Asian Chicken Lemongrass Dumplings

In a little over two weeks, it will be Chinese New Year. These delicious Asian chicken lemongrass dumplings are a perfect way to start the meal. I’ll be honest, we love potstickers so much at our house, often they are the whole meal. 

Traditional potstickers are usually filled with ground pork or a mixture of ground pork and shrimp. Try my classic potsticker recipe.

Why Use Ground Chicken in Asian Chicken and Lemongrass Dumplings?

Ground chicken and ground turkey are made up of a mixture of both white meat and dark meat. It has a softer consistency and meat that is pale in color than either ground pork or ground beef. The flavor is neutral which makes it a wonderful blank canvas to highlight the bold tastes from aromatics, herbs and vegetables. 

Is it a Dumpling or a Potsticker?

 In Mandarin Chinese jiaozi (pronounced jow [rhymes with cow] – tzah) literally means dumplings. These Asian dumplings are flour-based wrappers containing meat and/or vegetables.  They can be boiled, steamed, shallow-fried, or deep-fried.

Tradition is that someone began to boil jiaozi in a wok but got distracted and returned to find the water cooked off and the dumpling stuck to the pan having become crispy on the bottom. And thus the potsticker was invented. The long and short of the question is while all potstickers are dumplings whether you call them jiaozi or gyoza, it is the dual cooking of boiling or steaming and pan-frying that makes a dumpling a potsticker.

Making Potstickers Ahead

This dish a perfect example of prepping once and eating twice. Since gyoza wrappers come in packages of 50, make the filling and wrap all the dumplings. Place the uncooked dumplings on a parchment-lined baking sheet (make sure you space them so none of the dumplings are touching) and pop the tray in the freezer for 2 hours. Then remove the tray and transfer the now individually frozen dumplings in a zip-close bag (label and date the container, please) and return to the freezer to enjoy at your convenience. No need to defrost before cooking, just add a couple of more minutes to the steaming or boiling step before you crisp them up on the bottom. Such a great way to have potstickers on hand at all times. FYI—did you know that you can also freeze the unopened package of gyoza wrappers when they are on sale? Just defrost the frozen package in the refrigerator for a day before using it.

Asian Chicken Lemongrass Dumplings

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• Author: Chef Lisa
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 10 servings 1x
• Category: starters
• Method: stovetop
• Cuisine: Asian

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Description

A delicious Asian chicken lemongrass dumplings that taste bright and fresh. Made with ground chicken, ginger, lemongrass, green onions, and cilantro, they are a perfect starter to a Chinese meal.

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Ingredients

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• 3/4 pound ground chicken
• 2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger, (about 1/2-inch piece peeled and grated)
• 1 tablespoon lemongrass, white part only finely diced (1 stalk)
• 2/3 cup finely chopped napa cabbage, (about 1/8 of a head)
• 2 tablespoons red bell pepper, finely diced (about 1/3 of a pepper)
• 3 green onions, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves (about 3 sprigs)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of ground white pepper
• 1 package of gyoza wrappers

Dipping Sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• Pinch of lemon zest
• Crushed red pepper flakes to taste
• Green onion and cilantro leaves to garnish

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Instructions

1. Using a ginger grater or micro plane, grate the ginger and garlic and set aside.
2. Peel the out layers of lemongrass and pound to bruise the stem end. Then thinly slice and mince the lemongrass into very fine pieces, set aside. (See this post for information about using lemongrass.) 
3. Prep the napa cabbage, bell pepper, green onions, cilantro, and lemon zest.
4. In a small bowl add the ground chicken, add the garlic, ginger, and lemongrass, other vegetables, and remaining filling ingredients and mix well. Make sure the vegetables are well incorporated throughout the ground chicken.
5. Combine the dipping sauce ingredients and set them aside in a serving dish.
6. Wrap the dumplings (see this post for detailed pictures and instructions for wrapping the dumplings.)
7. Set up your wrapping station with a small bowl of warm water and a baking tray.
8. Spoon about one large teaspoon of the chicken and lemongrass mixture into the center of a wrapper. 
9. Dip a finger in water and use the water to wet the outer rim of the wrapper. 
10. Pinch the center of the gyoza wrapper together, so the meat is resting on the bottom of the wrapper and you are holding both halves of the circle off the surface.
11. Staring to work on the right side of the center pinch, push a small section of the the side of the wrapper closest to you in toward the center point of the wrapper which is already pinched close to form a little tuck, then pinch both the wrapper side with the tuck and the wrapper side that is in back together to seal. Continue forming tucks until the side is sealed. 
12. Change to the left side and repeat the tucking action. Using this pleating method forms a half-moon dumpling. Aim for 3-4 tucks on both the left and right sides of the center pinch.
13. Work quickly and gently to wrap the pork in all the gyoza wrappers. 
14. Set each dumpling on the baking tray making sure there is space between each one.
15. Cooking Instructions
16. When ready to cook the potstickers, heat canola or vegetable oil in a medium size skillet over medium heat. Arrange the dumplings with the seams up in a circle around the inner edge of the skillet. Repeat forming concentric circles of potstickers in the pan until the whole pan is filled. If you want to cook fewer dumplings, use a smaller skillet. Fry until the bottom of the potstickers is golden brown and crispy (about 2-3 minutes).
17. Pour enough water into the skillet to come a little more than halfway up the dumplings (between 1/2 – 3/4 cup). Place a lid over the skillet to allow the dumplings to steam. 
18. Cook the potstickers in the steam for 5- 7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has boiled away. Remove the lid and let the dumplings cook for a minute more, until the water is gone and the bottom is has a chance to become crispy again. 
19. Remove potstickers from skillet. Serve these Asian chicken lemongrass dumplings with dipping sauce.

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Nutrition

• Serving Size: 5 dumplings

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