The Morning Decision
So, this morning, woke up kinda wanting dim sum, you know? But the nearest decent place is so far away. Driving there feels like a trip. Plus, the weekend wait is crazy. Was like, fine. How hard can it be? Found this idea online – modern dim sum, like easier ways to make those little bites at home. Sounded perfect.
Gathering Stuff (& The First Hiccup)
Okay, first step: raid the kitchen. Needed some basics: all-purpose flour, cornstarch, a little baking powder (modern shortcut, apparently!), salt. Easy. Wanted to do shrimp dumplings kinda thing, so grabbed shrimp from the freezer. The recipe said water chestnuts for crunch – had to dig deep in the pantry, found a can! Score! Chopped up some spring onions too.
- Hunting for the steamer baskets… found one kinda rusty one buried behind pots.
- No piping bags? Alright, zip-top bag it is then, just snip the corner later.
- Parchment paper… check! Didn’t have the traditional bamboo steamers, figured this would stop sticking in my metal one.
Started washing the shrimp, peeling them. Was messy, fingers got all sticky. Kinda annoying but, pushing through!
The Dough Drama
This part was… interesting. Recipe said mix hot water with the flour and starches. Mixed it, and it formed this weird dough, sticky and super hot. Almost dropped the bowl! Kneaded it on the counter (floured up first, learned that lesson last time!). Kneaded like my life depended on it. Finally, it started to smooth out, felt kinda stretchy. Covered it in cling film. Now for the filling. Blitzed the shrimp briefly – wanted chunks, not paste. Mixed it with chopped water chestnuts, spring onions, dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, pinch of sugar and white pepper. Smelled pretty good already.
The Shaping Shenanigans
This is where it got real. Rolled out the dough, tried to get it thin. Not perfectly round or even, whatever. Tried to spoon some filling in the middle. Then tried folding it up like a little purse. Failed miserably, couple times. Filling fell out, dough tore. Oh crap. Changed tactics. Said screw the fancy folds, just pressed the edges together like a simple dumpling. Made a few misshapen lumps. Also tried the open-top way – piped (well, squeezed the bag) the filling into little cups made from the dough nestled on parchment paper in the steamer basket. Looked messy but okay.
Placed them all in the steamer basket with the parchment paper. Filled my biggest pot with water, got it boiling hard. Plopped the steamer basket on top. Covered it with a lid. Steam started puffing out. Smelled like… promise? Or burning rubber? Nah, just the steam. Set timer for 8 minutes.
The Big Reveal (and Dipping Sauce Rescue)
Timer beeps. Carefully lifted the lid – whoosh! Steam everywhere. Looked inside. The dough had turned kinda translucent! Wow, it actually looked somewhat like a dumpling skin, kinda shimmery? Not perfectly smooth, but promising. Carefully poked one – felt springy, not mushy. Victory? Maybe!
Quickly whipped up a dip while they cooled a tiny bit: spoonful of soy sauce, splash of rice vinegar, teaspoon of sugar to dissolve, drop of sesame oil, sprinkle of chopped spring onion. Simple.
Grabbed a pair of chopsticks. Nervously picked up one of my lumpy purse-dumplings. Dipped it. Took a bite. First impression: HOT! Blew on it. Second bite… Hey! That’s actually good! Shrimp flavor was clear, the water chestnut gave that nice crunchy pop. The wrapper was chewy, a bit sticky, but held together. Tasted fresh, really fresh. Tried one of the open-top steamed ones – same thing, maybe lighter. Didn’t look restaurant-perfect, way lumpier, but wow. Made them myself!
Final Thoughts (& Cleanup)
Sat down with a plate of my weird-looking but tasty modern dim sum. Messed with the dipping sauce ratio a bit, added more chili oil later for kick. Honestly impressed it worked with such simple gear. Was it a bit fiddly? Yeah, especially the folding. The kitchen looked like a bomb hit it – flour everywhere, sticky bowls, dirty steamer. Took ages to clean up. But for a lazy Sunday experiment? Total success. Tastes good, doesn’t need crazy ingredients, and I didn’t have to drive anywhere. Would do it again, maybe try another filling next time. Simple wins.