Healthy Nibbles

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Red Curry Tofu Dumplings

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These red curry tofu dumplings are great for parties or dinner! Serve them with chili oil or sweet chili sauce. For the pleating, refer to the video and photos below.

Red Curry Tofu Dumplings - pan-fried vegan dumplings with step-by-step photos

Thank you to Nugget Markets for sponsoring this post!

I don’t always have a game plan when I go to the grocery store. Sure, I may have a list of items to buy, but I love the process of meandering through the aisles to see if anything piques my interest. My penchant for wandering around is the precise reason why my husband hates grocery shopping with me. I can’t help myself.

Nugget Markets is designed for shoppers like me who like to peruse. I particularly love their produce section because every time I walk through, I feel as if I’m greeted by a sea of bright colors. Everything looks so inviting and fresh, and I can’t help but load up my cart with fruits and vegetables. I kid you not, I spend at least 15 minutes in that corner of the market every time I shop.

Vegan Dumplings with Tofu

 

I recently met with the Director of Produce at Nugget Markets, Adam, who was kind enough to sit with me and talk more about how they source and stock their produce. First and foremost, Nugget Markets strives to provide fresh, quality, seasonal produce for its customers. They receive shipments at least several times a week to ensure fresh produce in the stores.

Every single time I walk into Nugget, I’ll see one or two associates replenishing the stock. To reduce waste, blemished produce are set aside in large compost bins that will be picked up and repurposed for agricultural use. Adam also shared that he is constantly looking for new produce to feature in his stores. That’s great for food enthusiasts like me. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the wide range of produce I can find, including fresh turmeric, napa cabbage, tomatillos, and asian eggplant.

Nugget Markets even carries the ingredients I need to make dumplings! You can find all the items you need to make these red curry tofu dumplings at Nugget.

WATCH HOW TO PLEAT TOFU DUMPLINGS

STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS FOR THE TOFU DUMPLINGS

step-by-step photos on how to make braided pleat

Print

Red Curry Tofu Dumplings

Braided Red Curry Tofu Dumplings

★★★★★

5 from 5 reviews

You can freeze these dumplings! Line the finished dumplings on plates or a baking sheet and stick them right into the freezer. After the dumplings harden, transfer them to freezer bags. When you are ready to cook the dumplings, stick them directly onto the pan. There is no need to defrost the dumplings. 

  • Author: Lisa Lin
  • Prep Time: 1 hour
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
  • Yield: 40 to 50 dumplings 1x
Scale

Ingredients

  • 14-ounce package of firm tofu
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, plus more for frying dumplings
  • 1/3 cup chopped shallots
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups finely sliced napa cabbage
  • 2 scallions, finely sliced
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons red curry paste
  • 2 tablespoons coconut milk
  • 40 to 50 round dumpling wrappers
  • water for wrapping dumplings, plus more for cooking

Dipping Sauce

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons sugar

Instructions

  1. Press the tofu: Drain the tofu from the package and wrap the tofu with a layer of paper towels. Place the block of tofu on top of a plate and place a small stack of plates over the tofu. Let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Unwrap the tofu block and divide it into 2 pieces. Crumble the tofu by squeezing it in your hands. Set the crumbled tofu aside.
  2. Cook the filling: Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan. Add the shallots and cook for 2 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook a minute more. Next, add the cabbage and scallions and cook until the cabbage starts to wilt, about 2 minutes. Transfer the tofu to the pan. Add the salt, red curry paste, and coconut milk to the pan, and stir to coat the tofu and vegetables. Turn off the heat. Transfer the filling to a large bowl and let it cool for 15 minutes.
  3. Make the dipping sauce: Mix the dipping sauce ingredients together, until the sugar dissolves. Set the dipping sauce aside.
  4. Prep the dumpling-making station: Fill a small bowl with water for wrapping the dumplings. Grab a baking sheet for the finished dumplings and a towel to cover the dumplings to prevent them from drying out. Get a spoon for scooping the dumpling filling.
  5. Wrap the dumplings: Dip the dumpling wrapper into the bowl of water. Rotate the wrapper so that the entire rim of the wrapper is wet, creating a wet border about 1/2-inch wide. Place the wrapper on your left hand. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling onto the center of the wrapper. Pinch the right side of the wrapper. Using your index fingers, create a pleat and fold it to the right to seal. Create another pleat and fold it to the right to seal it. Hold on to the finished pleats and drag everything toward the center of the dumpling. Create pleats to the left and right of the initial pleats and seal. Hold onto the pleats you just created and drag them toward the center of the dumpling. Create pleats to the left and right of the finished pleats and seal. Keep doing this until you reach the end. Pinch the end together to create a pointed “tail” for the dumplings. I highly recommend referring to the video or photos in the post to get a visual of the folding technique.
  6. Cook the dumplings: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the dumplings to the pan. Let them cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until the bottom of the dumplings are lightly golden brown. While holding onto the lid of the pan (to use as a shield), pour 1/2 cup of water into the pan. The water will sputter everywhere, so use the pan to keep the water from hitting you. Cover the pan with the lid and let the dumplings cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and check to see if the bottoms of the dumpling are deep golden brown. If the color is still pretty light, let them cook for a minute more. Transfer the dumplings to a plate. Add another 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and cook the remaining dumplings.
  7. Serve the dumplings with the dipping sauce.

