Chicken Dumpling Patties

Maisie adores dumplings but as she’s allergic to wheat, I make her special Pork Dumplings with Rice Wrappers which are delicious but extremely time consuming to make.  Maisie’s been asking for dumplings but life has been crazy and I just haven’t found the time to devote to making them.  I started thinking about her dumplings and realized that it wasn’t the wrapper which she loved, it really was the flavors of the filling.  It was sort of spur of the moment the night that I decided to make these patties and I happened to have boneless chicken breasts in the house so I decided to grind them up and use that meat instead of the pork, which I usually use in dumplings, and it worked out beautifully.  Since these were a last minute decision, I didn’t have any Napa cabbage so after checking my pantry I decided to add water chestnuts which worked out beautifully, providing a nice little crunch and wonderful additional moisture to the patties.  I chose to pan fry the patties to give them a little crunch on the outside and they held together well and cooked up easily & quickly. These patties really did have the flavor of dumplings and were totally delicious, super simple to make, healthy and loved by all.  I know that I’ll be making these Chicken Dumpling Patties again very soon as they’ll be a perfect Chinese New Year meal for my little allergy girl.  I also know that it won’t be the last time I make these patties as I see them becoming a regular menu item in our home especially as they travel well for lunches, freeze and reheat beautifully.  A perfect little snack or meal..

Chicken Dumpling Patties

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 1 – 5 oz. can whole or sliced water chestnuts, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 TBS. fresh grated ginger
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 tsp. Sesame Oil
• 1 TBS. Soy Sauce
• 2 TBS. potato flakes 
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt 
• peanut oil or oil of your choice for cooking the patties

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients except the cooking oil.  Form the mixture into six to eight, pointer finger thick, patties.  Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium heat and add enough cooking oil to just lightly coat the bottom of the pan.  Brown the patties on both sides making sure to not over-cook the patties but making sure that they’re cooked all the way through.  Serve the patties with Dumpling Dipping Sauce.

Enjoy!