I never thought I’d come around to complaining about how cold it’s been recently…in Texas out of all places. Following the sweltering summer months, or rather most months of the year (because there’s really only 2 seasons here in South Texas– hot perdition and ice), the cooler temperatures should be a welcomed change. I’m just glad those half-dollar-sized mosquitoes are mostly dead. Even though the temperature is not as frigid here compared to many of the northern states (God bless y’all!), it’s still lovely to return to a warm cozy home filled with the noisy chatter of kids and the aroma of something delicious cooking on the stove.

One of the kids’ favorite dishes to eat when the temperature drops is homemade chicken wonton dumpling soup. This dish is light but filling at the same time. I feel good serving it because I know exactly what ingredients I put into my dumplings. Store-bought frozen dumplings tend to contain unpronounceable ingredients, MSG, and preservatives. And restaurant dumplings tend to be on the scanty side. Many times, you bite into a so-called dumpling and wonder where the dumpling is…more like eating boiled flour squares with no meat. Making dumplings at home is also important to my husband Kim, who has a phobia of food that is cooked wrapped in something– for example, eggrolls, burritos, and dumplings. His fear stemmed from his highschool years of working in a Chinese restaurant, where the penny-pinching owners would take the old left-over food from the buffet bar at the end of the night and combine it to make the filling of the next day’s eggrolls. I can’t really blame him.

For this soup, rest assured that it’s all fresh ingredients. No leftovers or fillers here. You can use any type of ground meat, but I will be using half dark meat chicken (thigh meat) and half breast meat. The reason for this is because ground breast meat by itself is too dry and coarse due to the lack of fat, but combining dark meat chicken to the breast meat makes a juicier and sweeter filling. You can also opt to use just dark meat chicken, turkey, pork, or beef. The dumpling wrappers can be easily made using 3 parts wheat flour to 1 part water, mixed to form a soft dough, rolled out thinly, and cut into circles. Because we working moms and dads don’t always have time to make scratch-made wrappers, I will be using store-bought wrappers in this recipe. They can be purchased fresh or frozen quite inexpensively at an Asian grocery store. If using frozen wrappers, be sure to thaw out in the fridge before wrapping time.

Asian Chicken Dumpling Soup

Ingredients:

For the Dumplings:

• 1 pound chicken thigh/leg meat + 1 pound chicken breast– ground (2 pounds of any ground meat of your choice is fine, too.)
• 1 cup shredded carrot/ cabbage combo (or buy fresh coleslaw mix) –You can also substitute any vegetable, like napa, spinach, bok choy, etc.
• 1/2 cup black tree ear mushroom– rehydrate in warm water, drain thoroughly, and roughly chop.
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 6 cloves minced garlic (again, I love garlic and hate vampires. Feel free to use more or less to suit your taste.)
• 1 small white onion, finely diced.
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons cooking sherry or Shaoxing wine (optional)
• homemade or store-bought round dumpling wrappers, about 50
• 1 egg, cracked and placed in a small bowl, for sealing the dumpling wrappers

For the Soup:

• 4 quarts (1 gallon) chicken broth (You can make your own or use store-bought, just make sure to use the low-sodium kind).
• 1 tablespoon Kosher salt (season to suit your taste. I’m being conservative here, so that you can add more if it is too bland.)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder or concentrate
• 2 cups roughly cut chunks of daikon radish
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms, any variety–I’m using king oyster mushrooms here.
• 1/2 white onion
• 2″ knob fresh ginger, peeled and split in half lengthwise
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• thinly sliced green onions and finely chopped cilantro for garnish

Useful Equipment:

** Disclaimer: Please note that the highlighted links in this post are affiliate links, in which I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you purchase through those links. I have purchased all the products I recommend with my own funds and have tested and used each product before I post. Please know that I only recommend products that I like and trust and genuinely believe would help my audience. Thank you for your support of my blog in this way!

• Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor
• Global 7-inch Stainless Steel Chef’s Knife
• All-Clad Stainless 6-Qt Stockpot
• Large Bamboo Cutting Board
• Slotted Spoon

Directions:

1. Prepare the dumpling filling by adding ground meat to a large mixing bowl. You can opt to buy the meat already ground from the store or butcher, or you can grind your meat using a meat grinder or a food processor. (I like the taste of freshly ground meat, and the Cuisinart food processor has done a great job for this task.) You can also chop and shred all the vegetables for this recipe using a food processor, as well. Add in all the ingredients for the dumpling filling (except the wrappers and egg) and use very clean hands or a large spoon to thoroughly mix all the ingredients together. Let the meat mixture sit and marinate in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

2. To make the dumplings, wash and dry your hands very well. Take a wrapper in one hand, place a teaspoonful of meat filling into the center of the wrapper, spread a thin layer egg white around the outer edges of the wrapper, press the wrapper together to enclose the filling (should look like a half circle), and crimp and pleat the wrapper to seal the dumpling. **Please view the following short video for a demonstration of this step. I’m not the best dumpling crimper, and if my mother-in-law were still alive, she’d probably give me a mild scolding, but you get the idea. Just make sure the dumpling is sealed securely, so that when it comes time to boil, it won’t fall apart! Repeat this for all the wrappers.

**At this point, if you’ve made too many dumplings to consume for the day, you can freeze these raw dumplings for future use. To do so, take the extra raw dumplings, spread them on a cookie tray, freeze them until hard, remove them from the tray, and store them in a freezer-safe container or bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you want to eat dumplings next time, just take the frozen dumplings (do not thaw) and boil or pan fry. This is such a time-saver!

3. To cook the dumplings, bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil. Add in 5 to 7 dumplings at a time. Be careful not to crowd the pot, as this will cause the dumplings to stick together and tear apart. Reduce heat to medium-high, cook the dumplings about 7 minutes or until they rise to the surface. Use a slotted spoon to remove dumplings from the water. Set aside on a clean plate. Repeat cooking until all the dumplings are done.

4. Prepare the soup by bringing the chicken broth to a boil. Add in the half onion, daikon radish chunks, and ginger. The onion and ginger will serve as aromatics for your soup, while the daikon radish will add sweetness and depth of flavor. Reduce heat and let soup simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Add in the seasonings: sugar, salt, chicken bouillon.

6. Add in sliced mushrooms.

7. Simmer soup for 15 minutes, so that all ingredients will release their flavors into the soup.

8. Before serving the soup, bring pot to a boil once more for 2 minutes. Then decrease heat to a simmer and add in sesame oil and black pepper. You can discard the ginger, daikon radish, and white onion chunks at this time, or just leave them in the broth for richer flavor.

9. Place as many cooked dumplings you desire into a soup bowl. I like to serve 5 to 6 dumplings per bowl. Ladle hot soup into the bowl to cover the dumplings.

10. Sprinkle freshly ground pepper, chopped green onions, and cilantro for garnish if desired.

This soup is excellent for warming up cold winter days, as well as soothing a sick loved one. Before I conclude, I would like to mention that if you want to forego the soup, you can also prepare the dumplings as a stand-alone dish. Just simply make the dumplings, boil or pan-fry them, and serve them with a dipping sauce (such as mixing Sichuan chili oil with soy sauce and black vinegar). My older daughter enjoys eating them in this fashion. I hope you enjoyed reading my entry today and will try making Asian dumplings instead of buying them for a refreshing change. Wishing everyone a great week filled with lots of health, happiness, and delicious food!