How to Make Chef John's Lace Skirt Dumplings
Learn how to make Chef John’s famous Lace Skirt Dumplings, a crispy and delicious twist on traditional pan-fried dumplings. In this video, Chef John shows you how to achieve the perfect golden lace skirt that forms around the dumplings, adding a crunchy texture that makes the dish. Whether you're a dumpling lover or looking to impress at your next dinner party, this easy-to-follow recipe will have you producing a savory, irresistible appetizer!
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from foodwishes.com with Lay's Skirt Dumplings.
00:08That's right.
00:09The best way to dress up a plate of frozen dumplings or potstickers is with this easy-to-make
00:13gorgeous crispy skirt, which not only makes our dumplings way more fashionable, but also
00:19more delicious and fun to eat.
00:21And to get started, we have to mix up what's called a slurry, which always starts with
00:26some kind of liquid, which is usually water.
00:29But for this first version, I wanted to try chicken broth.
00:32But no matter the liquid, to this we will add some flour, plus in my case a couple shakes
00:37of cayenne, and then we'll take a whisk and give this a thorough mix.
00:41And by the way, in a recent meatball video, I called the breadcrumb and milk mixture we
00:45made a slurry, but as I've already publicly admitted, that was actually a panade.
00:49Oh yeah, I misspoke, and what we're making here is actually a slurry.
00:54But anyway, once mixed, we will set that aside until we need it.
00:57And if you make this ahead, make sure you give it a very good whisking before you pour
01:01it in the pan.
01:02Speaking of which, on the stove we have a nonstick pan set over medium-high heat, to
01:06which we will add some vegetable oil, as well as a little touch of sesame oil, for a little
01:11more flavor and that little touch of nuttiness.
01:14And once we've swirled that around a little bit, we'll go ahead and start transferring
01:17our frozen dumplings in, which really could be anything, as long as they're frozen and
01:23they have at least one flat side.
01:25And for this first attempt, I'm going to place in eight, and I'm positioning those
01:29with the curved side going in the same direction.
01:32Not that it would really matter, but if we have one or two going the other way, it might
01:35bother some people.
01:36Oh yeah, you know who you are.
01:39But anyway, once those were placed in, and positioned, and sizzling nicely, I went ahead
01:43and poured in the chicken broth slurry, at which point I covered this tightly, and I
01:48let it steam about three minutes, which is just about how long it takes for these frozen
01:52dumplings to thaw and heat through.
01:55Don't forget, everything inside's already cooked, so we are basically just needing to
01:59brown them.
02:00And that's it, after about three minutes, I took off the lid.
02:04And as you can see, our lay skirt is already starting to form, and at this point I reduced
02:08my heat to medium, since we don't want things to get too dark and charred before this is
02:12ready to remove from the pan.
02:15And before we can do that, we basically have to wait for all the moisture in the slurry
02:18to evaporate, and for our skirt to crisp up and release from the pan.
02:23And if one part of the pan seems to be cooking faster than another, don't be afraid to rotate
02:27things, to hopefully even it out.
02:30But anyway, like I said, I waited for things to dry out and brown up, and I know at this
02:36point it looks like it's too dark, but as you'll see, it was not.
02:40And that's it, once our skirt is dark and crisp, and we're able to move it around a
02:44little bit.
02:45We will very carefully remove this from the pan, by placing a plate over the top.
02:50And as I turn this, I'm actually going to freeze the frame, since there's always going
02:54to be a little bit of oil that drips out between the plate and the pan.
02:57And we want to be very sure that no part of our hand, or arm, or any other appendages
03:02are going to be anywhere near where that drips out.
03:05Which if you flip it as shown, shouldn't happen, but I did want to point that out so you're
03:08very careful.
03:10And that's it, we'll grab a paper towel, and do a little bit of clean up.
03:14And as I mentioned, even though that looked really dark in the pan, it actually toasted
03:18up to a perfect crispy golden brown.
03:21And you're probably thinking, sure it looks crisp, but is it really crisp?
03:25Well yes it is.
03:26Oh yeah, fork don't lie.
03:32And that's it, once our dumplings are dressed in their lace skirt, we can go ahead and break
03:35those into sections, and we can sort of eat them like crispy little tacos.
03:40And as far as the sauce goes, I just did a very simple soy, rice vinegar, shirata mix.
03:46And after I had those flipped over, I applied some of that, and went in for the official
03:50bite.
