Chinese Stuffed Peppers (Dim Sum Style - 2 ways!)

Dim sum style, Chinese stuffed peppers recipe made with two different types of stuffing (traditional shrimp or pork) and smothered in a garlic black bean sauce.

Thank you to Zehrs for supporting this Chinese Stuffed Peppers recipe post. I always appreciate and am thankful for the support, which helps keep this little blog running! All opinions expressed, recipes and photos are my own. 

When I was invited by Loblaws to visit Procyk Farms this week as part of the Food Lovers Unite program, I was super excited for this trip because I was eager to learn how our local produce is grown and how it goes from a local farm, to my local Zehrs, to my plate! Being a home gardener myself, it was absolutely fascinating learning about the processes our farmers use to grow their vegetables on a much larger scale and how they deal with challenges from Mother Nature herself!

WHAT I LEARNED FROM MY VISIT TO PROCYK FARM

• A lot of decisions and work go behind what is grown and harvested on the field before it gets to you at Zehrs. They are always finding new ways of growing better produce and testing new varieties of interesting produce in addition to tomatoes, peppers, zucchinis, sweet corn and cabbage!
• Since most produce is very delicate, all their produce is handpicked and hand packed to ensure our produce gets to the store in good shape!
• Buying local and eating local produce means the vegetables are fresh and flavourful. They produce is harvested daily and it's a quick turn around to get them out to the stores quickly to give you the freshest produce possible. That means they aren't picked when they are raw and ripened during transport.
• The most important thing I learned was - nothing gets wasted. Any produce that looks dented or 'not perfect' goes to Loblaws other product lines such as the 'Naturally Imperfect' line. It is sold at a lower price for people who don't mind if their produce doesn't look picture perfect! I think that's awesome because I'm not a fan of wasting food and there is absolutely nothing wrong with these minor imperfections and the vegetables still tastes delicious - they are mostly caused by nature itself - like when the scratchy leaves of a zucchini plant scratches against itself or if a pepper has a heavy leaf stem growing over it which causes it to grow slightly dented.
• Did you know green peppers and red peppers come from the same plant? They are just harvested at different times! Green peppers are harvested first and anything else left on the plant that was green eventually turns to red - and voila, a red pepper!

After that fun trip to Procyk Farms, I have a whole new love and appreciation for our local farmers and whenever I go to grocery shopping at Zehrs, I definitely look at my fresh local produce in a whole new way so I want to give them a big thanks for inviting me behind the scenes to show me how our produce goes from farm to table!

Once I got home, and after seeing all those large fresh peppers, I had an odd craving for some Chinese stuffed peppers! Being away from Toronto really makes me miss dim sum a lot, so I thought I would start re-creating some of my dim sum favourites at home!

INGREDIENTS FOR CHINESE STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

• Peppers - You can use any type of peppers for this recipe, even cubanelles! I prefer to stick with the traditional green, red, yellows and orange peppers because I like how fleshy they are and once they are cooked the sweetness comes out and comes together amazing with the stuffing. Use what you like to eat.

BLACK BEAN SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• Fermented Black Beans - Traditionally, fermented black beans are used in the sauce for Chinese stuffed peppers at dim sum but depending on where you are, you might have a hard time finding them, you can omit it. The fermented beans mostly just add saltiness to the dish, so you can omit and substitute with soy sauce instead.
• Soy Sauce - I like to use light or regular soy sauce for this recipe.
• Oyster Sauce - I haven't found a good substitute for oyster sauce. It's salty with a touch of sweetness with a background of seafood brininess. Luckily this sauce is popular so it shouldn't be very difficult to find.
• Cooking Wine - I like to use Shaoxing cooking wine for this recipe, but if you can't find it you can substitute this with dry sherry.
• Water/Stock - Depending on what I have on hand, I will use either water or stock for the sauce. If you use stock, make sure it is low-sodium or no-sodium so that you can control how much salt is in your sauce.

SHRIMP FILLING INGREDIENTS

• Shrimp - I like to use large tiger shrimp for this recipe and peel the shrimp myself manually. If you make a lot of stocks, you can also save the shells for stocks as well!
• Ground White Pepper - White pepper is very light in flavour and gives seafood that little extra boost. Do not substitute it with black pepper, it is a completely different and powerful flavour and will mask the flavour of your shrimp. If you can't find white pepper, you can omit it.
• Soy Sauce - I use regular or light soy sauce for the shrimp.
• Green Onions - To give this shrimp filling a bit more flavour, I like to add green onions into it.
• Sesame Oil - Sesame oil is fantastic with shrimp but very strong in flavour. It is easy to overpower the shrimp, so just a dash is all you need.

