If the words crispy dumpling skirt don't send you running to your stove, we don't know what will. Instead of steaming these dumplings in water, we simmer them in a vinegary cornstarch and flour slurry that creates a lacy, crunchy golden crust as the water evaporates and the dumplings brown. The vinegar adds tang, but also creates the lightest and crispiest skirt, a pro move we borrowed from Dumpling Galaxy in Flushing, Queens. Let's talk swaps: If you don’t have rice vinegar, apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar work, too. If you don’t have cornstarch, use another starch like tapioca, arrowroot, or potato, or use 100 percent flour. You can use beef or lamb in place of the pork; if you use a leaner protein, like chicken or turkey, add 1 Tbsp. oil to the mixture to compensate. Watch Sohla makes dumplings in her home kitchen here.
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What you’ll need
Medium Bowl
$17 At Amazon
Chef's Knife
$34.53 At Amazon
Cutting Board
$10 At IKEA
Small Bowl
$15 At Amazon
Spoon
$24.69 At Amazon
Microplane
$18 At Amazon
Measuring Spoons
$10 At Bon Appétit Market
Glass Measuring Cup
$26 At Amazon
Large Nonstick Skillet
$50 At Amazon
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 24
Ingredients
8
8
1
2
1
½
24
5
4
4
6–8
2
Preparation
Step 1
Place 8 oz. ground pork (not lean) in a medium bowl. Trim roots and 1" from tops of 8 scallions; discard. Thinly slice; transfer 2 Tbsp. scallion to a small bowl and set aside for dipping sauce. Coarsely chop remaining scallions and add to bowl with pork.
Step 2
Peel 1" piece ginger with a spoon and finely grate into bowl with pork using a Microplane.
Step 3
Add 2 tsp. soy sauce, ¾ tsp. kosher salt, and ½ tsp. freshly ground white or black pepper to pork. Rake through pork with chopsticks or your hands to quickly but thoroughly combine ingredients.
Step 4
Get ready to form the dumplings: Place twenty-four 3½"-diameter wonton wrappers on a work surface and cover with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. Place a small bowl of water nearby.
Step 5
Place 1 wrapper in the palm of your nondominant hand. Scoop out a rounded teaspoonful of filling and place into center of wrapper. Use teaspoon to nudge filling into a football shape. (This will make it easier to fold the wrapper around it.)
Step 6
Dip a finger on your dominant hand in water and lightly moisten the half of the wrapper that is closest to you. Using your dominant hand, fold wrapper in half over filling and pinch closed using both of your hands. Using your fingers, make 6–7 pleats along the edge, pressing each pleat closed after you form it. Repeat process with remaining wrappers and filling.
Step 7
To make the slurry for your crispy skirt, whisk 3 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar, 4 tsp. all-purpose flour, 4 tsp. cornstarch, remaining ¼ tsp. kosher salt, and 2 cups water in a large measuring glass to combine.
Step 8
Now you are ready to cook your dumplings. Heat 2 tsp. vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Arrange 6–10 dumplings in pan (steam fewer at a time if you want a more crispy skirt) and cook until they start to sizzle, about 1 minute. (You don’t want them to take on any color at this point.) Stir slurry well and add a generous ½ cup to pan. Cover and steam dumplings 5 minutes. Remove lid. Dumplings should be plumped and cooked through and most of the water should have evaporated, leaving a thin lacy layer of slurry beneath them. Cover and cook a minute longer if needed.
Step 9
Uncover dumplings and cook until all the liquid evaporates from slurry and it becomes a crisp, golden brown skirt, about 2 minutes. You may need to rotate your pan as some areas will brown faster than others.
Step 10
Invert a plate over pan and flip dumplings out onto plate. (You can also slide them out onto a plate if that’s more your comfort level.) Repeat cooking process with remaining dumplings and slurry (stirring well before each batch) in 2–3 more batches, adding 2 tsp. vegetable oil to pan after each batch.
Step 11
While the dumplings are cooking, make the dipping sauce. Add 2 tsp. chili oil (if using), remaining 2 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar, and remaining 2 Tbsp. soy sauce to reserved sliced scallions and mix well.
Step 12
Serve dumplings with sauce alongside.
Step 13
Do ahead: Filling can be made 1 day ahead; cover and chill. Dumplings can be formed 3 months ahead; freeze on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet until firm, at least 12 hours. Transfer to an airtight container and keep frozen. Cook from frozen (time will not change).
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Reviews (35)
Back to TopI am obsessed with these dumplings! And the sauce is 10/10, I make up a big batch without the scallions and keep it in a squeeze bottle in the fridge so I always have some on hand. Thank you Sohla!
Belinda
Queensland, Australia
6/5/2022
I improvised with my own healhty version of Butterball turkey and veggie dumplings and did not follow that recipe. Used for 44 dumplings. 1) 1 lb of ground turkey 2) 1 lb package of Shanghai styled dumpling wrappers which are thicker vs the Hong Kong style ones, available at Asian markets 3) Used 1/4 pack of frozen veggies (peas, carrots, lima beans, string beans) 4) Improvised seasoning: avodcao oil, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, white pepper, soysauce, sake wine, garlic powder, sugar, corn starch I pan fried both sides of the dumplings until golden brown in a large TFAL non stick frying pan. Then added the slurry mixture and steamed covered for 5 minutes. Slurry was still not done then. Kept it going without the pan cover until the skirt looked like crispy thin chips. I didn't get the large holes in the skirt, they were like little ones (similar to when pancake batter bubbles as you cook them, before flipping them over in pan.) It tastes very crispy and reminded me of what chefs sometimes put on top of their entrees for visual presentaton, a piece of that lacy skirt.
Haley
10022
9/25/2021
Followed the recipe and it nearly ruined the first pan we tried it in. It must need to be a very specific type of non-stick pan. The bottoms of all the dumplings were completely attached to the pan using low heat
Anonymous
7/12/2021
We are obsessed with this recipe. It is a both fun and delicious hands-on kitchen project! The crispy skirt is uniquely wonderful, and the dipping sauce introduced us to the simple beauty of rice vinegar. We did find that it works best to eat the dumplings fresh out of the pan, so maybe don't plan to sit down and eat these with a complete meal. Eat as you go!
Hannah
Texas
1/22/2021
The lacy skirt didn't really "lace" for me. I didn't get the big nice bubbles, mine was more flat and uniform. Anyone have any tricks for how to get it looking like the picture?
demento
Arizona
7/5/2020
The skirt didn’t work for me, burned right away. I tried another batch on a lower temp and it still burned. BUT, the dumplings were great and so was the dipping sauce! Maybe one day I’ll try this technique again.
yagurlcarly
Tucson, Arizona
6/28/2020
I tried the crispy skirt with frozen dumplings but did it in a well seasoned cast iron skillet instead of a nonstick. WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. Don't use a cast iron... I'll try again with a regular nonstick next time.
Anonymous
Minneapolis, MN
6/20/2020