Goldfish Dumplings Recipe
Growing up, our parents always warned us to never play with our food because it was bad manners. But, there's a time and a place for everything. Between rolling out, dying the dough, and making dough eyes for this goldfish dumplings recipe, it almost seems like a recipe combined with an art project. You will undoubtedly have fun making this dish, and it's such a fun way to surprise your kids or dinner guests.
Recipe developer Stephanie Rapone came up with this delicious (and cute) dumpling recipe that will put a smile on the face of anyone who eats it. "This is a fun way to make dumplings more interesting and special. I love that they are easy to form with this folding method," Rapone notes. She also shares whether or not it would be easy for a beginner. "If you've never worked with any sort of dough before, it can be a bit of a challenge, but I would say it's a good starter recipe for making any sort of filled dough recipe (ravioli, dumplings, etc.) and on the easier side relatively speaking." Rapone shares.
Keep reading to find out how to make these fantastic goldfish dumplings.
Gather the ingredients for these delicious goldfish dumplings
You will only need a handful of ingredients to make this recipe, including boiling water, which you should already have at home. Be sure to also grab all-purpose flour, shrimp, ground pork, kosher salt, ginger paste, garlic paste, green onion, soy sauce, yellow food coloring, red food coloring, and black gel food coloring.
Once you have those things, you can get started on these wonderful goldfish dumplings.
Add flour to a food processor
For this step, you will need a food processor. Add the flour to the bowl of the food processor and, separately, measure out one cup of boiling water. Turn on the food processor and then add the boiling water over the flour.
Continue pulsing for 30-45 seconds until a dough ball forms.
Roll the dough
Find a clean work surface in your kitchen and add a dusting of flour to it. Then, plop the dough on the floured surface and knead it with your hand, continuing to knead until the dough gets nice and smooth. This should take about 3 minutes or so.
Next, form a dough ball and wrap it in plastic. Set the ball to the side for 30 minutes to rest at room temperature.
Create the dumpling filling
Next, finely chop your shrimp. Add the shrimp pieces to a medium-sized bowl and then add the pork. Now, you can add the salt, ginger paste, garlic paste, green onion, and soy sauce to the filling mixture. Use a fork to combine all of the ingredients.
Set the bowl to the side.
Add food coloring to the dough
Grab a baking sheet and line it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Add a little flour to the surface and set to the side. Then, prepare your steamer by lining it with parchment paper and set aside.
Take your rested dough and cut it into quarters. Wrap 3 of those pieces in plastic wrap while you break off a 1-inch ball from the unwrapped piece of dough. Add a little black food coloring gel to the 1-inch dough ball and knead until the dough turns black. Roll the dough out flat and use a straw to cut out black circles for the goldfish's eyes. Wrap the reminder of the dough in plastic wrap and set aside. Then, break off another 1-inch ball from the same uncolored dough and add the yellow and red (or orange) food coloring. Knead until smooth.
Roll the dough into a log
Unwrap the remaining dough and take the uncolored dough and roll each quarter into a 4 -6 inch log. Then, use your hands to flatten each dough log, tear off some orange pieces of dough, and press them into the flattened dough logs. Fold over until the color appears marbled, and then repeat the process for the other 3 pieces.
Next, roll each folded dough piece into an 8-inch log and then cut in half. Once you do that, cut each of those pieces in half and then in half again to get 8 even pieces per dough log. Repeat the process with each dough quarter until you have 32 pieces of dough.
Roll the dough into semicircles and fill
Roll each piece of dough into a 3-3 ½ inch wide semicircle and place them on the cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap so that the dough doesn't dry out. Then, grab a cup of water and place it near your workstation, which will help "glue" the dough together. "Make sure to roll the dough out pretty thin, as with this folding technique, the dough gets doubled on itself and can get a little thick and overly chewy by the end," Rapone notes.
For the filling, measure out 1 teaspoon of the shrimp and pork filling, and place it in the center of the wrapper. Fold the rounded edge over the filling to where it touches the straight edge. If you need to, you can use water to help seal it. Then, take one of the pointed outer edges and fold it towards the middle at an angle to look like a fish fin. Repeat with the other side.
Add the eyes and fins to the goldfish dumplings
Use your fingers to pinch the space between the filling and the fins together. Then, use the water as glue to add the black eyes to each of the dumplings. With a chopstick or something similar, create an O-shaped divot for the mouth. Now, it should start looking more like a fish.
Set each one in the parchment-lined steamer.
Steam and serve
Turn the heat to medium, cover, and steam the dumplings for 5-6 minutes. Then, you can serve and enjoy. These cute dumplings make a great starter or side to a main course. "I love these dumplings with some simple chicken lettuce wraps to go along with them," Rapone suggests. We also think that they would go well with a bowl of fried rice or noodles.
Be sure to enjoy these right away. "I wouldn't try to enjoy leftovers of these dumplings, as the dough gets tough when you try to reheat them."
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting work surface
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1 pound deveined shrimp
- ½ pound ground pork
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- 1 green onion, light and dark green parts finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce, plus more for serving
- 3 drops yellow and red gel food coloring (or orange)
- 3 drops black gel food coloring
- Add the flour to the food processor.
- Measure 1 cup of boiling water, and with the processor running, add the boiling water. Process until a dough ball forms (about 30 to 45 seconds).
- Lightly dust a work surface with flour and dump the dough onto it, kneading it for 3 minutes until smooth.
- Form a dough ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and set it aside to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Finely chop the shrimp and add to a medium bowl. Add the pork, salt, ginger paste, garlic paste, green onion, and soy sauce. Mix with a fork.
- To make the dumpling wrappers, line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Dust lightly with flour and set aside. Prepare your steamer by lining with parchment paper.
- Unwrap the rested dough, and cut it into quarters. Cover 3 of the pieces with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Take the unwrapped dough quarter and break off enough to make a 1-inch ball. Using the black food gel, add a little to the ball and knead until the whole thing is black. Roll out, then use a straw to cut out black circles for the eyes. Wrap the reminder of the dough in plastic wrap and set aside.
- Break off another 1-inch ball off of the same dough quarter. Add the yellow and red, or orange, food coloring, and knead until smooth.
- Unwrap the remaining dough pieces and roll the uncolored dough quarters each into a log about 4-6 inches long. Flatten slightly. Pinch off pieces of the orange dough and press them into the plain dough. Fold it over on itself and repeat the process for each quarter piece.
- Then, roll each dough quarter into a log about 8 inches long. Cut each log in half, then cut each piece in half, and then in half again to get 8 even pieces per log or 32 pieces total.
- Roll each piece into a 3-3 ½" semicircle and place on the cookie sheet, covering loosely with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.
- Note: Keep a small bowl of water nearby to use as a "glue" when you are trying to get two sections of dumplings to stick to each other and form a strong seal.
- To make the dumplings, use about 1 teaspoon of filling and place in the center on a wrapper.
- Fold the rounded edge up over the filling to touch the straight edge, and seal using water if necessary.
- Take one of the pointed edges and fold it over the middle at an angle, so it hangs over the middle like a fish fin. Repeat with the other side.
- Pinch together the space between the filling and fins.
- Use water as "glue" and add the eyes. Then, use a chopstick to create a little O-shaped divot for the mouth.
- Set aside on your parchment-lined steamer.
- Once you have made your dumplings, steam them for 5-6 minutes over medium heat.
- Dip in soy sauce and enjoy!
| Calories per Serving | 67 |
| Total Fat | 1.7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0.6 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 27.9 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 7.5 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.3 g |
| Total Sugars | 0.0 g |
| Sodium | 59.9 mg |
| Protein | 5.1 g |