PORK FILLING INGREDIENTS

• Ground Pork - For a more flavourful filling, use fattier ground pork but I have used lean ground pork as well and it works just as well.
• Ginger - Ginger really enhances the flavour of pork and gives it that pork dumpling flavour! Make sure you grate it; you don't want to bite into chunks of it.
• Soy Sauce - I use regular or light soy sauce for the pork filling
• Oyster Sauce - I haven't found a good substitute for oyster sauce. It's salty with a touch of sweetness with a background of seafood brininess.

HOW TO GET A SPRINGY PORK TEXTURE FOR THE FILLING

When you add salt to ground meat and mix it repeatedly in one direction for at least 7-10 minutes the meat will start to break down and become more paste-like (almost gluey). This is how you will get that springy meat texture you get in dumplings; I actually use this same technique when I'm making dumplings! Hope you have strong arms because it's quite a workout! I'm pretty weak-sauce, it gets tiring after the 1 to 2-minute mark for me!

HOW TO MAKE A SHRIMP PASTE FOR CHINESE STUFFED PEPPERS

I like to hand chop my shrimp by chopping it on a cutting board and then folding it back into a pile and chopping it again. I repeat this step at least 6-10 times until it is a chunky paste. It's more work but I like the added chunky texture (and I hate washing hand appliances haha!). You can also use a food processor to blitz the shrimp which will give you a smoother texture.

HOW TO PREPARE AND STUFF THE PEPPERS FOR CHINESE STUFFED PEPPERS

• I like to use the bottoms (the bums) of the peppers to figure out where I should be cutting out the wedges. I just use a knife and cut straight down where I can see a + shaped indent. You can cut all the way down right through the core and stem. You might need to cut off some of the stem so that it doesn't wobble when you turn the pepper upside down.
• Once you have the wedges, you can cut around the tops and bottoms to remove the core, seeds, and veins. Cut the top and bottom tips off the pepper so that it can lay flat against the frying pan. 
• To ensure the filling sticks and stays inside the peppers, I like to take a little corn starch and rub it on the inside of the pepper before I stuff it with the filling. 
• Make sure you don't stuff it too high or the middle will have a hard time cooking. I like to stuff it so that it is only slightly higher than the side of the pepper.

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Chinese Stuffed Peppers (Dim Sum Style - 2 ways!)

Dim sum style, Chinese stuffed peppers recipe made with two different types of stuffing (traditional shrimp or pork) and smothered in a garlic black bean sauce.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 40 mins

Cook Time 30 mins

Total Time 1 hr 10 mins

Course Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine Chinese

Servings 4 Servings

Calories 465 kcal

INGREDIENTS

 

• ▢ 2 medium sized peppers (any colour or type of pepper works!)

Garlic Black Bean Sauce

• ▢ 1 tablespoon fermented black beans (optional, if you omit - substitute it with soy sauce)
• ▢ 2 cloves garlic (approximately 1 tablespoon)
• ▢ 2 tablespoons oil
• ▢ 1 ½ tablepsoons oyster sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon sugar (or honey)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Shaoxing cooking wine
• ▢ 1 ½ cup water (or broth)

Thickener for Garlic Black Bean Sauce

• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon corn starch
• ▢ 2 tablespoons cold water

Shrimp Filling (Option 1)

• ▢ 300 g shrimp
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon white pepper (see notes about substitution)
• ▢ 1 stalk green onion (finely chopped)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon corn starch
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil

Pork Filling (Option 2)

• ▢ 300 g ground pork (medium or fatty. Preferably not lean)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon corn starch
• ▢ ½ tablespoon ginger (grated)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ▢ 1 ½ tablespoon oyster sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon oil

Garnish

• ▢ green onions (finely chopped)

INSTRUCTIONS

 

MAKING GARLIC BLACK BEAN SAUCE

• Gently rinse the fermented black beans under cold water for a few seconds to reconstitute it and to remove some of the salt. Once the beans are a little soft, use the side of a knife or a fork to smash them flat and set them aside
• Finely chop the garlic and set it aside
• Mix the corn starch and cold water for the corn starch slurry (thickener) in a small bowl and set it aside
• In a small pot, add 2 tablespoons of oil and set the stove to medium heat.
• Once the oil is hot and shimmering, addin the garlic and black beans and cook them for  about 1 minute until the garlic is soft.
• Add the rest of the ingredients for the ‘Garlic Black Bean Sauce’ into the pot (soy sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine, water/stock, sugar) and mix it together. Let it cook until the sauce starts simmering
• Once the sauce starts bubbling, re-mix the corn starch slurry in the bowl (the starch might have settled to the bottom) and slowly pour it into the sauce while stirring. Keep stirring until the sauce thickens.
• Once the sauce thickens, the sauce is done! Set it aside with the lid on. Don't worry if a skin forms on top of the sauce once it cools - it happens.

