28 December 2019

Shiitake Mushroom Steamed Dumplings

Delicious Asian steamed dumplings with a rich, sweet and savoury filling of shiitake mushrooms, cabbage and carrots, topped with garlic chili oil, spring onions and sesame seeds.

These dumplings can take a little while, so put some music on or grab a friend and just relax into it, they're so worth it, I promise you. Nothing beats chewy, homemade and freshly steamed dumplings with a flavour-bomb of a filling. You can also freeze any extra dumplings and steam from frozen - they will take a little longer if frozen, so do check they're hot all the way through.

When researching dumplings I found out that depending on whether you're going to boil or steam the dumplings, you use a different temperature of water. For these steamed dumplings you use freshly boiled water, this helps to create a really chewy dumpling texture, which perfectly compliments the filling. A distinct advantage of steamed dumplings is that you also don't have to seal them super well and they won't fill up with water and dilute the filling.

I pleated my dumplings - this is a great video to show you how, but you can simply fold them in half and press the edges together- they're your dumplings after all! I'd also recommend steaming as you go along, each batch takes about 15 minutes, so it's helpful to keep the flow going and you'll have something to enjoy whilst making the rest. These dumplings are great as a snack or even as a side to a meal.

Shiitake Mushroom Steamed Dumplings | Yield: 40 dumplings | Time: 1.5-2 hours

You'll need

  • Chopping board
  • Knife
  • Fine grater
  • Mixing bowl
  • Measuring cups & spoons
  • Mixing spoon
  • Rolling pin
  • Saute pan
  • Steamer basket(s) with lids
  • Greaseproof paper (can also use cabbage leaves)
  • Clean damp tea towel
  • Small bowl of water


  • 3 cups plain flour + more for dusting
  • 1 cup + 1 tbsp just boiled water
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 3-inch piece ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 130g shiitake mushrooms
  • 1/2 medium savoy cabbage
  • 1 large carrot
  • 4 spring onions
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • 1 tsp Chinese 5 spice
To serve:
  • Chili garlic oil
  • 4 Spring onions, sliced
  • Sesame seeds (I used black & white)


  1. To make the filling, peel and grate the ginger, crush the garlic and finely chop the shiitake mushrooms, add to a pan on a medium heat with a splash of sesame oil and cook for 5 minutes, until fragrant and the mushrooms have released some water. 
  2. Shred the savoy cabbage, peel and grate the carrot and slice up the spring onions, add to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. 
  3. Then add in the coriander, soy sauce, vinegar, cornflour and five spice and stir through the pan, cook for a further 5 minutes then remove from the heat. 
  4. Allow the mixture to cool in the fridge or freezer, so it's as cold as possible before you fill the dumplings.
  1. To make the dough, add the flour to the mixing bowl and pour over the freshly boiled water, stir with a spoon to hydrate the flour with the water. It will be quite lumpy, this is normal. Test the dough with you finger to ensure it's not too hot (it should be ok to touch) and bring the dough together with your hands until it comes together as a ball.
  2. Transfer the dough ball to a floured surface and knead together for a few minutes, it should look smooth and together. If it's super sticky, knead a touch more flour into it and if it's a little crumbly just wet your hands and knead it until it comes together. 
  3. Divide the dough ball into 6 and work on each sixth at a time, keeping the remaining dough under a damp tea towel. 
  4. Roll the piece of dough into a sausage shape about 1.5 inches thick, cut the sausage into 1cm discs (you should get 6-8 per sausage). 
  5. Then on a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll each disk into a thin circle (don't worry if they're not perfectly round). 
  6. Ensure each disk is lightly floured (they should be from the rolling surface) and stack them up, storing under a damp tea towel or spare cabbage leaves. 
  7. Next, you'll fill the dumplings, I find it's best to roll and fill each sixth of dough at a time, steaming as you go along, to avoid the dough drying out and ensuring you have a continuous flow in the making process. 
Shaping, Steaming & Serving:
  1. Bring a steamer pan to the boil (make sure this doesn't boil dry during the process) and line your steamer baskets with small squares of greaseproof paper, or alternatively, you can use extra cabbage leaves. 
  2. Work on each section of the dough at a time, to create a continuous flow of dumpling making and steaming. I'll explain how I folded the dumplings below, but this video is super helpful to show how they're folded too. 
  3. With the first disks, fill about 2 tsp of mix into the centre, with your finger, run around the edges with a little water to dampen them - this will help it to stick (if your dough is plenty hydrated you may not need to add any water). 
  4.  Then fold one side of the circle over the other to create a semi-circle and pinch one corner.
  5. From the corner you've sealed, fold one side of the dough back on itself to create a little pleat and press to seal, repeat all the way along until the dumpling is sealed, like this. Alternatively, you don't have to create pleats and can just pinch the dough to seal it all the way along. 
  6. If you're planning on freezing some dumplings, do so before steaming, simply layer up between grease-proof paper and place in tupperware. The dumplings will take longer to steam from frozen, so do be aware of this and ensure they're hot all the way through. 
  7. Place each dumpling on a little piece of greaseproof paper or cabbage leaf in the steamer basket, pop the lid on and steam for about 15 minutes. If the dumplings are slightly larger this may take a little longer and if they're on the top steamer basket they may also need a few extra minutes. You'll know they're done when they turn slightly translucent and the middle of the dough isn't floury when cut into.
  8. Serve the dumplings with some garlic chili oil, spring onions and sesame seeds and enjoy! 
Cassidy xx