Ingredients for the dough (for 4 servings):

• 200g tapioca starch (the starch cannot be replaced by tapioca flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 125ml boiling water

Ingredients for the filling (for 4 servings):

• 200g shrimps, deveined and diced
• 200g pork belly, diced
• 3 shallots, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika powder
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce

Ingredients for the scallion oil:

• Vegetable oil
• 3-4 spring onions, finely chopped
• A pinch of salt

Ingredients for the dipping fish sauce:

• 1,5 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons warm water
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red chili pepper, finely chopped

Preparing the filling:

1. Season the shrimps with salt, pepper and minced garlic.
2. Season the pork with salt, pepper, paprika powder and minced shallots.
3. Heat the oil in a pan, fry some minced garlic/shallots till fragrant.
4. Add the pork and stir well for 1 minute. Add sugar, and keep stirring for 3 more minutes.
5. Add the shrimps and season with fish sauce. Stir well and simmer on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes until the pork and shrimps are nicely caramelized.

Preparing the scallion oil:

6. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan on medium-high heat, and add the chopped spring onions. Stir quickly for 10 seconds and take off the heat.

Preparing the dipping fish sauce:

7. In a small bowl, combine fish sauce, sugar and warm water. Mix well until sugar is dissolved. Add lime juice, garlic and chili pepper.

Preparing the dough and cooking the dumplings:

8. Place one third of the tapioca starch (40g) in a small bowl and the rest (160g) in a large mixing bowl. Pour the boiling hot water into the small bowl. You will see the starch on the surface turn quite translucent. Stir well and you will get a half-cooked paste. Wait 1-2 minutes for it to cool down slightly.
9. Transfer the paste to the large mixing bowl to combine with the rest of the tapioca starch. Knead well until a soft yet elastic piece of dough is formed. Place the dough in a plastic bag to prevent it from drying up.
10. Pinch a piece of dough, divide and shape into 1-inch (2,5cm) size pearls. Flatten each pearl into a 3-inch (7-8cm) disk. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the centre and fold over to form a half-moon dumpling. Pinch the edges together to seal. Try not pinching on the filling as you don’t want to tear the wrapper. Repeat until all the dough and filling are used.
11. To cook the dumplings, fill a large saucepan with plenty of water and bring to a boil. Gently slide the dumplings into the boiling water, one by one (cook them in 2-3 batches to avoid overcrowding). Boil the dumplings until they float to the surface. Stir them around gently. Then transfer them to a plate. The dumplings will turn translucent in 2-3 minutes after cooling down.
12. Mix the dumplings with the scallion oil, prepared in step 6. The dumplings might stick to each other, but will be easy to detach thanks to the scallion oil.

To serve, put some dumplings to a serving plate, garnish with chopped cilantro and chili, and add the dipping sauce to the plate.