Ingredients:

Wrapper dough:

• ½ tsp salt
• 100 g plain flour (1 cup approx.) + extra for dusting
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 50 ml boiling water

Chicken Filling:

• 2 cups chicken mince
• 3 tbsp garlic, grated
• 1 ½ tbsp ginger, grated
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp spring onion greens, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp spring onion whites, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper

Dipping sauce:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp honey or sugar
• ¼ tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp spring onion greens, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp white sesame seeds

Process:

Making the dumpling wrapper dough and filling:

1. Mix plain flour, salt and oil in a bowl.
2. Add boiling water and mix with fork.
3. Knead on a clean surface for 10 minutes until you have a smooth dough.
4. Rest in the fridge for 1 hour.

For the chicken filling, simply mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl and set it aside until needed.

Rolling the dumpling wrappers:

1. Once the wrapper dough is rested, roll it to a cylindrical shape and divide it into four portions. Remember to sprinkle flour on your work surface and rolling pin so that the dough does not stick.
2. Roll each portion into a 1–2mm thin sheet and use a round cookie cutter (about 8cm diameter) to cut out the dumplings wrappers.  
3. Set aside the cut out wrappers on a plate and lightly flour them before overlapping so they do not stick.
4. After one batch of wrappers are made from the dough, bring together the scrap dough and repeat the process. Try to limit this repetition to 2 times, because more flour is incorporated in the dough when you bring it together again. This will make the wrappers tough and chewy.
5. Alternatively, you can divide the dough into teeny tiny balls and roll them out individually. That is how it’s done traditionally.
6. Once you are satisfied with the number of wrappers obtained, discard the remaining dough.
7. This quantity of dough will make approximately 20–22 wrappers of 8cm diameter.

Assembling the dumplings:

1. Set a pot with a steamer attachment on the boil with some water.
2. Portion one heaped tablespoon of filling for each wrapper and shape the dumplings. (Here’s a helpful video on shaping dumplings)
3. Grease the base of your steamer basket with flavourless oil, or use baking paper or cabbage leaves to prevent the dumplings from sticking to the base.
4. The dumplings take anywhere between 7-12 minutes to cook. Steam in batches and serve hot.
5. You can also pan fry the dumplings – Heat up a frying pan with a little oil. Place the dumplings in the pan and cook until the bottoms are a nice golden brown. Then add a quarter cup of water (for 6–8 dumplings) and immediately place a lid on the pan to steam the dumplings. As they cook, the water will evaporate fully and you will be left with dumplings that are crispy on the bottom and perfectly steamed on the top.

Making the dipping sauce:

1. Toast sesame seeds in a pan till light brown and set aside.
2. Fry garlic in the oil in the same pan till golden brown.
3. Add in the red chilli, cook for a few seconds and remove in a bowl.
4. Add in rest of the ingredients and mix .
5. Serve with steaming hot dumplings.