Traditional Cantonese Siu Mai 燒賣 dumplings are steamed pork dumplings that often include shrimp and mushrooms and are topped with minced carrots, green pea, or fish roe. This type of dumpling is popularly enjoyed in Dim Sum restaurants or at street food stalls. They are called siu mai because in Chinese, Siu Mai means "to sell quickly" and they usually do because they are such a tasty food that is easy to make and even easier to eat! At the dim sum restaurant, they will usually come in a bamboo steamer, whereas in a street stall, they may be served in a cup with skewers to eat, or served already on a skewer for easy travel and eating!

For me and my hubby, siu mai is a dish that we always ordered whenever we went with our families and friends to dim sum, a staple that you simply need to get in order to have a complete and satisfying dim sum experience. Other dim sum staples include cheung fun (steamed rice noodles) and har gao (crystal skin shrimp dumplings). Since the start of the COVID19 pandemic, I have been slowly learning to recreate our favorite dim sum dishes at home, from ha cheung (steamed rice noodles with shrimp) to lo bak go (steamed/pan-fried turnip cake), and now siu mai!

Try some of my other dim sum recipes:
Shrimp Cheung Fun
Chinese Turnip Cake 

The filling for siu mai is very similar to our Shrimp & Pork Wonton filling in that it involves shrimp and pork and similar seasonings, and for the wrappers you can also use wonton wrappers. However, if you are able to find siu mai wrappers at your local Asian super market, I highly recommend using those as they are even thinner than wonton wrappers and lends to a much more authentic siu mai texture. 

STEAMED SHRIMP & PORK SIU MAI

INGREDIENTS:

• ​16 oz ground pork
• 8 oz minced shrimp (peeled and deveined) - (5 oz minced, 3 oz of the shrimp pounded into shrimp paste)
• 5 rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, minced
• siu mai wrappers (or wonton wrappers)
• green peas
• masago fish roe or minced carrots
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 4 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 tbsp sugar
• 1. tsp white pepper
• 2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
• 4 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 4 tbsp shiitake mushroom water or vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. ​In a large mixing bowl, add the ground pork, shrimp paste and minced shrimp, minced rehydrated shiitake mushrooms, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, white pepper, chicken bouillon powder, cornstarch, baking soda, shiitake mushroom water (you can also use water or vegetable stock), sesame oil and olive oil. Mix it until it becomes sticky and you can see the meat fibers breaking apart. Cover with cling wrap and put into the fridge, allow to marinate for 4-6 hours. 
2. To wrap the siu mai, place the square wrapper in the palm of your hand and place about 1 tbsp of filling into the center of the wrapper. Bring the edges of the wrapper upwards and cup the filling in your hand while forming a circle with your index finger and thumb, using those two fingers to hold the wrapper edges of the dumpling upwards. Continue adding filling into the "cup" you have formed until the filling reaches the top. Tap it down with a butter knife or spoon. Then place the dumpling down onto a sheet of parchment on a plate to prevent sticking, when you place it on the flat surface, push the dumpling down a little so that the bottom of the dumpling flattens to stand up straight.
3. Once all the dumplings are made, add your dumpling topping (minced carrots or fish roe. Optional: add a single green pea on top, in the center of your carrots or fish roe.)
4. At this point you can put the siu mai into the freezer and freeze until hard--then you can place them all into a ziploc bag and take them out to freeze whenever you feel like eating siu mai! Or, you can steam them freshly made. Whether you are steaming them fresh or from frozen, they only take about 12-13 minutes to steam.
5. If you don't have a steamer, you can put a rack into a pot of water and place the siu mai on a plate on top of the rack. Steam for 12-13 minutes, allow to cool for about 1-2 minutes and then enjoy!

Until next time,
​Jenny

So I haven't posted in foreverrrrrr to this blog because a LOT has happened in the past year, other than the COVID19 pandemic, of course. Earlier this year we moved to Illinois because my hubby got a new job and everything changed after that. We quit our jobs, he started his new job, we sold our house in New Jersey, bought a new house in Illinois and moved over here within the span of a couple months. Looking back on it now, I don't even know how we managed such a feat, but it certainly helped that his new company paid for all of the expenses and moving company. It's crazy how much stuff we'd accumulated over the short span of a few years, and so I got rid of a TON of stuff and still managed to move with a giant truckload! We've been living in Illinois since May now, and I have just started to get back into the groove of things, in terms of doing things that I wanted to do, for myself.