Notes

Typically, I like cooking pan-fried dumplings in my cast iron pan because it blisters the dumpling wrapper the best, creating an extra crispy skin. However, if you use thinner wrappers, the dumplings won’t lift off from the pan too well, so you’ll get a lot of dumpling wrapper stuck onto the pan. For these dumplings, I used wrappers of medium thickness and used a non-stick pan to cook the dumplings.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Nugget Markets. Visit their website for more information or follow them on Facebook or Twitter! Click here find a location near you. 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Kathryn says

    Can’t wait to try – thanks for the large quantity. Will be great to try for my next friends gathering and freeze the leftovers!

    Reply

  5. Laura says

    Just made your Hot and Sour Coconut Noodle Soup yesterday (ahhhhmaaaaazzzingg!!) and can’t wait to try this one too. Do you think these could be made and frozen prior to cooking? Doing some catering and these would be great vegan appetizer options. I love Nugget too, have to be careful not to go in there hungry!

    Reply

  6. Mary says

    These are beautiful and sound delicious. I can’t wait to head over to Nugget to buy the ingredients! Thank you!

    Reply

  7. Jennifer C. says

    Looks delicious! Can’t wait to try. I’ve been looking for dumpling recipes I’m glad I found your blog through nuggets facebook! Excited to explore your other recipes as well ????

    Reply

  13. Carmel says

    Can’t wait to try this recipe! I made the vegan mulligatawny and the shakshuka for my family and that loved it!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  16. Liz says

    None of the stores near me ever carry dumpling wrappers. They only have Nasoya wonton wrappers which contains egg.

    Reply

  17. Lisette says

    These are amazingly delicious!! Thank you for a great recipe and video! My husband was shocked that I made these at home – am I’m a really great home chef! High praise!

    Reply

  19. Sara says

    This dumplings were absolutely fantastic. I have been looking for a vegetarian filling for a while and this one has gone on top of my list. Simple, quick and delicious. Love the kimchi kick.

    Reply

  20. Jessica says

    Made these yesterday and they were delicious!! Didn’t get the pleat quite right but ok for a first time. Figuring out the pleating was so much fun that I think I want to make more dumplings! And the crispy base was the best part. Thanks for sharing

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  21. Rebecca says

    We made the filling for these today and would suggest cutting back on the salt until you taste the final product. We put in the full teaspoon and it’s just really close to TOO salty.

    Reply

  22. Monica says

    I made these dumplings last night and they were so fun to make and delicious! I didn’t have Nappa cabbage, so I used normal cabbage and I still loved them! Though I probably could have sliced it even thinner as it doesn’t wilt as easily. Lisa makes the dumpling folding technique look easy! This was a challenge, but a very fun one! I only got the hang of it for the last few wrappers – I would recommend looking at a YouYube video. I would absolutely make these again!

    Thanks Lisa!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Lisa Lin says

      Monica, thanks for giving this a try! This is also a great reminder that I need to string my videos together into a long YouTube video!

      Reply

    • Lisa Lin says

      It should work! The flavors will be slightly different, of course, but definitely try it with green curry paste!

      Reply

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