I want to try making steamed dumplings, but I want to use ground turkey instead of pork. Is there anything I can do to make sure it's not too dry?

Elena Piskounova
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8 Comments

Elena P. August 1, 2016
I did make them! And they were amazing! The steaming definitely helps to avoid the dryness, and I added soy sauce, sesame oil, fresh ginger, and mirin to the meat, which made the filling very flavorful and moist. Thank you everyone for the responses! My pleating on the other hand still needs work ;) The buns were yummy but not pretty.
 
PHIL August 1, 2016
Glad to here they came out so well Elena.
 
PHIL August 1, 2016
Did you make them Elena?
 
Coco E. August 1, 2016
If you're grinding your own meat, your best bet would still be to use whatever lean protein (turkey), then restore the fat-to-lean ratio of about 1:5 by adding pork fat. One trick to get the dumplings extra juicy when you bite into them is to wrap the meat filling around a small cube of flavourful stock that's been set with gelatin, then enclose it with the dumpling wrapper.
 
pierino July 30, 2016
The fact that you are steaming them should solve the problem itself unless you are going to steam and then fry. You could of course grind or chop fresh shrimp and combine it with the turkey to get closer to the traditional dumpling filling.
 
Natalie R. July 31, 2016
If steaming does make them too dry, you could try cooking it directly in the liquid. (We call rice cooked this way "steamed" if you have your heart set on steaming). Use just a cup of chicken broth and cook for 8 minutes, if I remember correctly. It adds an incredible amount of flavor. For more fun, you could sear the bottoms of the dumplings before steaming, but that's farther from what you want.
 
PHIL July 30, 2016
I have made them . I put chopped scallions, ginger, soy sauce , little sesame oil (if you like it) use ground turkey but not ground turkey breast which will be dryer. Some hoisin sauce, some copped greens. Sorry I just wing it, no special recipe. My family prefers ground turkey in tacos and burgers too. Go for it!
 
702551 July 30, 2016
While I've never done it, if I were doing this, I would add some apple to the ground turkey.

Chicken-apple sausages have been around for decades, a proven commercial success.

Good luck.
 
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