Ham Sui Gok (咸水角) are savoury Chinese fried glutinous rice dumplings that are served at dim sum restaurants. It features a pork and vegetable filling encased in a slightly sweet, fried chewy glutinous rice dough.
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What is ham sui gok?
Ham sui gok is literally translated in Chinese as "salty water corner/angle/horn."
It's a Chinese fried glutinous rice dumpling that is usually served at dim sum restaurants.
The savoury filling consists of a mixture of ground pork, spices and veggies.
The bubbly exterior skin of the fried rice dumpling is slightly sweet and made from glutinous rice, which yields an unusual crisp yet chewy texture.
Are they similar to Chaozhou dumplings?
Also known as "fun guo," Chaozhou/Teochow dumplings have a white dumpling skin on the exterior and are filled with a savoury mixture of peanuts, garlic chives, minced pork, and mushrooms.
Teochow dumplings are steamed, compared to ham sui gok and wu gok (taro dumplings) which are deep fried.
Why you'll love this recipe
This recipe for Ham Sui Gok yields a glutinous rice dough that is smooth, not dry and easy to handle.
The resulting fried dumpling is crisp and chewy with a delicious filling.
The pork filling is moist and full of flavour from the various spices and seasonings.
It makes 14 pieces which is easily manageable and enough to feed a small crowd.
Ingredients you'll need
For the filling:
- ground pork: you can use lean or regular ground pork; you can also use minced pork belly for a more juicier filling
- vegetable oil: you can use any neutral vegetable oil
- seasonings: 5-spice powder, sea salt, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, oyster sauce, granulated sugar, black pepper (or white pepper)
- aromatics: minced ginger, garlic, shallot
- dried shrimp: optional; is sun-dried shrimp that is small in size and used in frequently in Chinese cuisine (ie. XO sauce, turnip cake [lo bak goh] and sticky glutinous rice dumplings [zhong]); you can find it in Asian grocery stores
- Chinese mushrooms: also known as shiitake mushrooms; usually sold dried and needs to be soaked first soaked and diced
- carrot: diced
- water chestnut: imparts a slightly sweet and crunchy texture; you can find them canned in grocery stores
- cornstarch: added as a thickener
- water
- garlic chives: you can substitute with green/spring onions
For the dough:
- boiling water: hot water to "cook" the wheat starch
- wheat starch: known as "dun meen fun" and is used in making Chinese har gow dumpling skin; it is not the same as wheat flour, cornstarch, or tapioca starch
- glutinous rice flour: is made from short-grain rice and gives the ham sui gok its characteristically chewy, sticky texture
- granulated sugar: adds that signature sweetness in the dumpling skin
- lard: is rendered pork fat and is white in colour; or use a combination of coconut and avocado oil
- cold water
For frying:
- peanut oil: or any neutral high-smoke point oil
How to make it
Make the filling:
Heat up a wok or frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and stir fry the shallot, dried shrimp (if using) and diced mushrooms, sautéing until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Add in the ground pork, 5-spice powder, sea salt, 2 teaspoon soy sauce, black or white pepper and minced ginger. Continue to cook until the pork is no longer pink and cooked through.
Add in the fried shallot, shrimp, and mushroom.
Next, add in the carrot, water chestnut and garlic, continue to cook for 2 more minutes (Step 1 below).
Make the cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch and water in a small bowl.
Add in the seasonings: 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, and cornstarch slurry and cook for another 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and transfer to a clean large bowl to cool down (Step 2 below).
Add in the garlic chives and give the mixture a stir.
Cover the filling and chill in the fridge overnight.
Make the dough dumpling wrappers:
In a heat-proof glass bowl, add the wheat starch.
Pour in boiling water and stir with a pair of chopsticks until the dough comes together (Step 3 above).
Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 5 minutes. [This is the cooked wheat starch-water dough].
In a separate bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, sugar, lard and cold water (Step 4 above).
Mix until the dough comes together (Step 5 above).
Add in the cooked wheat starch-water dough and knead it into the glutinous rice flour dough until smooth (Step 6-8 above).
Dust about 1 tablespoon of glutinous rice flour on your work surface.
