Rice Paper Steamed Pork Dumplings

This easy rice paper hack makes delicious steamed pork dumplings. The dipping sauce makes a great accompaniment to the dumplings.

The Vietnamese rice paper is no longer used just to make Vietnamese spring rolls and cha gio. There are tons of rice paper hacks out there these days. This is one of my favorites. I can use it as dumpling wrappers even if I don’t have the traditional dumpling wrappers.

Rice Paper Steamed Pork Dumplings

Servings 20 large dumplings (depending on the size)

5 from 2 reviews

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Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

US CustomaryMetric

• ▢ 20 pieces rice paper

Pork filling:

• ▢ 450 g ground pork preferably with some fat
• ▢ 1 tsp shaoxing wine
• ▢ 1 tsp sesame oil
• ▢ 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• ▢ 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ ½ tsp sugar
• ▢ ¼ tsp ground white pepper
• ▢ 1 tsp grated ginger
• ▢ 1 stalk green onion finely chopped
• ▢ Few sprigs of cilantro leaves finely chopped

Dipping sauce:

• ▢ 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• ▢ 1 tsp sesame oil
• ▢ 1 Tbsp chili oil
• ▢ ¼ tsp sugar
• ▢ 1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds

Instructions

 

Prepare the dipping sauce:

• Put all ingredients for the sauce in a small pan, except for the sesame seeds. Bring it to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Off the heat. Let it cool down completely. Transfer to a jar with a lid and this can be kept in the fridge for about 1 week

Prepare the filling:

• Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir in one direction to combine into a paste-like consistency. Have a taste by boiling a tiny amount in water. Adjust the taste to your preference. Cover and keep this in the fridge while preparing other things. It can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days if you don't use it on the same day
  

Assembling:

• Read my post below on what type of rice paper are best to use. They are slightly different when you look at the ingredient list
• I use the standard size 8.5-inch rice paper. There is 10-inch size rice paper, but that is just too big and you end up with too much extra wrap on top of the dumplings, which makes that part too chewy. If there is 6-inch size, I would prefer that, but I don't think it's available in that size, or the store I went to just didn't have any. Nothing smaller than 6-inches though
• Use a scissor and cut the dried rice paper into quarters.
  
• Overlap the quarters, so that the middle is a bit thicker (to support the filling).
  
• Hold on to the wrapper at the center and dip in the water until the wrapper is softened somewhat, about 6-7 seconds (this may vary depending on the brand of the rice paper too). Don't oversoak because you still want it to be firm (but soft enough to be bent so it won't tear). The rice paper continues to soften as you do the wrapping
  
• Put this on top of a cutting board. Scoop the filling, about 2 tablespoons or so on the center.
  
• Gather the softened wrapper around the filling to meet at the center and gently squeeze on the wrapper to "seal" the dumpling. Put the dumplings on a lightly oiled plate and continue wrapping the rest.
  
• At first, you may feel like the dumplings don't seal well.
  
• When you go back to reseal them, they stick together now as the wrappers continue to soften.
  

Steam the dumplings:

• Bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Place a few dumplings on a lightly oiled plate and put this inside the steamer and let them steam for 5 minutes
  

Make ahead ?

• These dumplings are the best when you make and steam them on the same day. The dumplings cannot be assembled ahead and steam later. The rice paper won't hold up so well. BUT, you can keep the already cooked dumplings in the fridge for about 3-4 days. Simply reheat in the steamer before serving
• Can you freeze the dumplings ? I don't recommend because the texture of the rice paper changes after freezing

RECOMMEDED TOOLS

digital kitchen scale

Food Steamer

Electric food steamer

*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*

Nutrition Facts

Rice Paper Steamed Pork Dumplings

Serving Size

 

1 dumpling (out of 20)

Amount per Serving

Calories

77

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

6

g

9

%

Saturated Fat

 

2

g

13

%

Polyunsaturated Fat

 

1

g

Monounsaturated Fat

 

3

g

Cholesterol

 

16

mg

5

%

Sodium

 

248

mg

11

%

Potassium

 

78

mg

2

%

Carbohydrates

 

1

g

0

%

Fiber

 

0.1

g

0

%

Sugar

 

0.2

g

0

%

Protein

 

4

g

8

%

Vitamin A

 

41

IU

1

%

Vitamin C

 

0.4

mg

0

%

Calcium

 

7

mg

1

%

Iron

 

0.4

mg

2

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Did you make this recipe?Let me know how you like this recipe and consider rating it! Tag me @whattocooktoday I’d love to see your photos/videos on Instagram

What kind of rice paper to use

If you look at the ingredient list on the rice paper package, you will see that most rice paper sheets sold in Asian grocery stores are made with a combination of rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, water.
Ingredients are usually listed in descending order by weight in the U.S. So, I typically opt for rice paper with rice flour listed as the first ingredients and then tapioca flour second. This type of rice paper has a nice balance of great texture and taste.
There is also rice paper made with just tapioca flour. I DO NOT like the one made with only tapioca flour because the wrappers are too plastic-ky and chewy. If the rice paper listed tapioca flour as the first ingredient, you want to steer clear from that too.
Original rice paper used to be made with just rice flour. But this makes the wrapper thicker and more difficult to work with. I haven’t seen rice paper made with rice flour only in the market anymore. Have you ?

How about the size and shape of the rice paper

Nowadays you see rice papers come in round and square shapes. 8.5 inches is the standard size I see the most. Now it also comes in larger size, like burrito size, maybe 11-12 inches? For this particular dumplings, standard size will do it. I use the round shape because that’s the most common one and in this case, it doesn’t affect the wrapping as much