Okay, let me walk you through this whole keto dim sum experiment I did. Been on this keto journey for a bit now, and while it’s mostly good, sometimes the cravings hit hard. You know? And last weekend, it was dim sum calling my name. Loudly.
Getting the Idea Rolling
So, there I was, thinking about those little baskets of goodness. Siu Mai, Har Gow… yeah, not exactly keto-friendly with those wrappers. But I thought, there’s gotta be a way, right? People make keto bread, keto pizza crusts, why not keto dumpling wrappers? Seemed like a challenge worth tackling.
Hitting the Kitchen – Prep Time
First thing was the filling. That seemed like the easy part. I grabbed some ground pork, threw in some chopped shiitake mushrooms I had lying around, a bit of green onion, grated ginger, garlic, you know, the usual suspects. For flavor, I used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce to keep the carbs down, plus a dash of sesame oil. Mixed it all up in a bowl. Smelled pretty good already, gotta say.
Now, the tricky bit: the wrappers. I’d seen a few ideas floating around online. Most involved almond flour. So, I got out my bag of almond flour, added some psyllium husk powder – heard that helps things bind together like gluten normally would – and a pinch of salt. The ‘recipe’ I was kinda winging said to use hot water. So I slowly added hot water, mixing it until it formed a sort of dough.
Let me tell you, this dough is nothing like regular flour dough. It felt… fragile. Sticky but also kinda crumbly. Not exactly confidence-inspiring. I kneaded it gently for a minute, then wrapped it in plastic wrap and let it sit for maybe 20 minutes. Figured it might help it behave better.
The Assembly Line Struggle
Okay, dough rested. Time to make wrappers. This was… an adventure. I tried rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper. It kept wanting to crack and tear. Patience, lots of patience needed here. I eventually managed to get it thin-ish and used a round cookie cutter to cut out circles. They weren’t perfect, far from it. Some were thicker than others, some had ragged edges.
Then, filling them. Placed a small spoonful of the pork mixture in the center of a wrapper. Folding was another challenge. Couldn’t do any fancy pleats like the pros. The dough was just too delicate. It was more like folding it in half and pinching the edges shut as best as I could. Made a few Siu Mai style ones too, leaving the top open, pressing the sides in.
- Mixed ground pork, mushrooms, green onion, ginger, garlic.
- Seasoned with coconut aminos and sesame oil.
- Made a dough with almond flour, psyllium husk, salt, hot water.
- Rested the dough.
- Rolled it out (carefully!) between parchment.
- Cut out round wrappers.
- Filled wrappers with pork mixture.
- Attempted to fold/shape them (with limited success!).
Steaming and the Moment of Truth
Got my steamer set up. Lined the basket with some cabbage leaves so the dumplings wouldn’t stick horribly. Arranged my somewhat misshapen dumplings in the basket, leaving space between them. Put the lid on, and let them steam for about 12-15 minutes. Had to make sure that pork filling was cooked through.
Pulled them out. They looked… homemade. Very homemade. The wrappers were a bit darker than regular ones, obviously from the almond flour. But they held together, mostly.
The Verdict?
So, how did they taste? Honestly? Not bad! They weren’t restaurant dim sum, let’s be real. The texture of the wrapper was softer, a bit grainy compared to the smooth, chewy texture of traditional ones. But the filling was flavorful, juicy, really hit those savory notes I was craving. Dipped in a little chili oil and some more coconut aminos, they definitely scratched that dim sum itch.
Was it a lot of work? Yeah, kinda. Especially wrestling with that dough. Would I do it again? Probably. Maybe tweak the dough recipe next time, see if I can get it a bit more pliable. But for a keto-fied version of a beloved comfort food, it felt like a success. Satisfied the craving without kicking me out of ketosis. That’s a win in my book.
