Destination
Hong Kong
The story
Har gow ("shrimp dumpling") is dim sum's most technical showcase and the dish by which every dim sum chef is judged. A translucent wrapper made from wheat starch and tapioca starch is folded into a half-moon around a filling of whole, chopped raw prawns with a hint of bamboo shoot and pork fat, then pleated by hand in the classic 12-fold pattern (12 is the minimum; the best dim sum chefs can do 15 or 16) and steamed to a see-through finish where you can just make out the pink of the shrimp through the wrapper.
Method
In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the wheat starch, tapioca starch and salt. Pour in the boiling water (all at once) and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together into a shaggy dough. Add the oil and knead in the bowl until smooth. Cover with cling film and rest 20 minutes.
Combine the chopped and whole prawns, pork fat, bamboo shoots, salt, sugar, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, cornstarch, white pepper and ginger in a bowl. Mix vigorously with chopsticks in one direction for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture becomes sticky and slightly stretchy. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Uncover the dough and turn onto an unfloured surface (wheat starch dough doesn't need flour). Divide into 24 equal pieces. Roll each into a small ball. Cover with a damp cloth so they don't dry out.
Working one at a time: place a ball between two sheets of oiled plastic (a slit freezer bag works). Press flat with the base of a cleaver or a heavy pan into a very thin round about 8cm across. The wrapper should be thin enough to see through.
Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre of each wrapper. Cup the wrapper in one hand. Using the thumb and forefinger of your other hand, pleat one edge of the wrapper toward the other, folding the pleats forward against the flat back edge, aiming for 12 pleats. Press to seal at the top. It takes practice.
Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper (or lettuce leaves). Arrange the har gow with space between each (they shouldn't touch). Set the steamer over a pot of boiling water. Steam for 6 to 8 minutes, until the wrappers turn translucent and you can just see the pink shrimp inside.
Serve immediately in the bamboo steamer, alongside small dishes of light soy sauce and chilli oil for dipping.
Tips
- Wheat starch is not wheat flour. This is the single most important note. Wheat starch (labelled dang meen fun or tang mien or simply wheat starch at Chinese grocers) is what gives the wrapper its translucent finish. Regular wheat flour or rice flour will not work.
- Boiling water into the dough, all at once. Cold water gives you a stiff, opaque wrapper. Boiling water scalds the starch and creates the correct pliable, translucent dough. Add the water in one confident pour, then stir immediately.
- The pleats take practice. The classic 12-pleat har gow is hard on the first attempt. Aim for a well-sealed dumpling first; the pleat count improves with practice. 6 or 7 well-formed pleats are better than 12 messy ones.
- Whole shrimp in the filling. Chopping half the shrimp roughly (keeping half whole) is the correct dim sum ratio: enough texture to hold shape, enough small pieces to bind the filling.
- Steam over rapidly boiling water. High heat, tight-fitting lid, 6 to 8 minutes. Slow steam gives you a wet, sad dumpling; a hot, fast steam gives you the classic see-through finish.
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