Pork and Corn Dumplings

These Pork and Corn Dumplings are juicy and flavorful. They're pan-fried to golden brown perfection and served with a soy-vinegar dumpling sauce.

Can't get enough of dumplings? Try my Vegetarian Dumplings and Chicken Gyoza next!

🥟 About This Recipe

Pork and corn is one of my top 5 favorite dumpling fillings, if not my favorite! I LOVE the texture of the juicy pork combined with the crunchy nuggets of corn. Not only is it texturally interesting, but the pops of sweetness are like heaven.

Growing up, my family was pretty poor. We made dumplings quite often because they were cheap to make and could feed us for a lot of meals. Our favorite filling was pork, but my mom always added corn kernels to stretch it a bit farther. It was practical but also super tasty!

This recipe is my mother's but with a few minor tweaks.

🧂 Ingredients

• Dumpling Wrappers: Of course, we'll need some dumpling wrappers. You can make them at home, but I find it too tedious, so I usually just buy them from the store. Make sure you get the circle wrappers and not the square ones. The square ones are for wontons.
• Pork and corn filling: The filling is a pretty standard ground pork filling, but I just added frozen corn to it. It has ground pork, napa cabbage, corn, ginger, garlic, scallions, oil, soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, toasted sesame oil, white pepper, sugar, and salt. I highly recommend using full-fat pork for this, as it gives the filling a much juicier texture.
• Dipping Sauce: This is my mom's famous dumping sauce! I LOVE it so much because she adds tons of fresh aromatics like sliced scallions and garlic. There is also soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, chili oil, chili crisps, toasted sesame oil, and a little sugar. My sister used to always ask my mom to make this when we had dumplings during the holidays.

🔪 Instructions

STEP 1: In a large bowl, mix napa cabbage and salt. Let it rest for 15 minutes. During this time, the salt will draw out water from the cabbage. This step is super important to ensure the filling isn't soggy.

After 15 minutes, use a clean dish towel or cheesecloth to squeeze out extra water. The cabbage will be very compact after.

STEP 2: Combine napa cabbage and the rest of the filling ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.

💭 Tip
Although not necessary, I recommend pan-frying or microwaving a small teaspoon of the dumpling filling to test the flavor and seasoning levels. If it lacks seasonings, add more soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sugar, salt, or sesame oil.

STEP 3: To assemble, put a spoonful of filling in the center of the dumpling wrapper. Dip your finger in water and run it along the edge of the wrapper. Working from one end of the wrapper, slowly pinch and seal the pork dumpling. Try to remove as much air as possible. Transfer to a baking sheet dusted with all-purpose flour.

Here is a video by Woks of Life on how to fold a dumpling.

STEP 4: This is my mother's famous dumpling sauce! To make it, heat oil in a small pot until shimmering. Add garlic and scallion whites and cook for 15 seconds. Remove from the heat, and add all the remaining seasonings. Transfer to a small bowl for serving.

STEP 5: At this point, you can boil, steam, or pan-fry the dumplings. Pan-frying is my favorite because it adds a ton of flavor to the skin and makes them crispy.

I like to dip the bottoms of the pork dumplings in corn starch before frying to create an extra crispy skin. To do so:

1. Pour ½ cup of cornstarch onto a large plate, and place the dumplings on the plate, bottom-side down.
2. Heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat until the oil is shimmering. Shake the excess cornstarch off the dumplings, place them in the pan, and cook for 1 ½ minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
3. Add ½ cup of water and cook covered for another 3-4 minutes. Remove the lid and continue to cook for 2 minutes until the bottoms get crispy.
4. Serve pork and corn dumplings with the dipping sauce, and enjoy!

🥡 Freezing

Dumplings freeze incredibly well. When stored properly, they can last for up to 6 months! Once you've wrapped the dumplings, place them on a floured baking sheet, with some space between each one. Freeze for 2 hours until they're semi-solid, and then transfer them to a ziplock bag for long-term storage.

📋 Recipe

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