Dumpling Lasagna

are viral recipes even any good?

A confession: I’m not great at social media. While I do like Stories on Instagram, I have a hard time motivating to post to my grid, and you’ll never catch me on TikTok (except when a friend sends me a video I “must watch”). So a lot of times, I see “viral recipes” ages after they’ve passed their expiration date, which for the most part, is fine because a lot of them sound ridiculous. But every once in a while, I see one that I like, and I do actually make it.

I had somehow caught the dumpling lasagna craze right when it came out, and since we are a dumpling-obsessed family, had filed it away in the back of my brain to try. Fast forward to this week, and one of my best friends sent a Reel of someone making it to our Insta group chat. Clearly, that was a sign that I had to make it for dinner this week. As you can see, there’s no shortage of recipes to choose from online, but I wanted to make a version that worked for our family.

Finding dumpling wrappers was more difficult than I anticipated, but I did manage to find egg roll wrappers, which are essentially just larger than standard wonton wrappers, apparently (don’t quote me on that). In the end, the larger wraps made it easier to make a full size lasagna, because the sheets covered more of my baking dish, though I did need to trim them a little.

mom and dad’s version with lots of Fly by Jing Sichuan Gold chili oil

In addition, we’re feeding a family over here, so added veggies was a must. I fell back on my old favorite: sticking a whole shredded zucchini in there along with cabbage. It also helps add some moisture into the whole dish to give it a “soupier” texture. I also served the lasagna with edamame (one of Ridley’s favorite foods) but would have loved to also put it into the dumpling filling. Basically, make it your own! Riff off of your favorite dumpling flavors and use this recipe as a jumping off point.

All in all, this is probably the best viral recipe I’ve encountered. The adults loved it, Ridley loved it, and I can’t wait to try different variations.

• 2 c green cabbage

• 2 tsp + 1 tsp kosher salt

• 1 ea small zucchini

• 3 ea green onions, plus more for garnish

• 3 ea garlic cloves

• 1 lb ground pork

• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger

• 2 Tbs low sodium soy sauce

• 1 Tbs rice wine vinegar

• 2 tsp hoisin sauce

• 2 tsp sesame oil

• ¼ tsp ground white pepper

• 1 pkg egg roll or wonton wrappers

• 3 Tbs water

Finely slice 2 cups of green cabbage and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the two teaspoons of kosher salt and toss well. Let sit for 5-10 minutes while you prep the rest of your veggies, then rinse and squeeze most of the water out.

While the cabbage is sitting, grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater and gently squeeze out some of the liquid. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Finely slice the white and light green parts of the green onion and add to the mixing bowl. Use a microplane to grate the garlic and add to the bowl as well.

Add the cabbage to the mixing bowl, along with the pork, ginger, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin, sesame oil, remaining salt and pepper. Mix together well.

Pour some water into a large plate. Lightly grease a small baking dish with vegetable oil.

Press a thin layer (about ¼ inch) of dumpling filling into the bottom of the pan. Dip both sides of the dumpling wrapper into the water, then lay on top of the filling without overlapping. Trim the wrappers a little if you need to. Repeat as many times as necessary: press in a thin layer of dumpling mix followed by dipped wrappers. Finish with a layer of dumpling wrappers, then pour the water over the top.

Prepare a large steamer situation: I have a giant multilayered steamer basket, but you could also just use a deep pan that the baking dish fits in. Make sure if you’re doing that to place a small towel or something in the bottom under the baking dish so that it’s not directly touching the pan. Bring a small amount of water to a simmer, then place the baking dish in the steamer or pan. Cover with either a lid or foil and steam for 20 minutes until cooked through.

Finish with your choice of toppings: sliced green onions, sesame seeds, soy sauce, chili oil, black vinegar…whatever floats your boat!

Serve as you would yourself! Give your kid the option of toppings, and cut into bite sized pieces that they can fork themselves.

Separate the wonton wrappers from the filling, and serve like big noodles that your little one can grab on to easily. Break the filling into large, meatball-like pieces that they can pick up.