Siu Mai

Somewhere, about 50 billion years, Kirsten and I really wanted to have a dumpling day. The main goal was bao, but first I wanted to share the two other dumplings we made. Siu mai is something I go nuts over at dim sum restaurants. As you'll see below, we definitely did not have the deft skill to perfectly seal these delicate dumplings like you see at dim sum places, but they were tasty nonetheless.

Siu Mai slightly modified via About Chinese Food:

Makes about 20 dumplings

6 oz. peeled deveined large shrimp

1 green onion

1 tsp. minced ginger

¾ c. ground pork

1 Tb. oyster sauce

1 tsp. Chinese rice wine or dry sherry

1 tsp. sesame oil

½ tsp. granulated sugar

About 20 gyoza wrappers

Soak the shrimp in warm, lightly salted water for 5 minutes. Pat dry. Mince the shrimp and green onion. Combine with the ginger and pork. Stir in the seasonings. Mix the filling ingredients thoroughly.

Lay a gyoza wrapper in front of you. Wet the edges. Put 2 to 3 teaspoons of filling in the middle, taking care not to get too close to the edges. Gather up the edges of the wrapper and gently pleat so that it forms a basket shape, with the top of the filling exposed.

Steam over boiling water until the filling is cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes.

These pair well with bao and the guo tie I'll post tomorrow. It's fun trying new things! Even with the not so great pleating, they were so good.