I have a genuine weekly dumpling habit, and for years that habit only ever showed up in one form: steaming hot, dumped in their dipping sauce ; or maybe sometimes in a large bowl of broth, an ideal cold-weather food. Then summer hit, but I still needed my fix. I asked myself the obvious question: why not a cold version?
So yes, I built one. Believe me when I say it turned out to be an absolute revelation. The sauce is the whole point here: fresh, punchy, deeply savoury, with just enough heat and funk to make plain boiled dumplings taste like the best thing you’ve eaten all week. Toss it all with crunchy cucumber, carrot and a big handful of herbs, and you get something that’s cold, gourmande, and dangerously easy to make on repeat. I recommend this a thousand times over.
Dumplings — jiaozi in Mandarin — have been a staple of Chinese cuisine for centuries, with roots often traced back to the Han dynasty. Wontons (餛飩, húntun) are their thinner-skinned, silkier cousin from southern China, traditionally boiled or served in soup rather than pan-fried. That’s exactly why they’re the better choice for this salad: their delicate wrapper soaks up the sauce instead of turning heavy or greasy, which is the whole point when you’re building something meant to be eaten cold.
Dumpling Salad – Recipe
Ingredients – Advice & key points
- Wontons: Ideal here, but choose whichever dumplings you have in your freezer. 10 pieces -maybe 12 depending on their size- for one bowl. I really recommend wontons over dumplings here — their thinner, silkier wrapper works much better once everything cools down and gets tossed in sauce.
- Light soy sauce: the salty backbone of the whole sauce.
- Chili oil: with the crispy chili flakes included — they add texture as well as heat.
- Sesame oil: just 1 tsp — any more and it completely overpowers everything else in the bowl.
- Vinegar: ideally straight from a jar of pickled chilies for extra depth, or plain white vinegar if that’s what you have on hand.
- Oyster sauce: for a deeper savoury note.
- Sugar: just enough to round out the acidity and the salt.
- Garlic: fresh, not the jarred stuff, it really makes a difference here.
- MSG: optional, but it rounds everything out beautifully — don’t be scared of it.
- Dumpling cooking water: 2 tbsp, whisked into the sauce. Don’t skip this — it loosens the sauce and ties it back to the dumplings.
- Cucumber, carrots: for crunch.
- Scallions, coriander: or pick either, to add a nice overall flavour and freshness.
Recipe – Advice & key points
- The sauce is everything: make it first and taste as you go. This recipe lives or dies on the balance between salty, sour, sweet and spicy, so adjust before you touch a single dumpling.
- Save your cooking water: boil the wontons as usual, then scoop out 2 tablespoons of the starchy cooking water before draining. It goes straight into the sauce and gives it body.
- Serve it lukewarm, not fridge-cold: toss the freshly boiled dumplings with the sauce while they’re still a little warm, then let everything come down to room temperature. Truly fridge-cold dumplings turn slightly gluey.
- Add the vegetables last: toss the cucumber, carrot, scallions and coriander in right before serving, so they stay crisp instead of going limp in the sauce.
- Scaling up: this is written for one generous bowl, but the sauce multiplies perfectly if you’re feeding more people — just keep the ratios and taste as you scale.
Enjoy!
Dumpling Salad
Description
Cold boiled wontons tossed in a punchy, savoury-spicy sauce with cucumber, carrot and herbs. Fresh, fast, and endlessly craveable — the summer version of your favorite winter comfort food.
Sauce (for 1 bowl)
Sauce
Fresh add-ins (for 1 bowl)
Instructions
Instructions
Cook the wontons
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the wontons according to the package instructions until they float and are cooked through. Before draining, scoop out 2 tablespoons of the cooking water and set it aside.
Make the sauce
While the wontons cook, whisk together the light soy sauce, chili oil, sesame oil, vinegar, oyster sauce, sugar, grated garlic and MSG in a large bowl. Whisk in the reserved dumpling cooking water to loosen the sauce, then taste and adjust the balance of salty, sour, sweet and spicy.
Toss the wontons in the sauce
Drain the wontons and add them straight into the bowl of sauce while they're still warm. Toss gently so every piece is well coated.
Add the vegetables
Add the diced cucumber, carrot, scallions and coriander to the bowl, and toss everything together gently to combine.
Serve
Let the salad cool slightly to room temperature before serving. It's best enjoyed lukewarm rather than fridge-cold, which tends to make the wonton wrappers gluey.