03:51And besides the amazing crowd-pleasing appearance, the added flavor and crispy texture this adds
03:56to the dumpling really does elevate it beautifully, since now instead of having just one crispy
04:01side of the dumpling, we are basically surrounding it with crispiness.
04:06Which reminds me, do not spoon your sauce over the top of them like this.
04:10I was just hungry, and not thinking straight.
04:12Right, what we really want to do is dip these into the sauce one at a time, so we don't
04:16have our crispy bits getting soft on the plate.
04:19But anyway, that was attempt number one, and I moved on to version number two, which I
04:24decided to try with a basic water slurry, which is nothing more than water, flour, and
04:29some salt.
04:30Oh, and if you're gluten free, I know that there are versions of this that use rice flour,
04:35or corn starch, or a combination.
04:37So check those out if you can't do wheat flour.
04:40But anyway, once that was mixed, I went back to the stove, and I placed another set of
04:44dumplings in my hot pan.
04:46And by the way, pro tip, make sure you scrape off any ice crystals from the bottom of the
04:50dumplings before you place them in your hot oil, so you don't get all this splattering.
04:55Which is just one of the ways the food gods will teach us a lesson.
04:59And yes, for this version I used seven instead of eight dumplings, since I wanted a little
05:03higher skirt ratio.
05:05And also, for this version, I decided to cover and cook the dumplings for a couple
05:08minutes first, before pouring the slurry in, since I wanted to get a little more browning
05:13on the dumplings themselves, so that visually we would have a little bit of a contrast between
05:18the bottoms of those and the rest of the skirt.
05:21So I covered those and cooked them without the slurry for a few minutes, at which point
05:25I uncovered, and then gave the pan a little bit of a tilt to kind of even out the oil.
05:30Which I'm not sure worked or is even necessary, but I did it anyway.
05:34At which point I poured my water-based slurry in, and once you do this, you have a couple
05:38seconds where you can rearrange the dumplings, if they've moved out of place.
05:43And that's it.
05:44Since we already browned and steamed our dumplings before we added this slurry, I'm going to
05:47finish this one completely uncovered.
05:50And just like the first version I showed you, we're waiting for that moisture to evaporate,
05:54and for our skirt to get nice and crispy and lacy.
05:58And this water-based slurry did not get as dark as the broth-based one, which is probably
06:02because there's more protein in the broth.
06:05And also, when I thought it was just about done, the edges didn't seem to be releasing
06:08from the pan like the first version.
06:10So I took the edge of a spatula to try to break the seal, and I was a little too aggressive
06:15when I started, since we don't want to be breaking off big pieces of the skirt.
06:20But anyway, I went around, giving it a little nudge here and there, until it finally did
06:24release from the pan, and I could tell it was going to come off cleanly.
06:28At which point, we'll perform the exact same dismount, by placing the plate over the top,
06:33and carefully flipping it over.
06:35And as you can see, by browning the dumplings first, and then adding the slurry, I think
06:40we get a better contrast, and possibly more interesting appearance.
06:44But anyway, that kind of stuff is subjective, and I thought both versions looked great.
06:49And for this one, I decided to garnish with some fresh chives.
06:52And I grabbed a fork to make sure this was just as crispy.
07:00Which as you can hear, it was.
07:02And then as far as the eating experience goes, this was pretty much identical to the first version.
07:07OK, I really couldn't tell a big difference between the broth and the water.
07:11Although if you do use water, since it's not seasoned, don't forget to add that nice big
07:15pinch of salt.
07:17And this time, I used the sauce correctly, and I dipped my dumplings in one at a time,
07:22which is probably a smarter way to go.
07:24And if I had to pick between the two versions, and the two methods, I would go with this
07:28second one.
07:29Alright, I think browning the dumplings first, before you add the slurry, is a good idea.
07:34Since it came out just as crispy, but with what I thought was a better appearance.
07:38But anyway, I showed you both, so you'll have to decide.
07:42I mean, you are after all the Mary Quant, of using what you want.
07:46And speaking of mini skirts, you could do a smaller version of this, just using two
07:50or three dumplings in a small pan, by just scaling down the amount of your slurry.
07:55And the technique should work out pretty much exactly the same.
07:58But whether you scale this down or not, I think this is a really fun, very easy, and
08:03visually fascinating way to jazz up dumplings.
08:06And I really do hope you give this a try soon.
08:10So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
08:14more info, as usual.
08:15And as always, enjoy!