Happy Chinese New Year, everyone! As part of a traditional New Year’s celebration, we cook and eat dumplings on New Year’s Eve. This is a northern Chinese custom and my family has been practicing it for generations. This year, we’re cooking lamb dumplings to celebrate the year of the sheep! In addition to representing luck and wealth, dumplings with different fillings have their own special meanings. As for lamb dumplings, the Chinese pronunciation of “lamb” sounds like “ocean”. So lamb dumplings will bring you money as vast as the sea in the coming new year. Hop on over to read the post and get a feeling of the big festival currently going on here in China!
Since I started posting lamb recipes this year, I have had so many people tell me that they don’t associate lamb with Chinese cuisine. This might be true for southern Chinese cooking, but in the northern, western, and central part of the country, lamb is an important source of protein and one of the most popular meats. If I had to guess, I’d say that the rank of popularity for various meats in northern China would be: pork, lamb, chicken, then beef. I am really proud of this recipe, because the finished dumplings are so tender and soupy. Have you ever tried Shanghai soup dumplings (xiao long bao, 小笼包), the one filled with a savory broth that tastes even better than the filling itself? The recipe here can create a very similar texture to that of xiao long bao!
If you read my last post, you already understand why boiled dumplings are so important to us, and why we prefer them to any other type of dumpling. However, if you prefer to cook potstickers or even meat pies, you can use this filling for those as well.
Cooking notes
Choose a tender cut of lamb with 20-30% fat. This will keep the filling tender and moist. Sichuan peppercorn is a must. It brings out the greatness of the lamb. Cook the carrot beforehand, so it will be tender and release a sweet flavor. Do NOT squeeze the water out of the zucchini. We will utilize its moisture to create a soupy filling. Blend in the zucchini at the end. The zucchini will start to lose water and make the filling watery if mixed in too early. Wrap and cook (or freeze) dumplings as soon as possible. The moisture will start to seep into the dough, which will cause the dumplings to fall apart during cooking. If you are cooking a big batch of dumplings, you can wrap the dumplings in small batches and freeze them immediately after wrapping. You can cook them whenever you want, before serving the meal. Take extra care to seal the dumplings tightly if you’re planning on boiling the dumplings. Refer to this post to get more information on how to deal with boiled dumplings.
If you’ve never heard of Sichuan peppercorn, it is one of the most important ingredients in authentic Sichuan cooking. It has a pungent, lemony, and numbing flavor. It goes great with lamb dishes, as it eliminates the raw flavor of the meat and brings out its great taste. If you cannot find Sichuan peppercorns at your local grocery store, you can purchase them from my partner’s store – The Mala Market. They sell the freshest Sichuan peppercorn and they truly makes your dish stand out. I wish you all a Happy Chinese New Year!
More delicious dumpling recipes
How to Make Chinese Dumplings – The Ultimate Guide How to Make Chinese Dumpling Sauce How to Make Steamed Dumplings from Scratch Mom’s Best Pork Dumplings with Cabbage Chinese Beef Dumplings Homemade Vegan Dumplings Carrot Dumplings
If you give this recipe a try, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it (once you’ve tried it), take a picture and tag it @omnivorescookbook on Instagram! I’d love to see what you come up with.