Since moving out here, we realized our town does not have many good Asian food options, and we did try some of the offerings around, though none of it memorable. I craved all the things we usually had easy access to in NJ and NYC, and being out here all alone really made me miss real, authentic foods from my culture. If we wanted anything remotely good, we'd have to drive about 2 hours to Chicago to find something. There is a town about an hour from us with slightly more authentic Chinese food, but it's still just so-so. So now, I end up making a lot of the foods we crave. Within the first 2 months or so, I made hundreds and hundreds of assorted dumplings and wontons, one of our favorite foods, which brings me to today's recipe post!

Wontons (雲吞) are a favorite in our family and a type of dumpling that I have fond memories of. These dumplings are a favorite of my father's and his favorite were from a very specific no frills restaurant that he would frequent in Hong Kong that served up "Ping Pong ball sized" wontons filled to the brim with fresh shrimp mixed with a touch of pork and served in a delicious clear broth. Cheap, fast, and delicious was the name of the game when it came to food in Hong Kong--especially street food or casual food. Nowadays, we always reminisce about how delicious the ping pong ball wontons were from Hong Kong whenever we have wontons or make them at home!

Traditional wontons are dumplings that are typically filled with pork, shrimp, or a combination of both. In Hong Kong and China, wonton soup often includes 大地鱼 or bian yu, also known as dried sole or flounder that adds a real hit of umami when the wontons are submerged in it. Some dried flounder powder is sometimes added to the wonton filling as well. It's been pretty hard to find this dried flounder powder in the USA, but with some online googling, I'm sure you can find it if you truly want an authentic wonton experience. For this recipe, we don't use dried flounder powder, but it still tastes great and goes wonderfully with noodle soup or on its own.

In my recipe, we use shrimp and pork, some Chinese staple seasonings and sauces, and ginger. The trick to a shrimp-ilicious wonton is to mix  a combination of chopped chunk shrimp and pounded shrimp paste with some ground pork. ​

Once your filling is ready, you'll spoon some onto some thin wonton wrappers which you can find at most Asian markets, and now increasingly can be found in the refrigerated sections of non-Asian supermarkets. I usually find them where they keep their tofu selections, which is also where they keep egg roll wrappers if you need to find some! I like to fold my wontons in half, then bring the ends together to "hug" the wonton.

I love to wrap a whole bunch of wontons and dumplings in one sitting so that I can store them in the freezer. After you are done wrapping them, place each finished dumplings onto a flat pan lined with parchment paper. After they are frozen, you can throw them into a freezer gallon bag to save space in the freezer.

This is pan fried turnip cake, or 香煎蘿蔔糕, a delicious turnip cake that is first steamed with daikon radish, Chinese sausage, shiitake mushrooms, dried shrimp and scallions that is pan fried until crispy and golden brown.

Chinese turnip cake always makes me think of busy dim sum Sundays with family and friends and is such a nostalgic dish. Like my shrimp cheung fun recipe, this was born out of a craving during the COVID19A quarantine and wanting some luo bak go and not being able to go out for dim sum!

This is such an easy recipe—it's one of those one pot recipes where you throw everything togeher and let it cook. There's only a little prep work involved where you have to shred the daikon radish and stir fry the ingredients before mixing all of it in a bowl. To steam the turnip cake, I used a 12x3 metal circle pan that fit my wok, but you can honestly use whatever you have on hand and you can separate the batches depending on the size of your pan and steamer. Steam for an hour, let cool completely and it's ready to eat! Or, my favorite way is to cut it up and pan fry with some oil for a great crispy outside and soft turnip cake inside. I typically like to cover it and leave in the fridge overnight for it to settle and then crisp it up for breakfast or dim sum brunch the next day!

​I'm so happy that we can now enjoy this dish at home and I hope you enjoy it too!

