether you fry or just boil them, they are really quick to make (we made around 140 dumplings and it took us about 1 hour although we are really quick nowadays at making them), they’re extremely healthy and they’re filling. Here is one recipe that I often use to make Fried Dumplings.
Fried Dumplings Recipe
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 kg pork mince
- 2 bunches spring onions chop finely
- 3 slices ginger chop finely
- 6 large eggs beat and season with 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp dried shrimp soften in hot water and chop finely (available in most Chinese supermarkets)
Seasonings
- 1 cup light soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Instructions
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Fry the eggs as thin as a crepe and chop it finely when it has cooled down
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Mix all the ingredients and seasonings evenly and leave it for 30 minutes
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Make the dumplings as the procedure photos from the link above shows. You can use a little bit of water to help the edge of the dumpling pastries to stick together
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Boil a big pot of water and cook dumplings in the boiling water
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When the dumplings have risen and are floating on top of the water, they are cooked (please note this applies to fresh dumplings only, if they are frozen you will need to wait for the water to boil then add more water. Wait to boil again, repeat twice, then they are cooked)
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Cool the dumplings down under cold water and drain. Gently mix some oil with the dumplings to prevent them from sticking together.
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Heat up a little bit of oil in the frying pan and fry the dumplings until they are golden brown on the outside. They are ready to serve!
Looks delicious. Would love for you to share your pictures with us over at foodepix.com.
Beautiful dumplings! I just made some over the weekend with my kiddo and now I want to try my hand at them again.
Hi Rochelle, thank you for your comment. If you give my recipe a try I hope you can let me know how you got on with them.
Thanks
Liv
an old wives tale here in the states is if you have heart burn the baby will have alot of hair–seems to have held true for each of my grandchildren.
Dumplings are one of our favorites–this seems like a simple yet yummy version for us to try
Hi Vickie,
I think this is a pretty common wives tale everywhere. Based on my heart burn right now I’m thinking my baby will be born with a full blown afro!
I love reading your blog for pregnancy updates! Hope you’ve got plenty of dumplings in the freezer ready for when your baby’s born. I love dumplings, I eat them pretty much every weekend.
Hi Becs,
Thank you for your kind comment. I have plenty dumplings ready for after give birth and my mother and my grandmother are also coming to Edinburgh next Wednesday for helping me a little before and after birth. So I think my baby and I will in a very good care. 😉 I’m big fan of dumplings myself and I hope you will give my recipe a go some time. I hope you and your family or friends will enjoy my dumplings recipe.
All the best.
Wow, these are so good, very easy! I really enjoyed these thank you for the recipe.
Thank you Noreen. I’m glad you like my recipe. I hope you will give it a go some time.
This ma be a dumb question but do you cook the pork mince before making the dumpling?
Hi Cylinda,
Thanks for your question. The mince must be raw when making the dumpling. It’s only when you cook the actual dumpling that the meat is cooked.
Hope this answers your question
Thanks
Liv
LOVE it!! My husband could eat dozens of dumplings a day. While I’m not ready to cook THAT much, I could do this. 🙂 Thanks!
Thank you very much for your comment. I hope your family will love it too. 😉
Such a good dish. The photos you used for this article are really clear and they look delicious. Amazing for Chinese new year 🙂
Thank you for your comment. Really appreciate. 😉
the recipe looks really good (: I have a question – do you think it’s possible to be a pregnant and still work as a chef?
Hi Samantha,
Thank you for your kind words. I have tried to email you with the answer but shows error with the email system.
So I just post my answer here:
Hi Samantha,
Thank you for your kind words.
About your question, I would say you really need to put your child and your health and safety on the top list.
I had miscarriage when I was working in a five star hotel. The head chef was not very helpful and kind. As working as a chef for many years, I’m aware of it might gets a little bit heavy and dangerous for a pregnant lady. So as soon as I found out I was pregnant I inform my head chef right away. But he didn’t do anything for me. Not even risk assessment. In UK, if you pregnant and your boss or HR department should sit down with you go through risk assessment. Anyway, he didn’t do anything and even gave me that kind of look and comment “Why you told me so early? People usually won’t tell others that early” and then he is off for holiday. I had bleeding when I was working and I had miscarriage on Boxing day. Everyone tried to tell me these two things are not related to each other. But I was signed off from my for nearly three months as I just couldn’t cope going back there and work for him anymore. After that I found another job and working in one of the top and busiest restaurant in Edinburgh.
When I found out I was pregnant second times, I told my new head chef and request to reduce my work hours as I mentioned the restaurant was rather busy. I normally have to work from 9am to 1 or 2am. So I reduce my work hours to suit my pregnancy and I also very honest told my head chef I had miscarriage before in the kitchen. That’s why I left my job at the first place. He is really nice, kind and helpful so I be able to brought a happy healthy baby into this world without any stress from work and also finance.
So I hope my own experience with pregnancy and working as a chef answered your question. Depends on your working situation, definitely have a chat with your boss and if he is not helping or unkind please speak to HR department as soon as possible. Are you based in the UK? There are many procedures to protect woman who is pregnant and working. So you should be well cover for everything. (You can even refuse to work in late hours or busy traffic peak hour too. This is how I remember. )
Good luck with your pregnancy and hopefully you and your little one both well and heathy. 🙂 Hope my reply ease your mind too.