Pan-fried Kimchi Dumplings Recipe!
This Kimchi Dumplings recipe is inspired by Shengjian Bao which is a very signature dumpling from Shanghai, China!
The dough is fluffy yet crispy outside. The filling has so much texture and flavor from juicy pork, kimchi, and other vegetables. This dumplings recipe is a perfect snack, appetizer, or meal for any day.
The dough takes some time to rise, so, if you make the dough ahead and make the filling while waiting for the dough to rise, it will be perfect timing.
These pan-fried kimchi dumplings might look like a Korean street snack, hotteok. Hotteok is usually filled with sweet filling but nowadays, there are savory fillings as well. The biggest difference between this recipe and hotteok is the cooking method. Hotteok is usually shallowly fired with lots of oil and the dough is much more elastic compared to this pan-fried dumpling is both pan-fried & steamed and the dough is more bread-like and has more chew.
Check out my other dumpling recipes that you always wanted to learn how to achieve the perfect result. These recipes will make you a queen of dumplings! 👑🥟
Are we ready to start the pan-fried kimchi dumpling recipe? Let’s get started!
Combine 2 1/2 cup all propose flour, 1 tsp yeast, 2 tsp sugar, and 1 tsp baking powder in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Give a quick whisk then pour 3/4 cup and 2 tbsp hot water and 1 tbsp sesame oil.
Use chopsticks or a fork to get the dough together first (we used hot water, be careful!). Start kneading the dough with your hand until it’s smooth, about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are using a stand mixer, knead on medium speed for 5 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp towel and rest in a warm place for 1 hour 30 minutes or until the dough is double the size.
This dough recipe will make 16 dumplings so if you want to use up all the filling, triple this dough recipe or cut the filling recipe into third.
Meanwhile, Let’s make kimchi filling!
Cook 3 oz Dangmyeon, Korean glass noodles in boiling water by following the directions of the package you’re using. When the dangmyeon has only 3 minutes left, add 8 oz bean sprouts and blanch them for 3 minutes.
Drain well dangmyeon and beansprouts and let them cool. When they are cooled enough to handle, go ahead and chop them finely.
Chop 12 oz of well-fermented kimchi with scissors.
Chop 3 to 4 green onions, 4 oz chive, and 6 to 8 cloves garlic finely.
If you’re having a hard time finding chives, you can substitute them with green onions.
Add some ginger if you like. I didn’t add it because my kimchi has quite a bit of ginger. (It’s homemade!)
Take 1 block (14 oz) of firm tofu and place it on paper towels. Cover with paper towels and gently squeeze excess water from the tofu. We don’t want too much liquid in our filling. Using a side of your knife, press down the tofu. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add all prepared filling ingredients and mix until well combined. Set aside.
Make a hole in the middle of the dough then stretch to a large ring then open one side to make a long log.
Roll the log into 2” thick diameter then cut them in half. Work one at a time and tear it into 9 equal pieces (about 3 oz per piece). Roll one by one into a smooth ball. Repeat with the other log.
Always cover the rest of the dough while working on it to prevent them from drying out.
Take one piece of dough at a time, press it into a small disk with the palm of your hand. Then roll the dough into a 4” to 4 1/2” wide wrapper with a rolling pin. Trying to roll outer edge of wrapper thinner and center is slightly thicker. You should not need it, but if you do, dust flour as you need. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Let’s shape dumplings! Place one wrapper on your palm, slightly wet the edge of the wrapper with a little bit of cold water if you need. I did it because for some reason my house was quite dry and the dough wasn’t keeping its moist well.
Place 2 to 2 1/2 tbsp of filling into the center and bring the edge to the top with your index finger and thumb to seal while your left thumb is pushing the filling inside. Place the kimchi dumpling on a parchment paper-lined baking pan without touching each other and cover with a damp towel. Repeat with the rest of the dough and the filling. Ensure each one of mantou has rested 20 to 30 minutes before cooking.
