Chaozhou Dumplings 粉果 Fan Gwo

Growing up, breakfast has often been savory dishes. It wasn’t unusual for us to have homemade 角仔 gok jai for breakfast. My mom would make these large steamed dumplings, but through all these years, I never knew until now that this was a regional name that only 中山 Zhongshan folks call them by that. Outside of 中山 Zhongshan, they’re called 粉果 fan gwo or 潮州粉果 chiu jau fan gwo or translated as Chaozhou style dumplings. They’re steamed and commonly found in dim sum restaurants. 

According to my parents, if you ask for 角仔 gok jai outside of 中山 Zhongshan people won’t know what you’re talking about. Either that, or they’ll get confused with 油角仔 yau gok jai which shares the same half-moon shape, but is made with a flour based batter and they are deep fried. I’ll still continue to call them 角仔 gok jai if you talk to me, but for the sake of this recipe and to prevent confusion, I’ll refer to them as 粉果 fan gwo. They also told me that in 潮州 Chaozhou, they commonly use peanuts in their filling where as 中山 Zhongshan uses 虾米 ha mai (dried shrimp) in their version.

I had a hard time thinking how to translate the name of this dish. It’s already clear that what my parents make is going to be a Zhongshan variation of a Chaozhou dish. Calling it 粉果 fan gwo is completely fine in Mandarin or any dialect of Cantonese, but just that part of the name doesn’t translate well into English since that would literally mean flour fruit. Maybe calling it Chaozhou dumplings is best in English for those unfamiliar with any Chinese language.

Traditionally, the dough is rolled out to a disk, but my mom has a trick of using a tortilla press that’s been lined with seran wrap. There’s no need to flour or to oil it and it works great! If you have the time to make these, they’re really delicious and don’t fret too much if you have any leftovers. They can be refrigerated so long as they’re covered in plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out and they should be steamed again the next time you eat them.

FILLING RECIPE:

Pork, diced small
虾米 ha mai (dried shrimp), rinsed and diced (optional)
Wood ear mushrooms, soaked and mincedWater chestnuts or jicama, peeled and minced
榨菜 ja choy (pickled mustard tuber)Scallions, thinly sliced
Salt
Sugar
Chicken bouillon
White pepper
Corn starch
Oyster sauce

Prepare all your ingredients and set each aside. 

The pork and dried shrimp together in a single bowl. Meat should be used sparingly in this and be thought more as a seasoning. The desired texture of these dumplings should be more heavily from the wood ear mushrooms and water chestnuts or jicama, giving a springy, bouncy, and crisp texture with each bite. The rest is up to you for amounts, my mom says you don’t have to be too specific.

For wood ear mushrooms, they are likely dried. Soak for 45 - 60 minutes until they are restored. Bring a pot of water to a boil and blanch them for about 1 minute to clean them. Mince and set aside.

Rinse and peel the water chestnuts or jicama and set aside.

Mince the 榨菜 ja choy (pickled mustard tuber) and soak for at least 15 minutes to draw out the salt from the preservation process of making them. Set aside.

Rinse and thinly slice scallions and set aside.

It is important to season this lightly and to keep in mind that 榨菜 ja choy (pickled mustard tuber) will still be salty. The water chestnuts or jicama also has a natural sweetness to them, so they add flavor to the filling.

In the bowl of the meat, season with salt, sugar, chicken bouillon, white pepper, and corn starch for stir frying. 

In a wok over medium-high heat, when the wok is hot add some neutral oil to it. Stir fry the meat until it is mostly cooked and set aside. 

Add stir fry the water chestnuts or jicama first and add the wood ear mushrooms next. When they are cooked, add the mostly cooked pork mixture back in the wok. Season again, but this time, very lightly, with some salt and oyster sauce. 

When everything is cooked, add the scallions in and toss for about 15 seconds in the wok. 

Remove from wok and set aside. This filling can also be frozen for future use after being cooled.

DOUGH INSTRUCTIONS:

16 oz bag of 蝦餃粉 ha gaau fan (store bought pre-mixed 蝦餃 ha gaau flour)
2 cups of water (you will not use all of it)

Boil the 2 cups of water and let this cool on the side for at least 10 minutes. The water should be hot, but you will need to handle it. 

Place flour in a large mixing bowl. Slowly add 1 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp of hot water. Use chopsticks or a rice paddle to mix the dough when the water is very hot. You may need to wait at this step for a few minutes at a time. This step, you are bringing the water and flour together to try and remove as much lumps as possible.

When you can handle the dough, but it is still warm, use the back of your palm to knead the dough in a pressing motion. Place the bowl directly in front of you and with the dough centered in front of you, push with the heel of your palm into the dough and away. Knead the dough this way while rotating the bowl, occasionally scraping the bottom of the bowl for about 3 minutes. 

Separate out into balls and roll them in your palms. Make about 20 of them. 

Line a tortilla press with saran wrap. 

Use the tortilla press to press out disks about 1/8 inch thick. The dough should not be too thin otherwise it will break when you are stuffing them.

Place some of the filling in the dough, one at a time. Squeeze the edges to seal it and make a half-moon shape. If you want to, use your thumbs to crimp them. *Refer to video below for technique.

Meanwhile, heat a large pot or wok with water and bring this to a boil over high heat. Set a steaming rack in it.

Oil a plate and set aside. 

Place filled 粉果 fan gwo on the plate, making sure to leave some space between each of them on the plate. They will expand a little bit when they are steamed.

Steam for about 8 minutes over high or until the skin is transparent.

Use a wet rice paddy and a wet hand to transfer them to a plate. The water from the wet rice paddy and your hands will help prevent the 粉果 fan gwo from sticking.

It is good to let them rest for a few minutes before eating them. When they are very hot, the skin can be a bit too sticky and it’s nicer when they are warm and not very hot.

After cooking, they can be covered and stored in the fridge and reheated by steaming again.