Dining In 2 minutes 07 June 2016

4 tips for making better dumplings

We take you through a brief history of this delicious Chinese culinary tradition, and share 4 practical tips for making your dumplings infinitely more delectable

The Chinese Dumpling Festival is upon us again, when dumplings in all sizes, forms and with all sorts of delectable fillings descend upon dinner tables in Singapore. As a very special treat for our Michelin Guide Singapore readers, we got Chinese food expert David Yip to give us a brief introduction to the history behind this delicious culinary tradition, as well as share some practical insights from Mrs Lee Liat Huat, matriach of Teochew Restaurant Huat Kee, on how she makes her widely sought after dumplings.

How did dumplings originate?
Rice dumplings were first mentioned more than 2,200 years ago in the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Legend tells of the Chu poet and court official Qu Yuan, who upon hearing of his kingdom’s defeat in a war, drowned himself in a river out of despair. Unable to find the Qu Yuan’s body, the local people threw lumps of rice into the water hoping to feed the fish and prevent them from eating the patriot’s body.

And so the rice dumpling became a staple on many dinner tables across China during the annual Dragon Boat Festival, which commemorates Qu Yuan’s death.

(Related: Find your perfect dumpling match)
Know your dumpling
While glutinous rice remains the main ingredient of the dumpling, its shape, size and outer wrapping varies depending on where it is made. For instance, in Northern China, where millet is widely grown, this grain is often added to the glutinous rice. The Cantonese in the south, on the other hand, are known to include mung beans to the mix, giving their dumplings a savoury-sweet flavour.
In savoury dumplings, the filling is usually a blend of pork, dried shrimp, chestnut, and braised mushroom. There are sweet variants with fillings such as red dates, yam, and red beans cooked into a paste and stuffed into the centre of the dumpling. The shape of a dumpling is often an indicator of its origin: Chinese northerners prefer to shape their dumplings into an oblong form, while pyramids are more common in the south.
The northern Chinese use reed leaves to wrap their dumplings while southerners usually opt for bamboo leaf. In Singapore, the Peranakans are known to use pandan leaves, giving their dumplings an additionally alluring scent.

Mrs Lee Liat Huat - smaller.jpg

In Singapore, matriach and chef-in-command Lee Liat Huat of Teochew Restaurant Huat Kee’s signature dumplings are made with a variant on a Teochew traditional technique. She first swaths a piece of sweet yam in pig's caul oil - oil made from the thin, fatty layer of a pig's stomach and internal organs - and then inserts into a dumpling with other savoury ingredients, producing a hybrid with both sweet and savoury notes. We get Mrs Lee to share her key tips on dumpling-making. 

Glutinous rice is stewed overnight before being wrapped into a dumpling with other ingredients, such as braised pork,  braised mushroom and yam paste.
Glutinous rice is stewed overnight before being wrapped into a dumpling with other ingredients, such as braised pork, braised mushroom and yam paste.
Sweet yam paste is shaped into balls and coated in pig's caul oil to help add a savoury-sweet character to Huat Kee's dumplings
Sweet yam paste is shaped into balls and coated in pig's caul oil to help add a savoury-sweet character to Huat Kee's dumplings
Bamboo leaves are folded in the center to make a cone-like container for the fillings. Straw is used to bind the dumpling and prevent its stuffing from spilling out, as well as to faciliate easier handling
Bamboo leaves are folded in the center to make a cone-like container for the fillings. Straw is used to bind the dumpling and prevent its stuffing from spilling out, as well as to faciliate easier handling
(Related: What is... QQ)

  • Glutinous rice is ideally soaked in water overnight to hydrate it before cooking, but Mrs Lee prefers to soak her rice in diluted braising sauce for added flavour.
  • Among the many different types and brands of glutinous rice available on the market, Mrs Lee favours a specific grain from Thailand known as “shu ya” as it gives a distinctive ‘QQ’ texture to the bite.
  • Allow a slight looseness when tying the dumpling, as the rice usually expands during boiling.
  • Don’t overcook your dumpling. Most cooks boil theirs for more than two hours to achieve a soft mushy texture, but as a personal preference, Mr. Lee prefers to cook her dumplings in rapid boiling water for just slightly more than an hour.

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