I love a good dumpling as much as the next girl, but let’s be honest—wrapping them can be a bit of a chore. If you’ve ever found dumplings intimidating—fancy pleats, sticky dough, a million steps—these Crispy Shrimp Dumplings are here to change your mind. They’re made with rice paper instead of traditional wrappers, so there’s no fiddling with dough or flour. Just juicy, flavorful shrimp filling, wrapped up and pan-fried (or air-fried!) to golden perfection. They’re crispy on the outside, tender inside, and so packed with flavor they don’t even need a dipping sauce.
Whether you pan-fry them for maximum crisp or toss them in the air fryer for convenience, these little rolls of joy are perfect for a snack, appetizer, or even a light meal so let’s get into it!
My sister Mimi is always on the prowl for fun tasty food. She cooks a ton and looks through social media a ton. So when she comes across something that she thinks will interest me, she’ll forward it. This started with a clip of a super cute Asian girl making this snack. I’m not sure what’s in hers except that it was a shrimp filling. I thought it was creative, especially the rolled up little packages and so I went about creating my own version. My favorite dim sum are the ones with shrimp and cilantro, sometimes called parsley in Chinese restaurants. There’s a magical synergy between the shrimp and cilantro that’s just amazing. And this dumpling is chock full of fabulous filling. If you’re one of those, looking at you dad, who’s not a fan of thick wrappers, then you’ll love these.
It all starts with the filling, which is packed with flavor bombs like garlic, ginger, scallions, and fresh cilantro. Oyster sauce lends depth, toasted sesame oil brings nutty goodness, and a little white pepper for funk rounds it out. First I quickly chop the aromatics. You need to chop them fine because they don’t spend enough time in the food processor to get thoroughly chopped.
Pop everything except the rice paper and oil into a food processor. Pulse 8–10 times until the shrimp are very roughly chopped. You want texture, not paste. Scoop the mixture into a bowl and give it a good stir to make sure everything is evenly combined.
Then, I transfer the filling into a quart-sized zip top bag and squeeze out all the air. You could certainly skip this step and try and spoon the filling onto the rice papers, but I find this to be the quickest, most consistent way.
Now it’s time to shape the dumplings. First fill a large bowl with water. Dip a rice paper sheet in until fully submerged, then lay it flat on a cutting board. Repeat with another piece and lay it next to the first. Give them a minute to soften.
Snip off one corner of the filling bag so the opening is about ½ inch wide. Voilà: makeshift piping bag. This will make filling the dumplings really easy and virtually mess free. Pipe a line of shrimp filling across the bottom third of each sheet, leaving a little space at the sides.
Fold the bottom of the rice paper up over the shrimp filling, then continue rolling it up like a cigar.
Curl one end in and roll again to form a little spiral—kind of like a mini cinnamon roll. The rice paper is sticky, so it’ll hold its shape.
Place them on a plate lined with plastic wrap or a silicone mat so they don’t stick. Aren’t they so cute?!
Repeat until all your filling is used—you’ll get about a dozen dumplings. It’s important to leave space between each dumpling so they don’t stick together. Remember the rice paper is very sticky.
Now it’s time to cook these babies up! You have two options, you can either pan fry in air-fry them. I prefer pan frying because that really puts the crispy in my Crispy Shrimp Dumplings and the dumplings have better color, plus it helps them stay intact better. Most importantly, they are ready for devouring quite a bit faster. I give instructions for both though on the recipe card below.
To pan fry, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat with a tablespoon of neutral oil. Add dumplings in a single layer, making sure there’s space between them.
Cook for 3 minutes until golden, then flip gently.
Cover the pan and cook for another 3 minutes to steam the filling through.
Uncover, flip one more time, and cook for an extra minute to crisp the other side.
These delectable little snacks are meant to be eaten right away, they don’t hold well and lose their crispiness. I mentioned how flavorful the filling is and how they don’t need a dipping sauce. Of course, we won’t judge you if you still want to dip. The classic dipping sauce in our Pork Gyoza will go beautifully with these. Or the nuoc cham dipping sauce from our noodle bowl would perfectly at home here as well.
If you’ve been craving dumplings but dreading the folding, give these a go. They’re the perfect shortcut with zero compromise on flavor. Let me know if you try them—tag me @funkyasiankitchen so I can cheer you on!
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Crispy Shrimp Dumplings
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: makes about a dozen
- Category: snacks
- Cuisine: pan-Asian
Ingredients
- 1 pound shrimp, any size
- 2 scallions, trimmed and minced
- 3 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 teaspoons peeled and minced ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ Tablespoons oyster sauce
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 12 sheets round rice paper
- 1 Tablespoon neutral oil or Oil Spray if using air-fryer
Instructions
Make the filling- Put all of the ingredients except for the rice paper and oil spray into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 8-10 times until the shrimp is very roughly chopped. Scrape the shrimp mixture into a bowl and give it a good stir so everything is well mixed. Place the shrimp filling into a quart size zip top bag, squeezing out all of the air. Cut a corner tip off so that the hole is about ½ inch long.
Make the dumplings- Fill a large bowl with water. Slide the rice paper into the water and submerge it gently. Put the rice paper onto the cutting board. Repeat with another piece of rice paper and put it next to the first one. Let it sit for a minute to rehydrate and soften. Squeeze the shrimp filling across the paper at the bottom third of the rice paper, leaving a small gap at the edges.
Fold the rice paper over the shrimp filling and then continue to roll it up like a cigar. Next curl one edge in and start rolling it up so it looks like a mini cinnamon roll. Place the rolls on a plate (I covered my plate first with plastic wrap so the rolls wouldn’t stick.) and continue making dumplings until you use up all of the filling.
It is very important that you leave enough space between the dumplings so they do not stick together.
You will yield about a dozen pieces.
Cook the dumplings– You can either cook the dumplings in a non-stick pan or air fry them. I prefer pan-fried, which gives the dumplings better color, texture, and the skins break apart less too.
Pan Fry– Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat with a Tablespoon of oil. Place the dumplings in the pan so that there is space between them. Cook them for 3 minutes and then flip them over gently. Place a lid over the pan and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Take the lid off and flip the dumplings one more time, cooking for another minute or so to give them a little more crispiness. Transfer the dumplings to a plate and serve immediately.
Airfry- Spray the baking sheet with oil and then place the dumplings on the sheet, leaving space between them. Spray the dumplings with the oil spray and cook for 12 minutes on 350 degrees. Transfer the dumplings to a plate and serve immediately.
Notes
*These dumplings are highly seasoned and do not need any sauce.
*Eat these dumplings right away as they do not reheat well. If 12 dumplings are too many to finish, either make half the recipe or only make half of the dumplings, reserving the rest of the filling. Cover and refrigerate the leftovers. Use up the rest of the filling within 2 days.
Keywords: dumplings, crispy, rice paper, shrimp
