So, I got this thing about dim sum. Always loved it. But there was this one time, years back, I had some Siu Mai that just blew my mind. Seriously good. Couldn’t stop thinking about it for ages.
Eventually, I figured, hey, I should try making that myself. How tough could it really be, right? Just looked like minced stuff in a wrapper. Thought I could knock it out easy.
The Big Project Begins
First step, went out to the shops. Had to get all the bits. Got the pork, found some decent shrimp, grabbed mushrooms, water chestnuts, and those little yellow wrappers. Found some basic steps online, figured that was enough to get started.
My first attempt was a total disaster. No joke. The filling was all wrong, way too wet and pasty. When I tried to wrap them, the wrappers just ripped or wouldn’t fold right. They looked awful, like little sad blobs. Steamed them anyway. The taste? Nowhere near right. Just… bad.
Okay, so not so easy then. Didn’t give up though. Tried again the next weekend. This time I was a bit more careful, tried to really follow the recipe steps I found. They held their shape a bit better, looked more like Siu Mai, kinda. But the flavour was still missing something big. Just wasn’t hitting the spot.
This carried on for a while, maybe three or four weekends. It got a bit frustrating, felt like I was just making okay-ish meatballs in a yellow hat. Read somewhere that using a food processor makes the texture wrong. Said you absolutely had to hand-chop the pork and shrimp for the right bite. Sounded like a lot of work.
But I did it. Got my biggest knife out and chopped everything by hand. Took forever. My arm was aching. Mixed it all up, being really careful this time with the seasoning too.
Getting There
This batch… they looked pretty good! When I wrapped them, they felt better. Steamed them up, nervous as heck. Took a bite.
And yeah. That was it. Maybe not exactly like that restaurant years ago, memory plays tricks, you know? But it was damn close. The texture was right, that slightly bouncy, chunky feel. The taste was spot on. Finally!
Made a big batch and had some friends over. They actually demolished them! Said they were amazing. Felt pretty proud, I gotta admit.
The main thing I learned? Making proper dim sum is seriously hard graft. Loads of little steps and details matter. Gives you massive respect for the chefs in dim sum places who churn out hundreds of perfect little things every day. It’s not just cooking, it’s a real skill, a craft.
I still love going out for dim sum, probably appreciate it even more now knowing the effort. But every now and then, when I’ve got a free Saturday, I’ll still spend a few hours chopping and mixing and folding. Making Siu Mai, it’s become my own little ritual.