Divide the dough into 14 pieces, about 33g each (Step 10 below).
Flatten the dough ball into a disc with your palm and add about 1 ½ teaspoon of filling (Step 11-13 below).
Fold it in half to enclose and pinch to seal on top. The shape should be similar to a boat (Step 14 below).
Be sure not to overfill as it will be difficult to seal.
Repeat with the remaining (Step 15 below).
Fry the dumplings:
Heat up a small saucepot or wok with peanut oil at medium heat, at 300F.
Working in batches, place dumplings into the oil. Watch that they don't stick to each other (Step 16 above).
Remove the pot from heat and wait for the dumplings to form oil blisters on the skin and float to the top.
Once they float, return to the heat (back to 300F) and deep fry for 10-12 minutes until golden in colour (Step 17 above).
Remove the fried dumplings and place onto paper towel to drain any excess oil (Step 18 above).
Serve immediately.
How to serve
Serve the freshly fried Ham Sui Gok immediately.
As with fried foods, the texture will not be as crisp as time passes.
Try serving the dumplings with strong black tea such as pu'erh/"bo lay", which will help cut the richness.
Pair them with other dim sum classics such as:
Rice Noodle Rolls 豬腸粉 (Chee Cheong Fun)
Steamed BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)
How to store
Enjoy the Ham Sui Gok on the same day you fry them.
However, if you do have leftover dumplings, store them on a piece of paper towel and in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
You can store unfried dumplings in the freezer in a freezer-safe container (frozen in a single layer) for up to 1 month.
How to reheat
To reheat leftover Ham Sui Gok, you can bake the fried dumplings in a 400F oven for approximately 15-20 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Note: the texture will not be the same as freshly fried, but will be warm and crisp.
Be careful to keep an eye on them in the oven as they may turn brown quite quickly.
If frying from frozen, add additional 5-7 minutes to the overall frying time to ensure the interior is warmed through.
You may also use an air fryer to reheat the fried dumplings.
Expert tips & FAQs
Do not fry the dumplings at a high temperature (over 300F) as they may explode while frying.
Ensure the filling is not wet.
When frying, move the dumplings around so they don't stick to each other.
There are many components to this dish so it's best to make the filling ahead of time.
Can you freeze the dumplings?
Yes, freeze the unfried dumplings in a single layer on a baking sheet -- taking care to leave enough space in between so they don't touch or stick to each other.
Freeze for a few hours, until hardened.
Transfer the frozen dumplings to a freezer-safe bag for storage.
Can you pan-fry these dumplings?
No, these dumplings need to be deep-fried.
The wrapper skin is very starchy and does not take to pan-frying well, and the texture will not be the same.
What is glutinous rice flour used in?
Glutinous rice flour is used in many dishes that have a chewy texture, including: Matcha Brownie Mochi (Brochi), Peanut Tang Yuan (Glutinous Rice Balls).
Other recipes you may like
Be sure to check out these dim sum recipes:
Homemade Chinese BBQ Pork Pastry (Char Siu Sou)
Steamed BBQ Pork Buns (Char Siu Bao)
Rice Noodle Rolls 豬腸粉 (Chee Cheong Fun)
Homemade Pineapple Buns (Bo Lo Bao)
Let me know if you try out this recipe -- tag me on Instagram @siftandsimmer or leave me comment/rating below!
Ham Sui Gok 咸水角 (Fried Glutinous Rice Dumplings)
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For accuracy and precision in baking recipes, use weight (metric) measurements when available.
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon shallot chopped
- 2 tablespoon dried shrimp optional
- 4 Chinese mushrooms soaked overnight and diced
- 150 g ground pork
- ½ teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 teaspoon soy sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ginger minced
- 60 g (½ small) carrot diced
- 80 g (about ½ can) water chestnut diced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
Cornstarch slurry:
- 2 teaspoon corn starch
- 3 tablespoon water
Seasoning:
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ C garlic chives
Dumpling dough:
- 60 ml boiling water
- 40 g wheat starch
- 160 g glutinous rice flour
- 60 g granulated sugar
- 30 g pork lard or refined coconut oil
- 125 ml cold water
For frying:
- 2-3 C peanut oil or neutral high smoke-point oil
Instructions
Make the filling:
- Heat up a wok or frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and stir fry the shallot, dried shrimp (if using) and diced mushrooms until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Add in the ground pork, 5-spice powder, sea salt, 2 teaspoon soy sauce, black pepper and minced ginger. Continue to cook until the pork is no longer pink and cooked through.
