Salmon and Bell Pepper Dumplings

It is tradition to eat dumplings for Lunar New Year as a symbol of wealth and prosperity. But I like to take that one step further and develop a new dumpling recipe too. It reminds me of my humble dumpling beginnings, back when I first started Eat Cho Food as a hobby. Actually, if we go back a few more years (December 2014 to be exact), I made dumplings for the first time without my parents for an office potluck and it literally took me 6 hours to make a batch of dumplings (like 40 of them). I was struggling with the dough and couldn’t get my fingers to work correctly for a proper dumpling pleat. I remember going to bed at 2am thinking “wow, that was exhausting, my coworkers better appreciate this.” They did.

At the start of this blog, I spent every weekend making new dumplings, practicing my pleating technique, and simply enjoying the peace and quiet I found in the kitchen. Since then and many dumpling pleats, recipes, and pop-ups later, I’ve gotten the hang of making dumplings and love teaching you how to make them too.

For this year’s dumpling I wanted to keep it fresh, light, and simple. All things I’m trying to channel in 2023. These Salmon and Bell Pepper Dumplings embody all of that. I’m personally a salmon fanatic and love the flavor and not too heavy richness it gives these dumplings. I like to use farm raised (it’s fattier than wild) salmon trim if my local fish counter has it. That’s often cheaper than a typical filet of salmon, but if yours doesn’t have that, a filet of farm raised salmon is fine! The bell pepper is a little sweet and keeps a slight crispness even after cooking, which I love. Plenty of green onions and cilantro keeps things fresh and a splash of soy, mirin, and sambal round out the flavors of the dumpling. With some chili oil and black vinegar, I can easily polish off a few steamer baskets of these!

Salmon and Bell Pepper Dumplings

Makes 32 dumplings

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Dumpling dough:

300g (2 cups) all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

160g (scant 3/4 cup) hot water

Filling:

1 lb salmon*, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

2 green onions, thinly sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp sambal

1/2 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

2 tbsp cornstarch

1. Make the dough: In a large bowl, mix to combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour and slowly pour in hot water. Mix dough together with a flexible spatula to form a shaggy dough. Knead by hand until you have a cohesive and smooth-ish dough, 5 minutes. Wrap dough in plastic wrap or cover with a bowl just slightly larger than the dough and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours at room temperature.

2. Make the filling: In a large bowl, mix to combine salmon, bell pepper, cilantro, green onions, soy sauce, mirin, sambal, salt, white pepper, and cornstarch. Cover the bowl and let the filling rest in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Filling can be made a day in advance.

3. Assemble the dumplings: Lightly flour your work surface. Cut dough in half and keep one half covered to prevent it from drying out. Roll out one half of your dough into a 1” thick rope. Cut into 16 equal pieces. Over the pieces of dough with a kitchen towel to prevent drying out. Roll out 1 piece of dough into a 3.5”- 4” round with a small rolling pin. Place a scant tablespoon of filling in the center of your round dumpling wrapper, avoid overfilling. Fold according to desired shape (any shape is fine!). Refer to the video for the circular dumpling fold.  Repeat with remaining dumplings and place dumplings on a lightly floured baking tray until ready to be cooked.

4. Steam the dumplings: Prepare your steamer setup. Brush the steamer basket with a little oil or line with perforated parchment paper. Once the water is boiling, arrange the dumplings in the basket. Cover with the lid and steam for 8 minutes. You can serve the dumplings straight out of the basket or transfer to a serving platter to continue steaming more dumplings. Serve with your favorite soy sauce, chili oil, or black vinegar (or all the above).

Recipe notes:

• When selecting salmon, I prefer farm raised salmon for this recipe because of the slightly higher fat content of farm raised salmon. Also, if your fish counter has “salmon trim” available, that is perfect and also typically much cheaper than a pretty filet of salmon.