Chicken and ginger jiaozi

The chicken meat should be ground roughly to get a nice firm texture to bite into. Keep an eye out for young ginger, because old ginger can really pack a punch!

Credit: Thomas Davidson

• makes

  24

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Filling

• 300 g fatty chicken mince, coarsely ground 
• 40 g grated fresh ginger

• 40 ml (2 tbsp) oyster sauce 
• 1 tbsp (20 ml) light soy sauce 
• 2 tsp (10 ml) Shaoxing rice wine 
• 2 tsp (10 ml) sesame oil
• pinch of ground white pepper 
• 24 dumpling wrappers

Roasted Sichuan chilli oil

• 240 ml vegetable oil
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 star anise
• 10 g Sichuan peppercorn
• 2 bay leaves
• 14 g chilli flakes

Bang bang sauce

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) Chinese roasted sesame paste (zhi ma jiang)
• 3 tbsp (45 ml) light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tsp (9 g) superfine sugar
• pinch Chinese five-spice powder
• ½ cup (120 ml) roasted Sichuan chilli oil (see above)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup (60 ml) chicken broth or stock

• Julienned cucumber, sliced spring onion and chopped roasted peanuts, to serve

Resting time: 30 mins

Instructions

1. To make the filling, in a medium bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and mix vigorously in one direction until the mixture binds. Cover and let rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. 

2. For the roasted Sichuan chilli oil, in a small saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook over low heat until the oil becomes fragrant, about 25 minutes. It is very easy to burn your spices at this point, so check in every now and then and adjust the heat as required. 

3. Meanwhile, in a medium heatproof bowl, combine chilli flakes and salt. Once the oil mixture is fragrant, increase the heat to high and cook for an additional minute. Carefully strain the hot oil through a fine sieve into the bowl containing the red pepper flake mixture and stir well. The oil should sizzle and change colour immediately. Let cool to room temperature before transferring to a jar to infuse further. This makes about 1 cup and keeps for a long time.

4. For the Bang Bang sauce, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until well mixed. This makes about 300ml and can be thinned out with additional chicken broth before using, if desired.

5. Working with one dumpling wrapper at a time, place one level tablespoon of filling in the center of a wrapper and shape into a half-moon. Cover loosely with a clean, damp tea towel and repeat the process to form the remaining dumplings.

6. Cook the dumplings in a pot of boiling water until cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from the water using a slotted spoon. Serve in bowls topped with black vinegar, tamari or soy sauce, bang bang sauce, extra roasted Sichuan chilli oil, cucumber, spring onion and roasted peanuts. 

Recipe and image from This is a Book about Dumplings by Brendan Pang (Page Street Publishing Co. 2020). Photo credit: Thomas Davidson.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.