If you’d like to dress the dumplings with sesame seeds, dip the smooth side of the dumpling lightly in cold water then dip in sesame seeds. I like to use black and white sesame seeds mixture.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat then add 2 tbsp cooking oil. Place pan-fried kimchi dumplings, sesame seeds down, and press down lightly and gently. Fry sesame seeds side about 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown then turn it over.
Pour 1/2 cup of water and cover with a lid, slightly tilted so some air can escape. Steam the dumplings for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until all water has evaporated and both sides are crispy.
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Transfer pan-fried kimchi dumplings to a serving dish and serve with your favorite dipping sauce! Mine is an equal part of soy sauce, vinegar, and chili oil! Enjoy!
Pan Fried Kimchi Dumplings
- Total Time: 2 hours 12 minutes
- Yield: 48 dumplings 1x
Ingredients
- Cooking oil
- Sesame seeds
For Dough*
- 7 1/2 cup all propose flour
- 3 tsp active yeast
- 6 tsp sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 2 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp hot water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
For Filling
- 1 lb ground pork, beef, chicken or plant based meat
- 1 block (14 oz) firm tofu, squeeze excess water then smashed
- 12 oz kimchi, finely chopped
- 3 oz Dangmyeon, Korean glass noodles, cooked by following directions of package you’re using then chopped
- 8 oz beansprouts, blanch for 3 minutes, chopped
- 4 oz chive, chopped
- 3 to 4 green onions, chopped
- 6 to 8 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 tsp slat
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Combine flour, yeast, sugar and baking powder in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer. Give a quick whisk then pour hot water and sesame oil. Use chopsticks or a fork to get dough together first (we used hot water, be careful!). Start kneading dough with your hand until it’s smooth, about 10 to 15 minutes. If you are using a stand mixer, medium speed for 5 minutes. Cover with a damp towel and rest in a warm place for 1 hour 30 minutes or until dough is double of size. This dough recipe will make 16 dumplings so if you want to use up all filling, triple this dough recipe or cut filling recipe into third.
- Meanwhile, Let’s make kimchi filling!
In a large mixing bowl, add all prepared ingredients and mix until well combined. Set aside. - Make a hole in middle of dough then stretch to a large ring then open one side to make a long log. Roll log into 2” thick diameter then cut them into half. Work one log at a time and tear into 8 equal pieces (about 3 oz per piece). Roll one by one into a smooth ball. Repeat with another log. Always cover rest of dough while working one to prevent them from drying out.
- Take one piece of dough at a time, press into a small disk with a palm of your hand. Then roll dough into 4” to 4 1/2” wide wrapper with a rolling pin. Trying to roll outer edge of wrapper thinner and center is slightly thicker. You should not need it, but if you do, dust flour as you need. Repeat with rest of dough.
- Let’s shape mantou! Place one wrapper on your palm, slightly wet edge of wrapper with a little bit of cold water if you need. Place 2 to 2 1/2 tbsp of filling into center and bring edge to top with your index finger and thumb to seal while your left thumb is pushing filling inside. Place kimchi mantou on a parchment paper lined baking pan without touching each others and cover with a damp towel. Repeat with rest of dough and filling. Ensure each one of mantou has rested 20 to 30 minutes before cooking.
- If you’d like to dress mantou with sesame seeds, dip smooth side of mantou lightly in cold water then dip in sesame seeds. I like to use black and white sesame seeds mixture.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat then add 2 tbsp cooking oil. Place mantou sesame seeds down and press down lightly and gently. Fry sesame seeds side about 3 to 4 minutes or until golden brown then turn it over. Pour 1/2 cup of water and cover with a lid, slightly tilted so some air can escape. Steam mantou about 6 to 8 minutes, or until all water has evaporated and both side are crispy. Transfer to a serving dish and serve with your favorite dipping sauce! Mine is equal part of soy sauce, vinegar and chili oil! Enjoy!
Notes
* I tripled the dough measurement for this recipe card to match with the filling. Usually I do only 1/3 of the dough recipe and have some extra filling. If you want to see the 1/3 amount of the dough recipe, check out the step-by-step post above.