Recipe Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

• 2 daikon radish, about 10-12 inch long each, shredded
• 200 grams of rice flour
• 50 grams corn starch
• 2 cups water
• 4 Chinese sweet lap cheong (cured Chinese sausage), diced
• 4 scallions, diced
• 1/8 cup dried shrimp, finely minced
• 4 large shiitake mushrooms or 8 small shiitake mushrooms (use dried shrooms and rehydrate them before dicing)
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 3 tsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp chicken powder (or salt)
• 1 tsp white pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Skin the daikon radish and shred it with a large toothed grater. If you don't have, you can use a fruit peeler to shave the radish down into strips, then roughly chop into shredded pieces.
2. Place all the shredded radish into a large pan and cook until no more excess liquid is produced and the radish is cooked through/translucent. You can taste it to make sure it is softened.
3. Heat a separate pan on medium heat and cook the diced Chinese sausage, releasing its oils. As it cooks, add the minced shrimp, shiitake mushrooms and scallions and mix thoroughly.
4. Once the meat mixture is cooked through, add it to the daikon radish. Add the oyster sauce, chicken powder, sesame oil and sugar and mix well.
5. In a large mixing bowl, add the rice flour, cornstarch and 2 cups of water. Mix well until lumps are gone. Then, add the daikon mixture into the mixing bowl and stir until well incorporated.
6. Use a large steam pan (I used a 12x3 circular pan) and pour the entire mixture into the pan. Steam on medium heat for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove the turnip cake from the steamer and allow to cool completely.
7. Enjoy as is or slixe into desired thickness and pan fry with oil until both sides are crispy and golden.

​Enjoy!

Until next time,
Jenny

To be honest, my experience with Indian cuisine goes only so far as dishes that are popular in America--Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken, Tandoori meats, Roti, Naan bread, Curry, etc. I definitely can't claim to be very knowledgeable when it comes to Indian cuisine, and I have to admit that because of my inexperience with it, I've been scared to try new dishes in authentic Indian restaurants because I like to stay in my comfort zone of what I do know and recognize on the menu. That being said, I am very blessed to work with people from different cultures and my coworker Urvi brought in this tasty Indian snack called Sev Puri, or Chaat to share with us at work. The second I put the Puri chip into my mouth, I knew I had to get my hands on the recipe! The moment I swallowed, I put my hand on Urvi's arm and said, 'Please teach me how to make this!!'
​
It was so delicious that I wanted to learn to make it at home too, like all the time. The flavors of this Sev Puri Chaat recipe are incredibly fresh and simply bursting with flavors and textures. Crispy, tangy, sweet and has a hint of spice (dependent on how much pepper powder you put in it). From the first bite, this snack will take you on an adventure through flavor town and *sings* a whole new world...a new fantastic point of view...

​If you've never had Chaat, the only way I know how to describe it is an Indian version of nachos topped with salsa. However, because there is no cheese, the dish is much more light, and therefore so very easy to eat lots of! (Not that you should eat too much of anything, but it's not as heavy and greasy as nachos with cheese and all the fixings). Urvi graciously welcomed me into her home and allowed me to film her showing me how to make the Sev Puri. I was happy to learn that the ingredients were all relatively inexpensive and are easy to find in any Indian supermarket. (I look forward to making a trip to an Indian supermarket soon!) Furthermore, the recipe was mostly assembly work so it was pretty quick to put together.
​
She also explained the different kinds of spices typically found in Indian kitchens and even showed me her expansive spice cabinet! It was very impressive, and definitely something I need to take notes on in organizing my own spice cabinets!

Isn't this spice box pretty? Apparently it's very common in Indian kitchens. Almost looks like an artists' paint palette!

After we were done filming, and I got a belly full of delicious Sev Puri Chaat (along with a take home baggy for Wilson to try...and for me to ultimately eat all of...shhhh!), Urvi showed me the rest of her beautiful home and even showed me the personal praying temple in her room. I didn't take a picture of it, but she had pictures of all the different Gods that she and her husband worship in the Hindu religion. It was very interesting to learn about, and both the imagery, stories, and ornate details in the little praying temple's architecture was amazing to see. The experience of learning another culture's food and hearing Urvi's stories were so fascinating, and beautiful to say the least. I felt so lucky and grateful to Urvi for welcoming me into her home, her kitchen, and teaching me so much about herself and her culture!

In any case, here is the awesome recipe that you really have to try! There aren't any measurements for the toppings since it really depends on how much you yourself want to eat and your own preferences. So top away!

