Bangkok’s famous kanom jeeb dumplings

These little dumplings are inspired by the famous ‘kanom jeeb’ pork dumplings made by Uncle Xia, one of the most iconic street food vendors in Bangkok’s Chinatown.

Credit: Sippakorn Wongthanapa

• makes

  50

• prep

  14 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp whole white peppercorns
• 300 g pork mince
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp chicken stock
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp Thai soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• ½ tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion
• 50 sheets gyoza or wonton wrappers
• 2 tbsp crispy fried garlic
• Mild mustard, to serve

Dipping sauce

• 4 tbsp Thai soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• ½ tsp Thai black soy sauce (or kecap manis)
• ¼ tsp white sugar

Instructions

1. Soak the mushrooms and dried shrimp in separate bowls of warm water for 10 minutes. Drain separately and set aside. 
2. Meanwhile, use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic and peppercorns into a rough paste.
3. To make the dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 
4. Once the mushrooms have rehydrated, use a knife or a pair of kitchen scissors to remove and discard the stems. Finely chop the mushrooms and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Add the drained dried shrimp, pork mince, egg, stock, cornflour, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce and salt. Process for 1 minute or until well combined and the mixture is sticky to the touch. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the spring onion.
5. Use a 6.5 cm diameter cookie cutter to stamp rounds out of the dumpling wrappers. To form the dumplings, place a wrapper in the palm of your hand. Place a heaped teaspoon of the filling into the centre. Use your fingers and palm to ‘squish’ and shape the wrapper and filling into a small open-topped dumpling (the same shape as traditional siu mai dumplings).
6. Cook the dumplings in a steamer lined with perforated baking paper for 12 minutes or until just cooked through.
7. To serve, transfer the dumplings to a platter. Sprinkle with the fried garlic. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce and mild mustard.

Notes

• Save the dumpling wrapper off-cuts in a bag in the freezer and use them as ‘noodles’ for your next Asian soup.
• If you don’t use all the dumplings at once, freeze them for up to 2 months. They can be steamed from frozen (add 5 minutes to the steaming time).
• Fried garlic is available in the Asian section of most supermarkets or from an Asian grocer.

Watch how to make this recipe in Episode 5 of Marion Grasby's Flavours Of Heart & Home streaming free on SBS On Demand.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.