It’s a dumplings week and I can’t wait to share these crazy tasty Sichuan chicken dumplings with ya’all! Once you make your own Sichuan spiced chicken dumplings at home, you will forget even the fine diners! I bet!
I am sure you still haven’t got over my Thai prawn dumplings which shared last! To not let the dumplings mania get over, I am back with another crazy delicious dumplings recipe for you guys, the incredible Sichuan chicken dumplings!
This bowl full of Sichuan chicken dumplings drizzled with spicy red sauce is simply pure culinary heaven! I honestly never knew such restaurant style chicken dumplings can be made at home with little effort! Thanks to Marion, I could! You too can!
And you must! When you make such tasty chicken dumplings at home, you should not only give your Asian takeaways a miss, but also should feel proud of yourself for making such restaurant quality dish at home with utmost perfection!
I have already shared the dumpling wrappers recipe in my earlier post. You just need two ingredients and you are sorted. The amount of flour mentioned in my dumpling wrappers recipe was good enough for my 12 prawn dumplings and about 15 chicken dumplings, i.e. roughly 30 in total.
When you are committing to the effort of making such fancy dish at home, why not make extra and relish both prawn & chicken dumplings back to back! But don’t blame me if your family gets hooked to these and crave for more!
The focal point of these Sichuan chicken dumplings is the spicy red sauce! You have to go that extra mile and make the red sauce to serve your dumplings with; it is simply non-negotiable! The combination of the spicy chilli based sauce with succulent dumplings is just unbelievable!
The primary attraction of this bowl of heaven is this spicy red sauce made of chilli oil which, as I got to know, is a widely used condiment in Asian cuisine. I can’t be thankful enough for discovering this!
It is such a magic condiment which enhances the taste of any dish it is drizzled on and being a spice-loving Indian, it made me super-happy! I made a big batch of chilli oil which is super easy to prepare and all the spices used are staple in any Indian pantry. Total win-win!
Once you have your chilli oil handy, you can make the spicy red sauce for your chicken dumplings in a jiffy. You just need to whisk few tablespoons of the chilli oil with grated garlic, chopped scallions and cilantro with a dash of soy sauce & vinegar.
Make sure to drizzle generous amount of this red sauce over your chicken dumplings; so when you take your first bite, you would feel an explosion of flavors with the right amount of heat & tang!
Then simply surrender to the experience; let the flavors captivate your senses and take you to an unforgettable journey of culinary excellence! This one dish will show you pure magic!
The chicken filling for your dumplings is pretty simple without too many ingredients. You just need the basic aromatics i.e. coriander/cilantro, ginger & garlic. You may replace cilantro with chopped scallions as well.
To retain the juiciness of the filling, add little bit of liquid like water or chicken stock and finally bind everything together with corn flour or cornstarch. Don’t skip cornstarch as your chicken mixture may fall apart without it.
Round things up with seasoning and give a vigorous whisk using a long toothed fork or chopsticks. Your chicken dumplings filling is ready! You can absolutely make this a day ahead if you plan to serve the scrumptious chicken dumplings to your guests the very next day!
This recipe of chicken dumplings can be followed to make pork dumplings as well if you like. Just replace the chicken mince with pork mince and continue with the remaining steps as is. I would not recommend using lamb or any other red meat for this recipe.
You can surely buy chicken mince from your supermarket or grind up boneless & skinless chicken thighs to make your own minced chicken at home just like I do! Just like my prawn dumplings, these chicken dumplings can also be freezed for a month or so.
So, don’t let this dumpling fever get over! Make an array of Asian delicacies at home where your dumplings will become the showstopper center-piece and trust me, everyone is going to love you for that! Enjoy!
- Chicken thigh – 300 gms, boneless & skinless
- Fresh coriander/cilantro – ½ cup (use both leaves & stalks), finely chopped
- Ginger – 2-inch piece, grated
- Garlic – 6 to 7 cloves, grated
- White pepper powder – ½ tsp
- Water/chicken stock – ¼ cup
- Corn flour/corn starch – 2 tsp
- Egg – 1
- Salt – 1 tsp or to taste
- Dumpling wrappers – 12 to 15
- Sesame seeds to garnish
- Canola/sunflower or any flavorless oil – 1 cup
- Star anise – 4, whole
- Cinnamon stick – 1, 4-inch long
- Bay leaves – 2
- Sichuan peppercorns – 3 tbsp
- Cardamom pods – 6 to 8
- Chilli powder – ¼ cup
- Salt – 2 tsp
- Homemade chilli oil – 4 tbsp
- Light soy sauce – 4 tbsp
- White vinegar – 2 tbsp
- Garlic – 4 to 5 cloves, finely grated
- Spring onion – 2 stalks, both white & green
- Fresh coriander leaves & stems – 1 tbsp
- Place the oil in a saucepan over low heat.
- In another frying pan, dry roast the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, Sichuan peppercorns and cardamom over medium-high heat until they become fragrant & smoky.
- Then add the spices to the warm oil. Increase the heat to medium and wait for the spices to gently sizzle in oil.
- Cook the spices at low heat for 4-5 minutes to let them release all their flavors into the oil. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the chilli powder and salt to a heat-proof jar or bowl. Now strain the warm spiced oil into the heat-proof bowl over the chilli & salt mixture.
- Pick up the bay leaves, cinnamon stick & star anise from the strainer and add them back into the chilli oil mixture and gently stir. Allow to cool before storing in an airtight jar. Shelf-life of this homemade chilli oil is 1 year.
- To make the spicy red sauce, combine all the ingredients listed under spicy red sauce in a bowl, give a good stir and set aside until needed.
- For the chicken dumplings filling, first cut the chicken thighs into small pieces. Then mince them in your grinder. You may use ready chicken mince, but I like to do it on my own.
- Now place the minced chicken, chopped coriander leaves & stems, grated ginger & garlic, white pepper powder, chicken stock, cornstarch, egg and salt in a large mixing bowl. Mix vigorously using a fork or chopsticks until the mixture becomes smooth & somewhat sticky.
- To make the dumplings, take one dumpling wrapper on your palm and place a heaped teaspoon of chicken filling into the center of the wrapper. Moisten the edges with water and pleat & press the edges together to seal in the filling.
- Place the dumplings on a lightly-floured tray and repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. Dumplings can be frozen at this point.
- When you are ready to serve your chicken dumplings, bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Tip in the prepared dumplings into boiling water and cook them for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the wrapper turns glossy and crinkled; outer wrapper will not remain as opaque as raw dumplings once cooked. It will take a little longer for frozen dumplings, about 15 to 17 minutes.
- Once the chicken dumplings are cooked through, take them out using a slotted spoon and let all the water drip off. Then place the dumplings on a serving plate.
- Generously drizzle spicy red sauce on top of your chicken dumplings and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve the Sichuan chicken dumplings warm. Enjoy!
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