INGREDIENTS:

• Puri
• Chiwda
• Thin Sev
• Coriander Chutney
• Mint Chutney (optional)
• Tamarind & Date Chutney
• Chaat Masala spice powder
• Red Onion (chopped)
• Tomatoes (chopped)
• Red pepper powder (optional)
  
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Spread the Puris out on the plate.
2. Top with chopped red onion.
3. Top with chopped tomatoes.
4. Add Chiwda (however much you like).
5. Add the Tamarind & Date Chutney, then add the Coriander Chutney (optional: add Mint Chutney).
6. Top with Thin Sev.
7. Add Chaat Masalad spice powder.
8. Add red pepper powder (optional).
9. Top with more Thin Sev. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! I can't wait to make this again!

In honor of National Wing Day, we wanted to make some killer wings to celebrate on the day of. But, what we wanted to eat for dinner.. was noodles. Who says we can't have both? We decided to experiment and mashed the two together and are happy to present the SAMYANG RAMEN WINGS!! Crispy, Crispy noodley wings.

Since the Samyang Ramen noodles are a Korean brand, of course our wings had to be the Korean style double fried wings!

The wings came out feeling very similar to the crunchy, candylike textures of Korean fried chicken wings like BonChon, and the spicy flavor was unmistakably that of the Samyang hot chicken ramen. It was a happy marriage of ramen and wing night! The corn syrup and brown sugar will help dial down the heat a lot, but if it's still too spicy for you, feel free to put less of the Samyang sauce or put more sugar. Up to you! If you're up to the challenge, don't put the brown sugar at all...we pray for your butthole. 🙏🌶🌶🌶🔥🔥🔥

INGREDIENTS
• 12-15 wings
• 1/2 tbsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tbsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• Canola, peanut, or any kind of frying oil - enough to fill pot so that wings can float freely
• 3 packages of Samyang Extra Spicy Roasted Chicken Ramen - BUY THE 5 PACK HERE
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup potato starch
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup or rice syrup (We used Karo Dark Corn Syrup)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse the wings and dry to remove excess water. (Water will cause the frying oil to splash)

2.Season with salt, pepper, minced ginger and sesame oil.

3. Let the wings marinate for 30 minutes, while you prep your dipping stations. Heat up your frying oil.

4. Crush 1-2 packages of uncooked noodles using a rolling pin, hammer, or your fist. Pieces should be small, roughly 1/4 inch or less, but not quite to the point of powder. We just smashed all of the noodles in the bag with a rolling pin until well crushed.

5. Using a food processor, powderize about 1/3-1/2 of the crushed, uncooked noodles. (Be sure to pulse, as dry materials in a processor tends to heat up). Combine this with your potato flour.

6. Whisk 3 eggs until smooth.

7. Evenly coat each wing with the flour mixture. Then dip each with the egg until evenly spread, and finally coat with the crushed noodles. Set aside. These should be done one at a time, like a production line so the wings don't spend too much time sitting in any one station.

8. Once all the wings are ready, check your oil for temperature. It should be around 375F degrees, but for those of us who don't have a kitchen thermometer, a wooden chopstick can be used to guesstimate. If the chopstick starts to bubble, it is hot enough to cook with. (Something I learned from my parents).

9. Submerge the wings into the oil one by one. Make sure there is enough oil for the wings to float without touching each other for a nice even fry. If there isn't enough oil, any wing resting on the bottom of the pot/pan will likely burn. Wings should fry for 12 minutes, or until internal temperature of 165F degrees.

10. Remove the wings from the oil onto a rack so any excess oil can drip off. Do not set on a flat surface as the oil will puddle and soak back into the wings.

11. Prepare the sauce. Pour about 2 tbsp oil into a deep set pan and heat. Add garlic, corn syrup, the three SAMYANG ramen sauce packets, and brown sugar. Mix until thick.

12. Once the sauce is complete, return wings into frying oil for 3 minutes. Then take it out and place them onto the rack. Allow any excess oil to drip off.

13. Dip, drizzle, coat, shower, or however you prefer to sauce your wings.
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14. Make sure you eat some before serving, who knows how long they'll survive. Serve whatever is left!

We hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! The wings definitely packed a punch in the spice department and is best enjoyed with a cold beer. Crunch away on these juicy, spicy, crispy wings during a party, for dinner, or when you're craving both ramen and wings at the same time! Happy National Wing Day!