These delicious fried rice paper dumplings are the perfect appetizer for entertaining! They have a wickedly satisfying contrast of chewy and crispy textures. The tofu-veggie filling is simple to prepare, balanced and nutritious. Try it for yourself and find out why this viral TikTok dumpling hack is so popular!
Why You’ll Love Rice Paper Dumplings
- Quick and easy to shape compared to regular dumplings with more intricate folding patterns
- Fun to make with kids
- Ultra satisfying texture – rice paper is both a little chewy but also turns bubbly and crispy when fried
- Healthy and nutritious – the filling is actually a very balanced mix of extra firm tofu for protein, colorful vegetables like red cabbage and carrot, plus a little fat from vegetable oils like sesame which will help keep you feeling full
Ingredients
The cool thing is that you don’t actually need that many ingredients to make rice paper dumplings, and if you live in a major city, you can probably find everything in the Asian section of your local supermarket. Here’s a shopping list of all the ingredients you’ll need to make rice paper dumplings:
- Rice paper sheets
- Extra firm tofu
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Soy sauce
- Roasted sesame oil – make sure to get roasted not just regular sesame oil for a rich, toasted flavour
- Red cabbage
- Carrot
- Green onions
- Fresh cilantro (coriander)
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Sesame seeds, to garnish
Equipment
Mandolin – to make the filling for the dumplings, you need to very finely shred the peeled carrots and red cabbage. I highly recommend using a mandolin as it is much less effort than chopping with a knife, and you’ll be able to get a very fine shred that you just can’t achieve with a knife. I use the Benriner mandoline which seems to be very popular with YouTube foodies and in my experience it’s been very reliable and it’s affordable too. If you don’t have a mandolin, you can still make this recipe! Try to julienne the carrots as finely as possible (here is a good YouTube tutorial on how to julienne a carrot) and also slice the cabbage as finely as you can. When cooking, you will need to fry the veggies for a few minutes longer to soften them.
Nonstick frypan or skillet – a non-stick frypan makes it so much easier to lightly fry these dumplings without using excess oil. It’s not a necessity, but more of a personal preference.
How to Make Rice Paper Dumplings
It is very easy to make rice paper dumplings.
Step One: Lightly fry filling ingredients for a few minutes, including tofu, ginger, garlic and vegetables. Add soy sauce and sesame oil for flavor.
Step Two: Wet a rice paper sheet in hot water, then add about 1/4 cup of the filling mixture to the center. Top with a few fresh cilantro leaves and some green onion. Fold in the sides on all sides to make a square dumpling.
Step Three: Wet a second rice paper sheet and place it onto a clean chopping board. Place the first dumpling, layered side facing down, into the center of the rice paper sheet. Fold all the sides over again so it is a double-wrapped dumpling.
Step Four: Heat vegetable oil in a medium to large frypan over medium heat. Once hot, add 3-4 dumplings and pan fry on both sides until crispy with light golden highlights.
Step Five: Serve immediately, garnishing with coriander leaves, sesame seeds and a side of soy sauce for dipping.
I hope you love these super easy dumplings! They are going to be on repeat at our house – so tasty and filling. If you like them I’d be super grateful if you could give them a star rating and review in the comments below 🙂 you can also take a snap and tag me on Instagram and I will reshare your posts to stories 🙂
Rice Paper Dumplings
Equipment
- 1 mandolin
- 1 fry pan
- 1 Air fryer optional
Ingredients
- 300 g extra firm tofu
- 2 cups red cabbage finely shredded
- 2 medium carrots peeled and finely shredded
- 6 stalks green onions sliced, (spring onions)
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger grated
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp roasted sesame oil
- 16 sheets rice paper
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves
- vegetable oil for frying
To serve
- fresh coriander leaves
- sesame seeds
- soy sauce
Instructions
- Heat frypan over medium-high heat with a drizzle of vegetable oil. Add crumbled tofu and pan fry for 3-4 minutes until it has some golden highlights.
- Add ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil and cook, stirring for 2 minutes.
- Add carrot and cabbage. Cook, stirring for 3 minutes. Lastly, add ¾ of the spring onion. Stir for 1 minute, then turn off heat.
- Fill a medium size bowl with hot water. Dip each rice paper sheet in the water for about 20 seconds until it begins to soften.
- Place the rice paper sheet onto a chopping board, then fill with about ¼ cup of the filling. Sprinkle with some spring onion and fresh coriander, then fold all sides so it is a square.
- Wet a second rice paper sheet, and place the dumpling, folded side down, into the centre. Wrap the dumpling in the second sheet of rice paper and place onto a plate.
- Fry pan option: Once all filling is used, wipe down the fry pan. Return it to the stove and add 1 tbsp vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, place the dumplings into the pan 3-4 at a time, being careful that they don’t touch (otherwise they will stick together). Fry on each side for 2-3 minutes or until rice paper bubbles and turns crispy, with light golden highlights. Repeat until all dumplings have been fried, adding extra vegetable oil for frying if needed.
- Air fryer option: Lightly brush your air fryer basket with vegetable oil, then Place the dumplings into the air fryer, making sure they are not touching. Lightly brush the tops with vegetable oil, then air fry at 375°F / 190°C for 15 minutes, flipping half way through. They will be white, crispy and puff up, with some very light golden highlights.
- Serve immediately with soy sauce on the side. Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds, extra coriander leaves.
Leave a Reply