Chinese Chive Dumplings (Jiu Cai Jiao)

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4.9 from 54 votes

Chinese Chive Dumplings, known as Jiu Cai Jiao, are translucent steamed dumplings made with a wheat and tapioca starch dough filled with a savory mixture of shrimp, Chinese chives, and aromatics. The filling combines tender shrimp and wilted chives seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine. The dumplings are pan-fried after steaming for a crispy finish.

Prep Time

1 hr 10 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Total Time

1 hr 30 mins

Servings: 18 dumplings

Calories: 63 kcal

Course: Appetizer, Snacks

Cuisine: Chinese

Ingredients

Filling:

½ teaspoon soy sauce (I prefer low-sodium)
1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
3 teaspoons cornstarch
⅓ pound Shrimp peeled, deveined, and cut into ¼-inch pieces (4 ½ ounces net weight, fresh
½ teaspoon sugar
2 pinches white pepper or black pepper
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil toasted
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon canola oil or other neutral tasting oil, or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dried shrimp optional, finely chopped
6 ounces Chinese chives aka garlic chives, trimmed of thicker bottom portion, cut into ½-inch lengths (about 1 ¾ cups)
salt (optional)

Wheat Starch Dough:

4 ½ ounces wheat starch
2 ¼ ounces tapioca starch
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
water let boiled water cool for 30 seconds before measuring and using, just boiled, about 1 cup
4 teaspoons canola oil

To Finish:

canola oil for pan-frying, or vegetable oil
soy sauce for dipping
chile garlic sauce homemade or store-bought (optional)

Instructions

Filling:

Cup of Yum

Combine the soy sauce, rice wine, and 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch in a bowl, stirring to dissolve the cornstarch. Add the raw shrimp and stir to coat well. Set aside. In another bowl, create a seasoning sauce by combining the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch, sugar, pepper, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and water. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the dried shrimp and cook stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant. Add the Chinese chives and keep stirring and cooking for 1 minute, or until the chives have wilted slightly. Add the raw shrimp and cook for 1 minute, or until they have just turned orange.
Make a well in the center, give the seasoning sauce a stir, and add to the skillet. Stir and cook for about 45 seconds, or until the mixture thickens and comes together. Taste and, if needed, add salt. Transfer to a bowl and set aside to cool completely. Make the filling up to 1 day ahead of time and refrigerate it until needed. You should have about 1 ¼ cups.

Dough:

In a bowl combine the wheat starch, tapioca starch, and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in about 14 tablespoons of the water (to measure easily, this is exactly halfway between ¾ cup and 1 cup in a liquid measuring cup). Use a sturdy metal spoon to stir the ingredients together. The dough will look translucent at first and then become mottled, whitish, and lumpy.
Once the water has been roughly incorporated, add the oil. Stir at first with the spoon, and later with your hands (beware the mixture will be relatively hot) to work in the oil. If the dough looks dry, add a little more water. Aim for a medium firm texture, not a soft and mushy one. Add wheat starch by the tablespoon if you add too much water. Press the ingredients together into a rough ball that feels a bit bouncy.
Knead the dough either in the bowl if it's large enough or on an unfloured surface for 1 to 2 minutes, until snowy white, smooth and resembling Play-Doh in texture. When you squeeze on it, it should not crack. If it cracks, very lightly oil one hand and knead it into the dough to increase the dough’s suppleness.
Cut the dough into 3 equal pieces (weigh them with a digital scale if you have one for accuracy) and put them into a zip-top plastic bag and seal well. Set aside for 5 minutes to rest before using. This dough can be made up to 6 hours in advance and left at room temperature in the zip-top bag.

Assembly and Cooking:

Before assembling the dumplings, line steamer trays and baking sheets with parchment paper (perforated preferred for steamer trays), then lightly oil the paper with oil spray.
Cut the sides of a zip-top bag, leaving the far side connected so it opens like a book. Smear a little oil on the inside of the cut zip-top bag. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, roll it on an unfloured work surface into a chubby 6-inch log, and cut into 6 equal pieces. To prevent drying and sticking, dab your finger in some neutral oil and rub a tiny bit on each of the ends of the dough pieces, pressing each into a ¼-inch-thick disk as you go.
Place a disk inside the cut zip-top bag (inside the "book"). Apply moderate pressure with a tortilla press, the flat side of a cleaver, or the bottom of skillet. You maybe have to press more than once to arrive at the desired size (about 4 inches in diameter). Unpeel the plastic and set the slightly shiny wrapper aside. Repeat with the remaining prepped dough pieces. There should be no need to re-oil the plastic between pressings. To prevent the dough from drying, assemble a batch of dumplings before forming more wrappers from another portion of dough.
To assemble a dumpling, hold a wrapper in a slightly cupped hand. Use a spoon or small cookie scoop to center a heaping tablespoon of filling atop the wrapper, flattening the filling a bit and keeping about ½ to ¾ inch of wrapper clear on all sides. Then fold, pleat, and press to enclose the filling. Try to make large pleats so that the dumpling is not too thick on one side. After pinching the opening closed, twist off any excess dough and discard. If the skin breaks, dab a tiny bit of oil on the area and try smoothing out and patching up the wrapper.
Set the finished dumpling closed side down in a prepared steamer tray. Assemble more dumplings from the remaining wrappers before working on the next batch of dough. Space them about ½ inch apart (if using a metal steamer tray, keep the dumplings 1 inch away from the edge where condensation will collect). Place overflow dumplings on the baking sheet with a good ½ inch between each and cover with plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out as you go. Once assembled the dumplings should be cooked as soon as possible, because they cannot be refrigerated uncooked.
Steam the dumplings over boiling water for about 7 minutes, or until they have puffed slightly and are glossy and translucent (they will become more translucent as they begin to cool as well). Remove each tray and place it atop a serving plate if serving as steamed dumplings.
To pan-fry, remove the trays and let the dumplings cool to room temperature. They can sit for up to 2 hours. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add a bit of oil just to lightly coat the surface (1 tablespoon or so depending on the dimensions of the pan).
When the oil is just about to smoke, add the dumplings, smooth side down, in batches if necessary. Fry for about 3 minutes, or until crisp and barely golden brown. Flip over to crisp the sealed (pleated) side for about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat if the oil smokes. There is no need to brown the bottom as it will not show. Transfer to a platter.
Serve hot or warm with soy sauce and chile garlic sauce for guests to create their own dipping sauce.

Notes

Always steam dumplings before refrigerating or freezing to preserve texture and safety.
Freeze steamed dumplings individually before transferring to bags; use within one month.
Reheat frozen dumplings by thawing in the refrigerator and steaming until translucent, then pan-fry as desired.
Authentic texture depends on wheat starch dough; substituting wrappers changes the typical appearance and chew.
Use a sturdy metal spoon when mixing dough as it can be quite tough; avoid wooden spoons breaking.
Store wheat and tapioca starch in freezer bags for freshness.

Nutrition Information

Serving 1dumpling Calories 63kcal (3%) Carbohydrates 9g (3%) Protein 2g (4%) Fat 2g (3%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g (6%) Monounsaturated Fat 1g (5%) Cholesterol 2mg (1%) Sodium 64mg (3%) Potassium 29mg (1%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 18 dumplings

Amount Per Serving

Calories 63

% Daily Value*

Serving	1dumpling
Calories	63kcal	3%
Carbohydrates	9g	3%
Protein	2g	4%
Fat	2g	3%
Polyunsaturated Fat	1g	6%
Monounsaturated Fat	1g	5%
Cholesterol	2mg	1%
Sodium	64mg	3%
Potassium	29mg	1%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.