Gluten-Free Pot Stickers Recipe

A number of people have asked me about gluten-free Asian dumplings, including Shauna of the popular Glutenfreegirl blog. It’s funny because when I planned the Asian Dumplings recipe collection, I designed it so that about half of the recipes were based on dough rendered from readily available all-purpose flour from the supermarket. My goal was to inspire people to use regular supermarket ingredients and some old-fashioned Asian know-how to make authentic dumplings. There are many rice-based dumpling recipes in Asian Dumplings, but the gluten-free and celiac disease queries got me thinking about how I could make more of my recipes accessible to people who are allergic to wheat gluten.

I headed to my health food market last week and scanned the flour aisle. Then I went to Whole Foods and did the same. What I discovered was Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour, made from a mixture of various kinds of bean flour and starches. With the addition of some xantham gum, a natural food additive that creates viscosity and flexibility in the dough, the dumpling wrappers functioned fine. 

I’m not an expert on gluten-free and celiac cooking, but I do know dumplings. So I gave it a whirl and made a basic dumpling dough from:

10 ounces (2 cups) Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Baking Flour*
2 teaspoons xantham gum *
3/4 cup just-boiled water (let the bubbles subside before using)

Read “Weigh Your Options, Use a Kitchen Scale” if you’re not weighing your flour!
* Available at many health food markets

Just like the Basic Dumpling Dough recipe on page 22 in Asian Dumplings, you can use the food processor to make the dough or do it by hand. I did it by hand, so I combined the flour and xantham gum in a bowl, made a well in the center, and then stirred in the hot water. There’s no elasticity and a beany smell emanated from the dough. I just kept kneading to work the dough together into a relatively smooth ball (it was not baby skin smooth). You may have to work the dough by hand if you use the processor to combine everything.

Regardless of method, put the dough into a zip-top bag and let it sit for 30 minutes to rest and soften. The dough can be refrigerated overnight and returned to room temperature before rolling out the wrappers, filling, and shaping. The yield was 1 pound.

Rolling out gluten-free dumpling wrappers
Because there’s no stretch in this dough, I couldn’t pull it around the filling as I would with dough made from all-purpose flour. Given that, instead of 32 wrappers, I formed 24 wrappers, making them each between 3 1/4 and 3 1/2 inches wide. Just like normal, I cut them into scallop-like shapes, flattened them into disks with a light coating of Bob’s flour, then pressed them with the tortilla press. Then I used the wooden dowel rolling pin to roll out each wrapper, with a little belly in the center. I rolled the wrappers in 4 batches and covered them with a dish towel to prevent drying. See the how-to video on rolling out Asian dumpling wrappers if you need assistance.

 

Filling and shaping the gluten-free dumplings

I put a generous 1 tablespoon of the pork and napa cabbage water dumpling filling (page 31) in the center and close up the wrapper into a half moon, sealing well. No water was needed as the wrapper was plenty moist. I set each dumpling on its fold and scrunched up the edge or made tiny pleats in the center to create pea pods. The goal was to get the dumpling to sit up. Other dumpling shapes that had big pleats made the dough too thick so I stuck with the half moon.

(Note: You can use whatever filling that you’d like from the first chapter of Asian dumplings – except the filling for Shanghai soup dumplings.)

Cooking the gluten-free dumplings
I tried boiling and pan-frying the dumplings. The pan-frying – done Korean style where 2 of the 3 sides are browned – proved much tastier as the nuttiness of the bean-based gluten-free flour was highlighted. Just follow the cooking instructions on page 46 for Korean meat and vegetable dumplings (gun mandu). 

My conclusion
The resulting gluten-free pot stickers had an earthy, hearty quality that hit the spot on these cold days of winter. We enjoyed them with a dipping sauce of Chinkiang vinegar, ginger, chile oil and soy sauce. 

I wouldn’t say that these gluten-free dumpling wrappers were an equal substitute for the regular wrappers – but rather just a different kind of wrapper. Asian dumplings employ many kinds of carbohydrates in the wrappers so I considered this one just another kind of wrapper. They are at their best when pan-fried into gluten-free pot stickers.  Try it out and let me know your thoughts. I didn’t steam them but maybe you will?

