China · Jiangsu

Pork Siu Mai

Name: Pork Siu Mai
Prep time: 48 min
Cook time: 19 min
Total time: 67 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Jiangsu
Ingredients: siu mai wrappers 5 g; ground pork 300 g; minced ginger Exact; chopped scallion Exact; salt 5 g; sugar 3 g; white pepper 2 g; chicken bouillon cube 6 g; winter bamboo shoots 50 g; aspic 100 g; shiitake mushrooms 75 g; shrimp 5 pieces; starch thickener 1.2 g; lard 15 g

Open-topped steamed dumplings with a crinkled wrapper and a filling of seasoned pork, ginger and scallion.

67 minutes · 4 servings · Moderate

Siu mai came south with the trade routes and settled into the dim sum list, where they are judged by how well the wrapper holds and how juicy the pork is. The pleats are gathered with one hand and left open at the top, partly from tradition and partly so the filling can steam. A spoonful of aspic or gelatin gives the broth that runs when you bite in, which many diners consider the point of the dish.

Ingredients

siu mai wrappers5 g
ground pork300 g
minced gingerExact
chopped scallionExact
salt5 g
sugar3 g
white pepper2 g
chicken bouillon cube6 g
winter bamboo shoots50 g
aspic100 g
shiitake mushrooms75 g
shrimp5 pieces
starch thickener1.2 g
lard15 g

Directions

1
For a lighter version: take ten milliliters of cold water and mix with the starch thickener to make a paste.
2
For a lighter version: add twenty-five milliliters of boiling water and stir until it becomes a semi-translucent gel.
3
For a lighter version: once cool, mix it into two hundred and eighty grams of pure lean pork with fifteen grams of melted lard or chicken fat.
4
Mix the ground pork with the minced ginger and scallion, add soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar and white pepper, and stir in one direction until the mixture turns sticky.
5
If using a bouillon cube, dissolve it in fifteen milliliters of hot water and stir until fully dispersed, then add fifteen milliliters of room temperature water.
6
Add the water or stock gradually, stirring, until the filling absorbs it and turns sticky; if it seems too thick, add five milliliters more water and keep stirring.
7
Add the optional ingredients, the bamboo shoots, aspic and shiitake, then drizzle over sesame oil and mix. Chill for thirty minutes so the flavors come together.
8
Take one wrapper and place about twenty to twenty-five grams of filling on it; do not be greedy or you will not be able to close it.
9
Gather the edges of the wrapper lightly with your hand in a tiger-mouth grip to form a vase shape, leaving the top open.
10
Press the base gently with a finger so it stands up.
11
If adding shrimp, place one shrimp on top.
12
Repeat until you have wrapped them all.
13
Place them in the steamer spaced apart so they do not stick together.
14
Steam over high heat for eight to ten minutes.

Source: HowToCook · WorldBite adaptation · Unlicense source text; bilingual recipe adapted by WorldBite.