Crispy Pork Chili Oil Dumplings

These crispy pork chili oil dumplings are the kind of dish that starts as a happy accident and becomes a permanent addition to your repertoire. Store-bought dumplings get doused in a homemade chili oil made with hot pork fat, then topped with shatteringly crispy deep-fried pork belly strips. No dumpling-wrapping required — all the effort goes into the sauce and the crunch.

Ingredients

• Dumplings (boiled or steamed, store-bought)
• Thin pork belly strips
• 1 spoon minced green onions
• 1 spoon minced garlic
• 1 spoon minced chili
• 2 spoons gochugaru
• 1 spoon sugar
• 1 spoon oyster sauce
• 1 spoon soy sauce

Singapore Swap

Most Korean ingredients are available at Korean grocery stores and Don Don Donki outlets across Singapore. Gochugaru, frozen dumplings, and thinly sliced pork belly can also be found at FairPrice, Sheng Siong, and wet markets. Check Shopee or RedMart if anything is unavailable in-store.

Instructions

1. Cook the dumplings according to the package directions — either boil or steam them until cooked through.
2. In a heatproof bowl, mix together the minced green onions, minced garlic, minced chili, gochugaru, sugar, oyster sauce, and soy sauce.
3. Deep fry the thin pork belly strips in hot oil until they are very crispy and golden.
4. Pour the hot pork fat directly over the aromatics in the heatproof bowl. This blooms the spices and creates an instant, fragrant chili oil.
5. Spoon the hot chili oil generously over the cooked dumplings.
6. Top with the crispy pork belly strips and serve immediately.

Tips

• The key is pouring the hot pork fat over the raw aromatics — the sizzle blooms the gochugaru and garlic instantly, creating a deeply flavoured oil.
• Fry the pork belly strips until they are genuinely crispy, not just cooked. You want them to shatter when you bite down.
• This chili oil is worth making in a bigger batch. It keeps in the fridge for a week and is incredible on noodles, rice, or eggs.