What is Little Dim Sum Popular Types and Making Tips

Alright folks, buckle up. Been craving some proper dim sum lately after some truly awful takeout last weekend. You know the stuff – rubbery shumai, weird-tasting har gow. Figured I should just make it myself. Here’s how that adventure went down.

The Starting Point: What Even IS Little Dim Sum?

Right. So, before diving headfirst into the kitchen chaos, I sat my butt down at the computer. Searched “little dim sum” – turns out it just means those small, bite-sized portions you get in bamboo steamers. Seems obvious now, but hey, gotta start somewhere. Focused on the popular ones everyone recognizes:

• Har Gow: Those translucent shrimp dumplings. Looks easy? Ha!
• Siu Mai: Open-topped pork and shrimp dumplings. Always looks slightly messy, even when pros do it.
• Char Siu Bao: Steamed buns filled with sweet BBQ pork. My favourite comfort food.
• Cheung Fun: Rice noodle rolls, usually stuffed with shrimp or beef. Requires serious noodle-making confidence.

Decided Har Gow and Siu Mai were ambitious enough for Round One. Char Siu Bao felt like a step too far. Maybe next time.

The Ingredient Hunt: Panic in the Aisle

Hit up the local Asian supermarket. The plan was simple: shrimp, pork, tapioca starch, wheat starch, wrappers maybe? Reality slapped me hard.

Couldn’t find wheat starch for love nor money. Wandered around for what felt like an hour, squinting at labels covered in Chinese characters I don’t understand. Eventually grabbed something called “dumpling flour blend” that looked hopeful. Found some thin round wonton wrappers thinking “close enough, right?”. Got prawns that cost more than my dinner budget, minced pork, bamboo shoots, spring onions. Felt confident walking out. That confidence was misplaced.

Prep Work: Chopping and Swearing

Got home, cleared the counter. Started peeling and deveining those stupid prawns. Messy business. Hands smelled like the fish market. Chopped them roughly, then minced the pork. Threw them in a bowl with chopped bamboo shoots, spring onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, a splash of rice wine. Mixed it up. Looked… brown and sticky. Smelled okay, though. Reserved half for the Siu Mai filling.

Now, the Har Gow filling needed finer chopped shrimp. Pulse pulse pulse went the food processor. Ended up with shrimp paste. Fine. Mixed in seasoning. Was this right? No idea. Just rolled with it.

Dough Disaster #1: The “Wheat Starch” Trap

Followed a recipe online for Har Gow wrappers using my mystery “dumpling flour blend.” Poured boiling water over the flour. Stirred. It transformed into a weird, translucent, glue-like gel. Tried kneading it. Stuck to my fingers, the counter, everything. Added more dry flour. Became crumbly. Added water. Back to glue. Swore loudly. Grabbed the packet again. Fine print: “Mainly Tapioca Starch”. Right. Wrong stuff. Abandoned wrapper dreams. Used the thin wonton wrappers I’d bought as backup. Cut them roughly into circles. They dried out faster than my enthusiasm.

The Folding Nightmare

Started with Siu Mai. Put a blob of filling in the centre of a wonton wrapper. Tried pinching the sides up around it into a little cup, leaving the top open. Mine looked like sad, drunken little sacks. Some wouldn’t stand up. Needed wet fingers constantly to seal them. Slow work. Frustrating.

Har Gow was worse. Supposed to be pleated. My attempts either split the dried-out wrappers or ended up looking like deformed blobs. Managed a few that semi-resembled little pouches. Definitely not translucent.

Put them all on a tray dusted with cornstarch. Looked tragic. Like a kindergarten art project gone wrong. But hey, they were assembled.

Steaming: The Moment of Truth (Or Horror)

Set up my bamboo steamer over a wok of boiling water. Lined the baskets with parchment paper (cheating, but screw sticking). Carefully placed maybe six sad dumplings in each. Covered them. Waited.

After 8 minutes, peeked. Some Siu Mai looked okayish. A couple Har Gow had split open, spilling pink shrimp paste. Disaster. The wrapper texture was… leathery. Not soft and stretchy like real Har Gow. The Siu Mai filling tasted alright, surprisingly! Needed more ginger though. Har Gow filling was nice, but the wrapper ruined it.

Lessons Learned (The Hard Way)

So yeah. Total mixed bag. Here’s the takeaway mess:

• Dough is King: You CANNOT cheat the Har Gow wrapper. Finding the right wheat starch or proper Hong Kong flour is non-negotiable. Or just buy pre-made wrappers specifically labelled for Crystal Skins. My shortcut failed spectacularly.
• Prep Wrappers Fast: Cover those bad boys constantly with a damp cloth. They dry out before you blink.
• Filling Moisture: Too wet, your dumpling explodes. Too dry, it’s like sawdust. Mine was decent only through luck.
• Steam Gently: Rolling boil underneath, but don’t blast them violently. Low-med heat seemed best to avoid splits.
• Don’t Start with Har Gow: Seriously. Siu Mai is way more forgiving. Start there. Bao dough next time maybe?

Honestly? Felt like a lot of work for mixed results. Tasted okay enough with chili oil and soy sauce, but visually… yikes. Frozen stuff suddenly seems much more appealing. Maybe I’ll try Char Siu Bao next week. Or maybe I’ll just order takeout again. We’ll see how brave I feel.