Okay guys, let me show you how messy my first dim sum attempt went down. Seriously thought I needed ALL the fancy gear – ended up using mostly regular kitchen stuff. Here’s the blow-by-blow.
Dough Disaster Phase
Grabbed all-purpose flour thinking “how hard could wrappers be?” Wrong. The dough kept cracking like dry desert ground. Panicked, Googled, realized wheat starch was the secret. Ran back to store. Mixed hot water with starch – suddenly got this crazy stretchy dough that actually rolled thin without tearing. Used regular rolling pin instead of fancy dim sum one. Total save.
Filling Fiasco
Tried being fancy with shrimp filling. Big mistake. Food processor pulverized shrimp into pink paste. Texture sucked. Resorted to chopping by hand – much chunkier and better. Saved it with pantry stuff:
- Soy sauce
- Sesame oil
- Cornstarch (makes filling sticky, holds moisture)
- Minced ginger (fresh, not powder)
Note to self: never skip cornstarch – glues everything together.
Steamer Setup Chaos
Almost bought bamboo steamers. Then remembered grandma’s metal colander. Stuck it over my widest pot with lid. Cut parchment paper squares instead of cabbage leaves to line – worked shockingly well. Water level trial-and-error: too low=dried out, too high=wet bottoms. Half inch below colander perfect.
Folding Nightmare
Attempted pleated bao buns. Looked like deflated balloons. Scrapped that – made open-top shumai instead. Just pinched sides leaving filling exposed. Took way less time and steam cooked fine. Also made ugly-but-tasty dumplings by folding circles in half like gyoza. Lesson: pretty shapes need practice. Ugly ones taste same.
Essential Gear Reality Check
What actually mattered:
- One big knife for chopping
- Mixing bowls (used three)
- Rolling pin (wine bottle works in pinch)
- Colander + big pot for steaming
- Parchment paper
- Tongs for pulling hot stuff out
Don’t buy special dim sum tools. Used a teaspoon to scoop filling – bamboo dim sum spatula zero help.
Outcome? Shrimp shumai looked janky but tasted legit. Pork dumplings exploded half the time but broth inside made soggy mess delicious. Definitely doing this again – ugly dim sum beats no dim sum.