Rice Paper Tofu Dumplings
Hi friends. I recently stumbled upon this cool ‘hack’ video on TikTok where someone was making all sorts of dumplings using rice paper.
Making homemade dumpling wrappers is a bit of a pain (and ready-made wrappers are not available where I live), so I tried this why-did-I-never-think-of-this trick.
And it worked beautifully! The filling is made with a juicy & spiced mixture of tofu-carrot-onion and the dumplings themselves have a nice crispy layer. I paired them up with chili garlic Asian sauce and it was BEYOND delicious!
If you’re in a pinch and don’t have any dumpling wrappers on hand, give this rice paper hack a try. It’s a great way to enjoy homemade dumplings without the extra hassle.
Let’s go!
Rice Paper Tofu Dumplings
Recipe Video
Ingredients
To prepare tofu filling,
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 inch ginger (finely chopped)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 2 green chilies (finely chopped)
- 400 gm firm or extra-firm tofu (crumbled)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1.5 cups shredded carrot
- 1 large onion (chopped)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 cup chopped green onion
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
To prepare rice paper,
- Water
- Rice paper
To saute the dumplings,
To prepare the dumpling sauce,
- 1.5 tablespoons sweet chili garlic sauce (or use normal chili garlic sauce + 1 teaspoon sugar) *see NOTES for alternative
- 1 teaspoon chili oil
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Step 1 : Prepare tofu filling
- Set a pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. Once it's hot, add ginger + garlic + chili and stir-saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the crumbled tofu + turmeric powder and stir-saute for 3 minutes, or until much of the water evaporates.
- Now add carrot + onion + salt + pepper + soy sauce. Stir and cook for 4-5 minutes.
- Next, add freshly chopped green onion + cilantro and give everything a quick mix. Tofu filling is ready. Turn off the heat and set aside.
Step 2 : Prepare rice paper
- In a large bowl (that isn't shallow), add around 3 cups of water. Dip 1 piece of rice paper for 5-6 seconds and immediately remove it from the water. Make sure it doesn't stick to itself.
- Transfer the paper to a chopping board. Repeat the same for the other rice paper and stack it on top of the earlier one. Gently press them together and remove air pockets, if any.
- Add 2 heaped tablespoons of tofu filling just below the center of the rice paper.
- Carefully roll the paper - folding the sides as you roll your way up to the top (see recipe video for reference).
- Repeat the same for the rest of the paper. This recipe makes around 24 dumplings.
Step 3 : Saute the dumplings
- Set a non-stick pan over medium heat. Drizzle olive oil all over the pan.
- Place the dumplings to the pan (I could comfortably fit 4 dumplings at once) and saute for 2-3 minutes, or until they're crispy and golden-brown. Flip and saute the other side.
- Repeat the same for the remaining dumplings. Dumplings are now ready!
Step 4 : Prepare the dumpling sauce
- In a small mixing bowl, add sweet chili garlic sauce + chili oil + rice vinegar + toasted sesame + green onion. Mix well. Dumpling sauce, done!
Step 5 : Serve
- Now that we've prepared everything, it's time to serve. Drizzle the dumpling sauce over the dumplings and garnish with **some more** freshly chopped green onion.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- If 24 dumplings are too many, simply half the tofu filling ingredients.
- The tofu filling is super delicious - you can enjoy it with toasted bread.
- Schezwan sauce is a great alternative to the sauce I made here. If you're in a pinch, use ketchup. 😉
Nutrition
If you liked this Rice Paper Tofu Dumplings recipe, check out this delicious Vegan Summer Rolls recipe I posted earlier.
If you like to support me and my work, check out my Indian Vegan Cookbook (and all my upcoming cookbooks) on Qookbooks.com, where I teach you how to make 64 delicious Indian plant-based recipes ranging from rice, dals, curries, breads, desserts, and more!
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
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12 Responses
AWESOME recipe! I actually purchased the sweet garlic chili sauce and it was incredible. Thanks for sharing.
I went overboard and wrapped with 3 and then 4 papers lol. I think 2 is the perfect number (as instructed in the recipe). This has opened up so many possibilities for me. I can now make momo dumplings without making the wrappers.
Thanks for the recipe. I found it on Reddit. Nice blog, too!
That is such a great idea. Definitely trying it.
Looks so good. Where can I find rice paper other than Amazon? Whole Foods? Trader Joe? Any asian market?
Also, 3T soy sauce is too much sodium for me. Would 1T soy sauce + 2T water make it tasty enough or better yet 1/2T soy sauce with 2.5T water? Also found you on Reddit. Smart of you to post there.
Also, how do you get the tofu crumbled like that? With a box grater?
I hope I get a notification of your reply because if not, I’ll probably forget to come back here.
Never mind where to find rice paper. Apparently everyone carries it including Aldi. No mention of TraderJoe but I’ll certainly inquire.
Hi Marge, thanks for your comment.
You should be able to find rice paper in any Asian food store.
I don’t recommend thinning out the soy sauce, but you can def replace it with tamari sauce – which is low-sodium. Or try low-sodium soy sauce options.
I crumbled the tofu (I used firm tofu) with my hands. If you’re using extra firm tofu, try a potato masher.
Hope it helps, thanks! 😊
Firm or Extra firm tofu?
I’ve used firm tofu here, but extra-firm will work just as well. Thanks!
Can these be frozen
Tremendous amount of work shredding the carrots, chopping the onion, chopping the green oniona, sauteing the ingredients and, especially, rolling the dumplings. You said you got 24 dumplings and you fried four at a time, so that’s six batches of dumplings. You also said to cook them two to three minutes on each side, which, we if we say is an average of 2 1/2 minutes on each side = 5 minutes per batch of dumplings, times six batches = 30 minutes of frying time. So, how did you arrive at a 28 minute time span to make the entire dish when the frying time is already more than that?
I filled my dumplings with much more filling than you, so I only had 15 dumplings. Still, the entire time to make the dish was probably about 75 minutes.
Also, your recipe for the dipping sauce is certainly not sufficient for 24 dumplings.
Having said all of that, the dumplings were tasty. But, with all of the work, the large amount of salt, and the amount of calories due to the need for two pieces of rice paper per dumpling, I don’t think I’d ever make the dish again.
I Don’t know what part of the planet Jeff lives, but my dumplings definitely did not take 75 minutes to make. First, grocery stores sell shredded carrots. But if you don’t want to go that route you can shred them in a food processor. Maybe he’s doing everything by hand? I have three kids and got this done in 35 minutes…while cooking a separate meal for them since they are not vegan. Second, the amount of sauce was perfect. Third, they were great. I definitely had the heat too high when frying them…so that is what I would change next time. The inside was a little too chewy, but that’s my bad. Thanks for this amazing recipe!