Taiwanese Night Market-Style Pork And Chive Dumplings
These Taiwanese night market-style pork and chive dumplings are filled with juicy ground pork, fragrant garlic chives, and ginger, then pleated and steamed until tender and lightly translucent. Chilling the filling helps create a cohesive, flavorful center, while napa cabbage leaves keep the dumplings from sticking and add subtle aroma during steaming. Served with two mouth-watering dipping sauces, this recipe delivers the familiar flavors and textures of night market dumplings in your kitchen.
Tasty Team
Total Time
1 hr 40 min
1 hr 40 min
Prep Time
20 minutes
20 min
Cook Time
45 minutes
45 min
Total Time
1 hr 40 min
1 hr 40 min
Prep Time
20 minutes
20 min
Cook Time
45 minutes
45 min
Ingredients
for 6 servings
Filling:
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce, or more to taste
- 2 teaspoons shaoxing wine
- 1 ½ teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper, or more to taste
- ½ lb ground pork, chilled
- 1 cup finely chopped Chinese garlic chives
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 24 round dumpling wrappers
- 6 large napa cabbage leaves
Dipping Sauce #1:
- 2 tablespoons black vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon chili oil, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon sugar, or to taste
Dipping Sauce #2:
- 2 tablespoons sweet soy sauce
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- Drizzle of sesame oil
Nutrition Info
- Calories 288
- Fat 14g
- Carbs 25g
- Fiber 5g
- Sugar 3g
- Protein 13g
Estimated values based on one serving size.
Preparation
- Make the filling: Whisk together the ginger, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, cornstarch, salt, and white pepper in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.
- Place the chilled ground pork, garlic chives, and green onions in a large bowl. Pour the ginger mixture over the top, and stir everything together in 1 direction until the filling becomes sticky, cohesive, and almost paste-like, 1–2 minutes. Scoop out 1 teaspoon of the filling, and shape into a ball. Microwave the meatball, uncovered, on a microwaveable plate on HIGH until cooked to 160°F, for about 1 minute. Taste the cooked meatball, and adjust the soy sauce, salt, and/or white pepper to taste in the remaining filling mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate the filling for about 30 minutes, or until firmed up.
- Set up a dumpling-wrapping station with the filling, wrappers, and a small bowl of water. Working with 1 wrapper at a time, place about 1 tablespoon filling on the center of each wrapper (a cookie scoop keeps them perfectly consistent). Dip a finger in water, and moisten the outer edge of the wrapper. Bring the top and bottom edges together over the filling, and pinch just the middle point to anchor it. Then, working from the center outward, make 4 pleats on the right side, all folding toward the middle. Repeat on the left side with 4 pleats, folding toward the middle again. Press to seal and curve slightly into a crescent. Transfer the finished dumplings to a baking sheet, and keep covered with a lightly damp towel so they don’t dry out.
- Line a stacked steamer basket with the napa cabbage leaves for natural nonstick and the subtle fragrance every Taiwanese auntie swears by.
- Bring a large pot of water to a strong rolling boil over high heat, then set your stacked steamer baskets on top to keep the timing consistent. Arrange about 8 dumplings in a single layer in each basket. Cover and steam (without lifting the lid) for 10–12 minutes, until the wrappers turn slightly translucent and the filling is cooked through to 160°F. Remove the baskets from the pot, and let the dumplings rest for 1 minute before serving.
- While the dumplings cook, make the dipping sauces. Make dipping sauce #1: Stir together the black vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil, and sugar in a small bowl until dissolved; set aside. Make dipping sauce #2: Stir together the sweet soy sauce, smashed garlic, and a drizzle of sesame oil in a small bowl, and let set aside to infuse while the dumplings cook.
- Serve the dumplings hot with both sauces — switching between the two is the full night-market experience.
- Enjoy!
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