According to popular claims, the “rose dumpling” is afamous specialtyof the White Rose Restaurant in Hoi An, Vietnam. But while White Rose Restaurant’s dumplings are indeed shaped like flowers, they don’t really look like roses.
So, who made the first rose-shaped dumpling? I don’t know. But, in our house, that would be my older girl, Sam. But she didn’t invent them. She saw the technique somewhere on the web and replicated it.
The first (and only) time Sam made rose dumplings, I posted a photo on Instagram. No blog post at the time though because we were so excited to eat them and they were gone so fast. It took a while for me to make the dumplings myself.
Lay round wonton wrappers in a row so that they are slightly overlapping. Spread the meat filling across the center then fold the bottom halves of the wrappers over the filling. You’ll want to press out airpockets in the filling but be careful not to press close the top edges of the wrappers. You want to leave them open so that, during steaming, the wrappers “bloom” like rose petals.
To make sure that the dumplings keep their shape, brush eggwash on the bottom of the wrappers. Then, roll from one side to the other. Repeat until all the filling has been used or until you run out of wonton wrappers, whichever happens first. The dumplings will look like rosebuds at this point. But they will “bloom” during cooking. Re
Now, the cooking part. Start by heating oil in a frying pan then arrange the dumplings in the hot oil. Make sure that they do not touch to prevent them from sticking to each other. The wonton wrappers will turn sticky once heated and if the dumplings stick to each other at this point, it will be quite difficult to separate them later with tearing the wrappers.
Let the bottom of the dumplings fry and turn browned and crisp. Pour in boiling water, cover the pan and let the dumplings cook in the steam. Yes, just like cooking gyoza.
Resist the urge to peek. Removing the cover of the pan to see how the dumplings are doing will result in loss of steam. Leave them be and let the steam do its work. By the time the water has dried up, the dumplings should be cooked through.
Rose dumplings
Ingredients
- 400 grams fatty ground pork
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped scallions
- ¼ teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sesame seed oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 24 round wonton wrappers about 3 inches in diameter, separated
- 1 egg lightly beaten with one tablespoon water
- 3 to 4 tablespoons cooking oil
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together all the ingredients except the dumpling wrappers, egg and cooking oil. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
- Take three dumpling wrappers and lay them side by side slightly overlapping each other.
- Take three teaspoonfuls of the filling and spread across the wrappers near the center. Flatten the filling lightly with your fingertips.
- Fold over the wrappers to enclose the filling. Press to flatten some more but DO NOT press the edges of the wrappers together. Leave them open.
- Brush egg wash on the bottom of the dumpling from one end to the other.
- Starting with one end, roll the dumpling all the way.
- Repeat until all the dumpling wrappers have been filled and rolled.
- Heat the cooking oil in a wide frying pan.
- Arrange the dumplings, bottom side down and at least an inch apart, in the hot oil. Fry the dumplings until the bottoms are lightly browned.
- Pour in boiling water to a depth of half an inch.
- Set the heat to low and cover the pan tightly. Let the dumplings cook in the steam for 15 to 20 minutes.
- To serve, arrange three to four dumplings on a plate. Drizzle with a little soy sauce and sesame seed oil. Sprinkle with finely sliced scallions. Serve the rose dumplings immediately.
