Okay, so I got this urge the other day, you know? A real craving for some proper dim sum. Not the frozen stuff, but like, the real deal. And I thought, how hard can it be, right? Famous last words, maybe, but I decided to give it a shot.
Getting Started – The Hunt for Stuff
First things first, needed the ingredients. Took a trip down to the Asian supermarket. Man, that place is an adventure. Wandered around looking for wrappers – they have like a million types! Found some round yellow ones, figured they’d work for Siu Mai. Grabbed some ground pork, a bag of frozen shrimp (peeled and deveined, I’m not that ambitious), shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, scallions… the usual suspects. Oh, and dumpling wrappers for Har Gow, the translucent kind. Those looked tricky.
Making the Filling – The Fun Messy Part
Back home, kitchen time. Put on some music. Chopped the shrimp up, not too fine, wanted some chunks. Did the same with the mushrooms and water chestnuts – gotta have that crunch. Threw it all in a big bowl with the ground pork.
Then came the flavour bits. Bit of soy sauce, splash of sesame oil, some shaoxing wine (smells amazing), white pepper, little bit of sugar, cornstarch to bind it all. Got my hands in there and gave it a real good mix. Felt kinda satisfying, honestly. Made two bowls, one mostly pork for Siu Mai, one heavy on the shrimp for Har Gow.
Folding… or Trying To
Alright, the folding part. This is where things got interesting.
Siu Mai First:
- Took a yellow wrapper, plopped a spoonful of pork filling in the middle.
- Tried to cup my hand around it, squeezing the sides up like the videos show.
- My first few looked… well, let’s call them ‘rustic’. Kinda lumpy.
- Flattened the top, stuck a pea on there for decoration (okay, it was a frozen pea, sue me). Got the hang of it after a few tries. They started looking more like proper Siu Mai.
Then Har Gow:
- These wrappers were stickier, more delicate.
- Spoonful of shrimp filling.
- Tried doing those fancy pleats. Hah! Mine were more like clumsy pinches.
- Sealed them up best I could. Some looked okay, others looked like they’d given up halfway. Definitely need practice here.
Steam Time!
Lined my bamboo steamer with some cabbage leaves (read that trick somewhere, stops sticking). Carefully placed the dumplings inside, leaving space between them. Got the water boiling in the wok, popped the steamer on top. Lid on. Now, the wait. The kitchen started smelling incredible, like a real dim sum place. Peeked after about 10 minutes. Looked cooked!
The Moment of Truth
Pulled them out. Okay, they weren’t perfectly uniform like restaurant ones. My Har Gow pleats were definitely dodgy. But hey! They held together! Served ’em up with some soy sauce and chili oil. Took a bite… honestly? Pretty damn good! The Siu Mai were juicy, the Har Gow had that nice chewy wrapper and crunchy shrimp. Totally worth the effort and the messy kitchen. Felt good making something like that from scratch. Will I do it again? Yeah, probably. Need to perfect those Har Gow folds though.