One more thing . . . When making gluten-free Asian food, do check the label of condiments such as soy sauce to make sure that it doesn’t contain wheat. Tamari is often wheat-free in the US.

If you are sensitive to gluten, jump over to Vietworldkitchen.com for a post on gluten-free Asian ingredients. 

Comments

[OysterCulture]

I know so many people with gluten intolerances that this sounds like the perfect recipe to share. I've learned through them how hard it can be to find good recipes. I'm in the process of moving, and seeing all these wonderful recipes has me itching to unpack my kitchen.

[Jean Layton]

Thank you for converting this recipe to gluten-free. It helps a lot to have more options.

[Andrea Nguyen]

You're welcome. I hope to carve out some time to experiment a little more with gluten-free dumplings!!

[Ann Flaherty]

Thanks so much for the gluten free options. Our family has missed dumplings and pot stickers since learning about Celiac and changing our diet. When my GF grandson visits this week, I'll be sure to make these for him!

[Katie Anderson]

Thank you for the gluten free recipe. I bought your book and was going to experiment myself with pot stickers dough. This will save me time and mistakes for sure!

[kamran siddiqi]

Looks lovely Andrea! I have been so intrigued by the whole gluten-free "fad." I'll have to try this out! BTW, love your book and love it. Also added you to my blogroll! :)

[Andrea Nguyen]

You're welcome, everyone. I'm delighted to know of your interest. It'll prompt me to tinker a little more with gluten-free dumplings...! Enjoy.

[Drae]

@ Katie. It's not just a fad. For many people, sticking to a gluten free diet is an absolute must. People that have celiac disease become very ill when they ingest gluten. It is an autoimmune disease: the body produces antibodies that destroy the villi in the small intestine. No villi; no absorption of nutrients, calories, minerals, or vitamins. It also causes widespread inflammation in the body. It can also cause intestinal lymphoma later in life if a celiac refuses to eat gluten free. An 1/8 tsp is enough to trigger a reaction.
FWIW, I have no idea of why anyone would want to eat gluten free if they didn't have to; I sneak away from my family to eat stuff all the time. At home, it's strictly GF--DH and 3 out of 4 kids have celiac disease.
It is a very, very hard diet to follow!

Thank you for the dumpling recipe! Now if I could only make some GF lumpia wrappers...got any suggestions?

[Andrea Nguyen]

Drae -- Thanks for sharing your personal insights. I greatly appreciate them.

GF lumpia wrappers? Lumpia wrappers unfortunately depend on gluten. However, why don't you try rice paper and make cha gio? Info on rice paper is on my other site:

http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/essentials-rice-paper/

Best, Andrea

[Zanne]

I was so glad to see this thread. After living in San Francisco for many years, I was used to very good Asian food. I am now in Virginia and have since gone GF. I miss potstickers and pan fried noodles, among other things. I would like to make a suggestion on GF flour. I have just tried Jules GF all-purp. flour to make spaetzle. The dough had an elasticity to it that seemed just as I remembered when I used to make these with wheat flour. Jules' flour is a combination of 4 different flours plus Expandex (which is a tapioca product) which gives elasticity & xantham gum. But no bean flour in it. The spaetzle were "stretchy" when I dropped them into the water and doubled in size as expected.
I have your book on a wish list because I didn't think I could have GF wrappers. I now can get the book since I think I can make gyoza/potsticker wrappers. Of course, it would be even better if someone made these for retail sale - I don't relish making my own. I have enough substitutes to make now, without adding to the list :-} BTW, San J brand has a really good GF Tamari sauce. I've been using it for years.
Thanks

[Jen]

I can't thank you enough for this recipe. I am used to eating Chinese food at least twice a week and since being on a naturopath prescribed diet - no wheat, no egg, no dairy - I have not had any for over 2 months.I miss dumplings more than anyone can understand.

My husband is a chef so he made the dough, then put it through the pasta roller to get it nice and thin. We cut the dough with a circle cutter and they were really easy to work with.

We boiled then panfried them and they were great. Totally satisfied my dumpling craving.

Thank you!

[Andrea Nguyen]

Jen: You're so very welcome. That's fabulous that you put the dough through the pasta machine. Excellent idea!