(OPTION 1) MAKING SHRIMP FILLING

• Defrost the shrimp by running it under cold water for 10-15 minutes and peel the shrimp.
• Once the shrimp has been peeled, use a knife to finely chop it. As I chop the shrimp, it will start to spread out on the chopping board so I like to fold the shrimp back into a pile and continue to chop it. I do this about 10-12 times until the shrimp because a chunky paste. Alternatively, you can also use a food processor which will give you a smoother shrimp paste.
• Once the shrimp has been chopped, put it in a bowl and mix the rest of the ingredients from the 'Shrimp Filling' list together and set aside.
• Take ½ teaspoon of filling and either microwaving it for 25-30 seconds or using a pan to cook it then taste it for flavour to make sure it is salty and flavourful. Adjust to taste.
• Once everything tastes good to you, set it aside for later
• (OPTION 2) MAKING PORK FILLING
• Place the pork in a large bowl
• Grate the garlic and place it in the bowl with the pork
• Add the remaining ingredients from the 'Pork Filling' ingredient list and mix it together.
• Mix the pork filling in one direction for 7-10 minutes. The salt combined with the overmixing will give you a springy pork texture instead of a crumbly pork texture.
• Take ½ teaspoon of filling and either microwaving it for 25-30 seconds or using a pan to cook it then taste it for flavour to make sure it is salty and flavourful. Adjust to taste.
• Once everything tastes good to you, set it aside for later

PREPARING AND STUFFING THE PEPPERS

• Turn the pepper upside down so that the bottom is facing up. You should see 4 bumps. Imagine a line in the shape of a ‘+’ between the bumps. Cut the pepper into quarters using the space between the bumps as a guideline. (see photo in blog for an example)
• Once you have the 4 wedges from the pepper, remove the core, seeds, and veins. Cut the top and bottom tips off the pepper so that it can lay flat against the frying pan.
• Repeat this for the rest of the peppers.
• Once all the peppers have been prepared, place a bit of corn starch in a small bowl and rub it on the inside of the peppers
• Use the filling you made and stuff each pepper wedge. Try not to over stuff it, the deeper the pockets and the thicker the filling, the harder it will be to cook the filling all the way through. I like to stuff it no more than 1 inch thick and have the filling slightly above the pepper by 1-2mm

PAN FRYING THE STUFFED PEPPERS

• Once you are ready to cook them, set a frying pan to medium low heat with a bit of oil. The filling and peppers burn easily on higher heat so we want to cook it on a slightly lower temperature for a longer time so the fillings will cook all the way through.
• Place the pepper in the frying pan, filling side down and cook it for approximately 3 minutes or until the filling has browned. Once the filling is brown, flip it onto the pepper side.
• Once all the peppers have been flipped, add about 3 tablespoons of water into the frying pan and cover it with a lid. We want to steam it a little to make sure the middle is cooked all the way through. If you are using thinner peppers with less fillling, you can skip the steaming step. Steam it until the water evaporates, which is approximately 3-4 minutes
• Remove the lid and continue to let the pepper cook, on the pepper side so that starts to brown. Approximately another 3 minutes
• Once all the peppers are ready, warm up the sauce over the stove again and then spoon some of the sauce on top and enjoy!

NOTES

• You can use any type of peppers for this recipe, even cubanelles! I prefer to stick with the traditional green, red, yellows and orange peppers because I like how fleshy they are and once they are cooked the sweetness comes out and comes together amazing with the stuffings. Use what you like to eat.
• For a more flavourful pork filling, use fattier ground pork but I have used lean ground pork as well and it works just as well.
  Ginger really enhances the flavour of pork and gives it that pork dumpling flavour! Make sure you grate it, you don't want to bite into chunks of it.
• I like to use large tiger shrimp for this recipe and peel the shrimp myself manually. If you make a lot of stocks, you can also save the shells for stocks as well!
• Ground white pepper is very light in flavour and gives seafood that little extra boost. Do not substitute it with black pepper, it is a completely different and powerful flavour and will mask the flavour of your shrimp. If you can't find white pepper, you can omit it.
• Traditionally, fermented black beans are used in the sauce for Chinese stuffed peppers at dim sum but depending on where you are, you might have a hard time finding them, you can omit it. The fermented beans mostly just add saltiness to the dish, so you can omit it and substitute it with soy sauce instead.
• I like to use Shaoxing cooking wine for this recipe, but if you can't find it you can substitute this with dry sherry.
• If you use stock, make sure it is low-sodium or no-sodium so that you can control how much salt is in your sauce.

NUTRITION

Calories: 465kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 30g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 243mg | Sodium: 1195mg | Potassium: 379mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 250IU | Vitamin C: 52mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 3mg

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