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Egg Wrapped Pork Dumplings, or Dan Jiao (蛋饺) in Chinese, is a traditional dish in China’s Yangtze River Delta area; the home to Huai Yang cuisine.
They feature a 100% egg crepe wrapper filled with juicy & delicious pork fillings. Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup is a must-have for the Chinese New Year celebration as I grew up in Suzhou in the 70s.
Traditionally we used to make each egg dumping individually using stainless steel ladle in one-sitting, from the egg crepe wrapper to fold and to seal the dumpling. It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process.
I, therefore, developed this new process so we can enjoy this traditional and tasty food with ease at home.
What do you need to make Egg Wrapped Pork Dumplings?
1. Egg wrappers to wrap the pork dumplings
See here for a detailed recipe and tutorial on how to make egg wrappers. We make egg crepe first and then cut into rounds using a cookie cutter.
Like making any crepe, a high performing non-stick fry pan is essential for the process.
2. Pork Filling
See here for a detailed recipe on how to make juicy & tasty pork dumpling fillings.
3. Homemade food glue
I use sweet rice flour to make a food glue that help glue & seal the dumplings.
Frequently Asked Questions:
What are Egg Wrapped Pork Dumplings?
They are pork dumplings wrapped in egg crepe, made of 100% egg.
How Long does it take to make them?
Say we are making a batch of approximately 40 egg dumplings, it is about an hour.
Here is the breakdown – 10 minutes for making 6 sheets of 12-inch diameter egg crepes; 5 minutes to prepare pork fillings, and about 30 minutes folding & sealing the dumplings. Last 18 minutes for steaming.
The good news is that you do not have to complete all these steps in one sitting. For instance, you can make the egg wrappers one day in advance. Store them in the refrigerator for the next day’s use.
How to cook them?
We do not use the typical dumping cooking method, which is boiling. Steam them in rectangular glassware for 18 minutes.
What are the popular ways of eating them?
Great question, we rarely eat them by themselves like Jiao Zi or Soup Dumplings. Instead, we add them into a soup. Spinach DanJiao FenSi Soup {菠菜蛋饺粉丝汤} is a classic way of enjoying DanJiao.
May I make them in advance and freeze them?
Absolutely. Dumplings are great choices of making in advance so you can quickly whip out a tasty & healthy meal in less than 10 minutes during weeknights.
Homemade Egg Wrapped Pork Dumplings (Dan Jiao 蛋饺) Recipe
Egg Wrapped Pork Dumplings, or Dan Jiao (蛋饺) in Chinese features wrappers made of 100% with juicy & tasty porking fillings. They are a traditional well-liked dish in China's Yangtze River Delta area, home to Huai Yang cuisine. A must-have special food during the Chinese New Year celebration as I grew up in the 70s'.
Ingredients
For 1 lb Pork Filling:
- 1 lb ground pork, home ground preferred
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce {Jiang You}, or dark soy sauce, see notes
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Zhenjiang vinegar
- 1 large cage-free egg
- 1 tbsp arrowroot flour
- 1/2 tsp cane sugar, organic preferred
- 1/2 tsp star anise powder
- 1/2 tsp coriander seeds powder, freshly ground
- 1/2 tsp ginger powder
- 2 stalks of green onions, finely chopped
For 40 Egg Wrappers:
- 10 large cage-free eggs
- 1/4 tsp avocado oil
For Food Glue:
- 4 tbsp sweet rice flour
- 5 tbsp room temperature water
Instructions
Prepare Pork Filling:
See here for a detailed recipe on how to prepare pork fillings for juicy & tasty dumplings.
Prepare Egg Wrappers:
See here for a detailed recipe on how to make egg wrappers for dumplings
Make Food Glue:
- Add sweet rice flour and water into a small saucepan
- Whisk vigorously using a mini whisk until blended
- Turn the heat to medium, heat the small saucepan while continuing to whisk, until it thickens and becomes a glue-like paste.
rap Egg Dumplings:
- Place an egg wrapper on the left-hand palm, add about 1 tbsp pork fillings in the center.
- Use a chopstick or small spoon to dab the glue around the edge
- Fold the round dumpling into half, gently press around the edge to seal the dumpling
- Pay special attention to the corners, generally the more difficult area
- Hooray, you've just wrapped one egg dumpling. Now go on to wrap the rest. Place the wrapped egg dumplings into a 12x9 inch glassware (if you are using a 14-inch Wok for steaming) to prepare the following step of steaming the dumplings
Steam the Egg Dumplings:
- Add 5 cups of water into a Wok and bring it to a boil. I use a 14-inch Wok.
- Add the 12x9-inch glassware filled with egg dumplings into the Wok, steam for 18 minutes
- Remove the glassware from the Wok
Nutrition Information
Yield 10 servings Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 408Total Fat 25gSaturated Fat 8gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 15gCholesterol 784mgSodium 310mgCarbohydrates 5gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 37g
Nutrition calculation is provided by Nutritionix to the best knowledge per ingredients description and isn't always accurate.
