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I’m so excited to share this fish dumpling recipe!  The filling for these dumplings share many of the same concepts as My Mom’s Dumplings Recipe in terms of vigorous mixing, which breaks down the pork fat enough to give the filling some spring in texture, but has a more delicate and lighter taste.  Since the fish starts as whole filets (vs. ground pork for example), I’d recommend using a food processor to fully blend the fat and fish together; this will also be enough force to catalyze the “primary bind” and create that nice texture.  Similar to all dumplings, the filling should not be crumbly and immediately fall apart once you bite into a dumpling.  The filling should be a (mostly) cohesive whole piece.

This is the first of two fish dumpling recipes my mom and I love making, and this one is made with green beans.  Because it has a lighter flavor, I’d recommend Taiwanese black vinegar (or rice vinegar if you can’t find Taiwanese black vinegar) and/or Szechuan chili crisp; the tang of the vinegar and optional spice are subtle enough to not overpower the dumplings but add the perfect complementary tastes!

Stay tuned for the next fish dumpling recipe made with dill!  It’ll be a nice blend of cultural influences and is somewhat similar to Georgian dumplings, called khinkali.

Quick notes:

• Green beans vs haricots verts — I’d recommend using green beans instead of haricots verts because they tend to be larger, sweeter, and crunchier; haricots verts might make the filling bitter (I’ve never tried it personally and this hunch is the reason why)

• The primary units of measurements are ounces & grams because it is way more precise for this recipe; I try to convert to more readily available units when I can for those without a digital kitchen scale, though!

• 500 grams (17.637 oz) of skinless & boneless white fish filets (we used a fish called saba), halfway thawed (i.e. still semi-frozen but still able to be easily cut with a knife)

• 250 grams (8.81 oz) of trimmed and lightly blanched green beans+

• 100 grams of skinless pork fat, rough chopped into ~ ¼ inch pieces (the smaller the better)#

• 2 tsp kosher salt or Himalayan pink salt

• 1 tsp ground white pepper

• 3 TBSP cornstarch + 1 TBSP for wrapping

• 1 TBSP toasted sesame oil

• Dumpling wrappers (quantity will vary, but I made ~ 36 dumplings with this batch)

• Recommended equipment: digital kitchen scale, food processor

+  I wouldn’t use frozen green beans because once frozen they lose a lot of the nice and crunchy texture; for this yield I started with ~10 oz of fresh green beans

# It’s difficult to find commercial butchers that will give you straight pork fat; some will just give it to you for free because they were about to throw it away anyways, but you can usually order this from smaller local butchers (e.g. who source from local small-production farms)

1. Chop the fish filets (which should be half frozen/thawed) into 1” strips, finely dice your pork fat and then rough chop again

2. To a food processor, add the fish filet strips and salt; process on high for at least 30 seconds, or until the mixture is slightly chunkier than the consistency of ground pork (just want to make sure the salt and fish is well combined); add the pork fat and then process on high for ~ 30 - 45 seconds, or until the mixture has become a slightly chunky paste (see picture for reference)

3. To this mixture, add the cornstarch, toasted sesame oil, and white pepper and process for another ~ 10 seconds until mixed well; [REMOVE ~ 1½ cup of fish paste and add to a mixing bowl and mix with the minced/chopped dill and put into the fridge as you finish the other fish filling; to the food processor, add the remaining 4 tsp of sesame oil and pulse a couple times to mix everything well;]

4. Move this filling to a large mixing bowl, add the chopped string beans and mix well to combine (with a spoon is fine)

5. REFRIGERATE the filling for at least 1 ½ hrs

6. Wrap

Wrap the dumplings:

I keep the wrappers from drying out and cracking by keeping a moist paper towel covering the wrappers.  I also want to point out that making the pleats isn’t necessary; I like making them because I want to practice getting better and it looks ~kewl~ and they also help form a crescent shape

1. Before starting to wrap these dumplings, don’t forget to mix ~ 1 TBSP of cornstarch with ¼ cup of cold water for sealing your dumplings!

2. For each wrapper, lightly stretch it out and lightly pinch the edges to flatten them out more (optional); dip your finger into the bowl of water + cornstarch and moisten the outside edge of the dumpling

3. Using a spoon, scoop a good amount of filling and place in the center of the wrapper — again, this amount will vary based on your skill level

4. Start by folding the wrapper in half and pinch it closed in the middle first, then pinch the rest of the sides closed or make pleats before sealing

5. Once you’re done wrapping, freeze (if eating later) or prepare to cook, instructions below

Steam Frying*:

1. Heat up a large skillet over medium-high heat and add a good glug (enough to generously coat the entire bottom of the skillet) of a high heat-friendly neutral-tasting oil (I use organic canola)

2. Once the oil starts to shimmer, add in your dumplings

3. Let fry uncovered for ~ 2 min, then add ¼ cup of water (anywhere from cold to room temp is fine), being careful of any splatter; cover

4. Let cook until the water has fully steamed into the dumplings and remove the cover; bring heat down to medium and let the bottoms fry/crisp up a bit more

* This works if you’re starting with freshly-wrapped or frozen dumplings!

Since these dumplings have such a light and delicate flavor, they’re best enjoyed with lighter sauces that complement vs. overpower the dumplings. For this kind of filling, I’d recommend eating these with just Taiwanese black vinegar* (or rice vinegar if you can’t find) and/or Szechuan chili crisp (e.g. Lao Gan Ma).

I wouldn’t recommend eating with the traditional soy sauce-based dipping sauce because it will really overpower the more delicate flavors in this dumpling filling. You can also boil these instead of steam frying them if you’d like!

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