Pork Siu Mai
Traditional siu mai are filled exclusively with chopped pork, though some restaurants will include shrimp in the filling. Siu mai are wrapped in a fresh pasta skin that is left open, so that the filling peeks out of the top of the dumpling when served at the table.
Pork siu mai are one of the “Guangdong Big Three,” along with shrimp dumplings and steamed pork buns, a true staple of the original Cantonese dim sum tradition. The quality of a restaurant’s siu mai says a lot about how seriously it takes its dim sum.
Whether at the restaurant or at home, making great siu mai is all about the filling, which should retain a bright, fresh crunch out of the steamer. Start with the recipe below and then tweak to suit your own taste.
Ingredients
- 6 ounces shrimp
- 1/2 cup peeled water chestnuts
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 30 square or round egg dumpling wrappers
Method
- Peel and devein the shrimp, squeeze out as much moisture as possible and then roughly chop.
- Blanch the water chestnuts for 1 minute, drop into cold water and then roughly chop.
- Combine the shrimp, water chestnuts and the remaining filling ingredients (everything except the wrappers) in a large bowl and stir until well-combined.
- Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper. Form a circle with your thumb and forefinger and shape the dumpling, so that it forms a fat cylinder with an open top. Pat the top and bottom of the dumpling to create flat surfaces on either end.
- Steam the dumplings standing up in bamboo steamers on top of oiled paper punched with holes for 15 minutes. Serve with soy sauce or chili sauce for dipping.
Dim Sum Central https://www.dimsumcentral.com/pork-siu-mai/