I like to have extra filling for making fried rice with it. Super yummy with fried egg right on top. Or sauté the left over filling with some chili oil with chili flakes and serve on top of rice or noodles.. delicious!
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 12 mins
29 comments
Do you cook the meat before hand? Or mix it in raw with the other ingredients?
I added raw with all the other ingredients!
Is there a way to make it gluten free?? I have a gluten allergy and try to avoid wheat flour as much as I can.
Can these me made ahead and frozen?
Yes they can!
Do you freeze them before or after cooking?
I freeze them in a backing pan making sure no dumplings are touching each other for the fist 2 hours to overnight, then you can take them out and put them in ziplock bags and store in the freezer until you want to eat them again! Hope this helped (:
I suggest freezing them before cooking on a baking pan making sure no dumplings are touching each other for 2 hours or overnight first, then place them in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer until you want to have them again! Hope this helped (:
In the end of the list: 2 tsp slat
I can’t figure out or translate what it is 🙈
Korean, living in Denmark, translating from english!
I meant salt, I’m sorry ):
I was going to ask about slat too, 😂
Can you bake it, Instead of frying.
I don’t see why not!
hi Seonkyoung, is there something wrong with the recipe when you multiply them? the dough for example, in the picture captions and the recipe itself has very vastly different proportion of ingredients. they divide to very largely different amount of number of dough. i usually follow your recipe and loved all of them. this one though, there is something wrong with the recipe.
Sorry for the confusion! I tripled the dough measurement for this recipe card to match with the filling. Usually I do only 1/3 of the dough recipe and have some extra fillings. If you want to see the 1/3 amount of the dough recipe, check out the step-by-step post above. I like to have extra filling for making fried rice with it. Hope this helped!
Thank you for this recipe! They look delicious! If I’m freezing them, do I freeze after they have rested for 20-30 min? Also, do I have to thaw them before frying/steaming?
Yes, in order to freeze them I would suggest waiting until they have rested. Also to cook after freezing I would just follow cooking instructions and just adding a little more time to it. But I would suggest thawing them out for about 20 to 30 min before cooking if you can, for better results. Hope this helped (:
So for freezing would it be best to cook them then freeze, or just freeze them raw? Been doing some research and can’t seem to find a straight answer.
For freezing, do you think they should be frozen raw or cooked then frozen? I’ve done some research and am finding mixed messages!
I would personally freeze uncooked and when I would like them again take them out the freezer for about 10 min and cook following normal cooking instructions. Hope this helped (:
Hi, whats your per cup measurement in grammage please? Thank you.
1/4 cup = 30g, so I used 300g for 2.5 cups
Hi, in your video it says 2 1/2 cup flour and 1 tsp active yeast but in the written recipe it says 7 1/2 cups apf with 3 tsp active yeast and both use 1 lb of meat. Which one should I follow, I would like to try this recipe. I am actually in the middle of making it. Thanks.
Hi, sorry for the confusion! So I like to have extra filling left over so that I could make fried rice with it after, but if you would like to only make dumplings out of this recipe I would either 1/3 the filling recipe and follow the “2 1/2 flour 1 tsp active yeast”. Or keep the same filling portion and follow 7 1/2 flour with 3 tsp of active yeast hope this helped (:
What is the dipping sauce in your video?
Hi Seonkyoung, in the recipe instructions, it says it yields 48 dumplings but the instructions on dividing the dough (cut log into half, tear one half into 8 equal pieces) makes 16 dumpling wrappers. I am guessing with the recipe, you would cut log into half and then divide until you get 48 pieces?
Sorry for the confusion, you must triple the dough recipe since the filling will yield around 48 dumplings, but in the video I only made 18 dumplings and saved the fillings since I like to keep extra filling to add into fried rice. Hope this helped! (:
Hello Seonkyoung,
Can I just steam the dumplings instead of pan-fried? If steam, how many minutes will it take to cook the dumplings?
Hi Ann W,
I steamed mine for 20 minutes and that worked out well (I also cooked the filling before making the buns).