[Rob Sanchez]

Thank you so much! I was diagnosed with Celiac's a month ago and I've been having trouble finding substitutes for things I love. I can't wait to try out this recipe.

[Upsorn]

Andria,

I bought your book, “Asian Dumplings”. I should have it within 2-5 days. I can’t wait to experiment all of your recipes. I told my husband that once I’m finished with your book he won’t have the dumplings craving for a loooooong time.

Thank you,
Upsorn

[zeke]

We do all know that Xanthan Gum is a slimy gel produced by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris,
which causes black rot on cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower
and broccoli. The slime protects the bacterium from attack by
viruses, and prevents it from drying out.
I don't know about you people but I don't feel like ingesting black mold poop.
Sorry to spoil the dumpling party:(
Also despite the other fact it is derived from Gentically Modified Corn

ref.)http://onibasu.com/archives/nn/82280.html
ref.)http://www.alaskawellness.com/nov-dec03/healthyfood.htm

[Andrea Nguyen]

Zeke -- you may want to read the ingredient label of foods you eat carefully. Xanthan gum is a widely used ingredient in food processing. There's mold in many things, for example, cheese.

Plus, if you were a gluten-free person, you may be fine with it. Is all of xantham gum derived from GMO corn? The links you provided point to a potential hazard of eating xantham gum but how much of it do you have to eat and how often? Your links are interesting but could have been more helpful with better data and interpretation.

[zeke]

Yes I do read labels and the find out what it is in them. Like Xanthan Gum being derived from black mold.
Even though it's widely used is never a good enough reason to eat something. They put MSG in everything also does that mean thats safe for me too.
There is mold and cheese but there is also casiene in it which has Opiates hiding inside it with the equivalency of taking a small hit of heroin, I don't think thats suppose to be good for me either.

ref.)http://www.healthdiaries.com/blogs/vegetarianblues/archives/2004/09/casein_and_cheese_more_addictive_than_chocolate.html

[zeke]

If you are a Gluten Free person such as myself and are fine with eating black mold poop mixed with sugar, then to each his own and good luck.
But if you don't want to, instead of Xanthan, you could use Guar Gum which is made from dried and powdered legumes, it is half the price of xanthan gum and it has health benefits such as lowering cholesteral and helps the digestive tract.
http://www.zhion.com/phytonutrients/Guar_gum.html

[zeke]

As for how much of poison is too much poison. Well I would hope people wouldn't think that they could get away with eating just a little poison.
Also I am sorry the articles are not well enough interpretated for you but I am not a doctor or scientist, heck I didn't even go to one day of highschool. So if I can read the articles and interprate them I am sure you and or anyones else can do the same.
It's just a matter of if you care enough and if you are women or man enough to act on what you care about.
Sorry for filling up your comment area but you brought up a lot of points that needed to be addressed.
Good Day and What Is Is

[Andrea @ Become a Consultant Blog]

Thank you for this recipe! I resorted to making my celiac kid potstickers using rice wrappers tonight. (They were tasty and I hope they make him happy.) But your recipe is inspiring and that will be my next attempt.

BTW, guar gum is only considered safe in very small amounts and is not considered safe for pregnant and nursing women or for anyone who has had intestinal surgery or IBD. You should also keep the powder out of reach of children as ingestion can lead to blockage of the esophagus. (That's why the FDA banned it for a long time, although it was adults with the choking.)

[Lemonade Diet Pills]

Looks tasty! I have to make gluten free stuff as my girlfriend cant eat it. Do you have any more gluten free recipes?

[Jordan Spiz'ike]

Unbelievable. Just simply unbelievable.

[Yoon]

Does anyone know of who sells pre-made gluten free dumpling skins?

Making your own wrappers sounds like it will take more time than I have. Before I realized I was allergic to gluten I would make a whole winter's supply of dumplings in one day. But if I have to make the dough I just don't think I could get through it!

[Careprost]

Hola,Ha hecho un trabajo muy bueno. Hay muchas personas en busca de eso ahora van a encontrar suficientes fuentes por tus consejos.espera para obtener más consejos acerca de que

[Kamagra Oral Jelly]

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