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

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