- Add in the fried shallot, shrimp, and mushroom.
- Next, add in the carrot, water chestnut and garlic, continue to cook for 2 more minutes.
- Make the cornstarch slurry by mixing cornstarch and water in a small bowl.
- Add in the seasonings: 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 teaspoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, and cornstarch slurry and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl to cool down.
- Add in the garlic chives and give the mixture a stir.
- Cover the filling and chill in the fridge overnight.
Make the dough:
- In a heat-proof glass bowl, add the wheat starch.
- Pour in boiling water and stir with a pair of chopsticks until the dough comes together.
- Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for 5 minutes. (This is the cooked wheat starch-water dough).
- In a separate bowl, combine the glutinous rice flour, sugar, lard and cold water.
- Add in the cooked wheat starch-water dough and knead it into the dough until smooth.
- Dust about 1 tablespoon of glutinous rice flour on your work surface.
- Divide the dough into 14 pieces, about 33g each.
- Flatten the dough ball into a flat disc with your palm/rolling pin and add about 1 ½ teaspoon of filling.
- Fold it in half to enclose and pinch to seal on top. The shape should be similar to a boat.
- Be sure not to overfill as it will be difficult to seal.
- Repeat with the remaining.
Fry the dumplings:
- Heat up a small pot or wok with peanut oil at medium heat, at 300°F/149°C.
- Working in batches, place dumplings into the oil. Watch that they don't stick to each other.
- Remove pot from the heat and wait for the dumplings to form oil blisters on the skin and float to the top.
- Once they float, return to the heat (back to 300°F/149°C) and fry for 10-12 minutes until golden in colour.
- Remove the fried dumplings and place onto paper towel to drain any excess oil.
- Serve immediately.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided should be considered as approximate and is not guaranteed. Please use your best judgment to ensure food is safely prepared and/or a good fit for your diet.
David @ Spiced
Laura absolutely loves going out for dim sum. Sadly we don't have any good dim sum restaurants in our area. I'm thinking it could be fun to create a dim sum theme at home one night! These dumplings look amazing!!
Michelle
A dim sum theme sounds like an awesome party idea! Hope you'll give them a try. Thanks David! 🙂
Ben | Havocinthekitchen
I've never had dumplings like these, and they look terrific (and sounds tasty!) Beautiful chewy & crisp exterior.
Caleb - Never Ending Journeys
Oh yum! These rice dumplings look and sound so irresistible. The pork filling is an excellent idea, too!
Linsey
Mmm, yummy Ham Sui Gok! This is one of the dishes that I like to order on the Dim Sum menu at the restaurant. Savory dumplings with crispy crust and chewy texture skin and delicious filling inside. Now I can make at home.
Czeshirecat
Wow. Your article is so amazing and complete. These are our favourite dim sum yet are just called ‘pork dumplings’ in both China town restaurants that sis and I frequent in the uk. (I brought 6 home as a takeaway last weekend. Sis ate 5 of them!!)
Deb
I used to buy these from Chinatown 50 years ago and haven't had them for at least 40 years, but never forgot them as they were my favorite. I only just recently found out what they are called! It was always just point and say how many, LOL. I never thought I could make them myself but thought I'd see if I could find out how.
But now I cannot have wheat (gluten), is there a way to make these without it, do you know? I really want to try to do so, so I can have them again before I run out of life.
Michelle
Hi Deb, thanks for writing.
Ham Sui Gok is primarily made with wheat starch, which is not the same as wheat flour. Theoretically, wheat starch contains wheat, but should not contain gluten, however, it can be difficult to completely remove all gluten from wheat starch. The rest of the ingredients (eg. glutinous rice flour) should not contain gluten.
Perhaps you can make half of the recipe to test and see if you can tolerate the wheat starch. Good luck!