Fried Gluten Free & Keto Dumplings

Step 1

Place ginger in a small bowl and cover with water. Set aside to soak while you blanch the cabbage.

Step 2

Blanch Nappa cabbage leaves in hot water over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a strainer and set aside until cool enough to handle. Wring out the leaves to squeeze out the liquid very well. Transfer to a cutting board and finely mince. Set aside to cool completely.

Step 3

Place ground pork (or meat of choice) in a heatproof bowl that fits comfortably in your steamer. Add minced cabbage and mix well. Strain ginger juices into pork mixture, pressing down with a spoon to get all the goodies out. Add in scallions, garlic, coconut aminos, sesame oil, rice vinegar and white pepper. Mix well until thoroughly combined, cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or overnight.

Step 4

Whip up a batch of our Crazy Keto Dough. Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes while you prep the rest (and up to 5 days in the fridge).

Step 5

Set up your steamer, heating up the water over high heat until boiling. Place heatproof bowl with pork in the steamer (you want to catch all the juices), cover, lower heat to low and simmer for 12-14 minutes until fully cooked. Don't open the steamer until the 12 minute mark. You can alternatively fry the filling in a pan, but we found best results are achieved by steaming. Remove bowl with pork from steamer and set aside to cool completely, mixing every so often to make sure the juices are soaked back up almost entirely.

Step 6

Roll out 1-inch dough balls (11g in weight) between parchment paper using a rolling pin or a tortilla press (much easier and faster) until 4 3/4-inches (12 cm) in diameter.

Step 7

Heap roughly a tablespoon of filling onto the dough discarding the juices left (see pictures in post). Be VERY careful to not get any filling or juices on the edges or dough won't stick. Fold in half and quickly close both sides towards the center, the pleats will naturally form. Trim tops with kitchen shears if finicky about presentation. Place on a baking tray and freeze right away to avoid the dough getting soggy. Keep adding them to the baking tray in the freezer as you make them. It took us roughly 4 tries to get them shaped nicely, so don't despair. The dumplings can be frozen for up to two months at this point, allowing them to thaw for 15 minutes before cooking.

Step 8

Heat up frying oil of choice (we used coconut) in a skillet or pan over low heat. You'll want it roughly 1-inch deep and not too hot so the dumplings cook slowly.

Step 9

Add dumplings to pan and baste the tops right away and constantly to seal them shut. We prefer to cook them until the bottoms just begin to brown to keep them super tender, but you can fry yours longer to taste.

Step 10

Serve right away with scallions and dipping sauce.