Well, I meant to have this recipe up in time for Chinese New Year, but alas, I did not. The best laid plans….you know the rest. However, despite the delay, it’s a recipe still worth sharing, and given that we’re in a season where appetizers are the name of the game for game/madness/award season, these pork and shrimp shumai dumplings are still very much in vogue. Do people still say that? Well, I guess I do here.
This recipe is one of those that Mom collected back when Yan Can was cooking on PBS. It stays tucked away, typed with a typewriter on a blue index card, packed in a decrepit old box that sits in a cupboard atop the fridge. Many a time have I attempted to organize, type and file said box, to no avail. Her organization method holds.
And so does this recipe. Good recipes are rarely typed and organized, but rather are handwritten with a few food stains and smudges, paper aged by time, and always easy to spot amid a pile of papers just when you need to find it. Right?
Anyway, these pork and shrimp shumai dumplings are a fave of mine at dim sum, and it was the first time I’d made them (or, helped Mom make them) and I will say that the folding of the dumplings does require some practice and you, like me, will no doubt have a few that fall apart in the steam. No worries, try and try again, and they will eventually look the way you want!
You fill them with pork and shrimp fill them, encase them in ready made, store bought won ton wrappers and dip them in soy or chili sauce before popping in your mouth. All too easily. These buggers are TOO easy to pop, so make sure you have a few extra on hand.
Happy wrapping!
Pork and Shrimp Shumai
February 5, 2020
: 15-20 dumplings
: 15 min
: 20 min
: 40 min
Pork and shrimp shumai dumplings are a delightful and traditional Chinese dumpling, popular at dim sum and any occasion, these bite sized bites are dreams.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup water chestnuts, chopped
- 1/3 cup black mushrooms, minced
- 2 TB dried shrimp
- 1/3 cup cooked ham, diced
- 1/2 cup fresh shrimp, ground
- 1/2 cup green onions, minced
- 3/4 pound ground pork
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 TB soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 TB sake
- 20-30 won ton wrappers
- 1/4 tsp sesame seed oil
Directions
- Step 1 Make the filling: In a large bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and mix until well incorporated.
- Step 2 Assemble the shu mai: Fill each dumpling by spooning 2 tablespoons of the filling into the center of a dumpling wrapper. Press the edge of the wrapper in toward the center to form a sort of bucket shape. Continue this around the circumference of the wrapper, indenting every ¼ inch.
- Step 3 Using a steamer basket (preferably bamboo), set over a pot of simmering water, steam the dumplings in batches, covered, until cooked through, about 17 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve with soy sauce, chili sauce and/or Chinese mustard.
