Destination
Hong Kong
The story
Siu mai ("cook and sell") is dim sum's most-ordered dish and one of the two benchmarks (with har gow) by which every yum cha kitchen is judged. Small open-topped cylindrical dumplings of finely chopped pork and shrimp, seasoned with soy, sesame, wine and white pepper, wrapped in thin yellow wonton skins (which curl up around the filling like a small basket), steamed in bamboo baskets and served with a dot of orange fish roe or a small piece of carrot on top for colour. Every proper dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong has a bamboo of siu mai on the trolley from 10am.
Method
In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, chopped shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, water chestnuts, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, salt, white pepper, ginger and cornstarch.
Using chopsticks or a spatula, stir the filling vigorously in one direction only for 3 to 4 minutes, until it becomes visibly sticky and slightly stretchy. This step develops the correct cohesive texture and is essential; skip it and the siu mai crumble.
Cover and chill 15 minutes to firm the filling.
Cup a wonton wrapper in your non-dominant hand. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of filling into the centre. Gently gather the wrapper up around the filling, letting it fold naturally into a cup shape that hugs the pork. Use a small spatula or the back of a spoon to flatten and smooth the top of the filling. Set on a plate. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Dot each siu mai with a small spoonful of orange fish roe (or a pinch of grated carrot) for the classic colour spot. Brush the exposed pork lightly with a little oil.
Line a bamboo steamer with parchment paper (or cabbage leaves). Arrange the siu mai with 1cm of space between each (they don't expand much but shouldn't touch). Set the steamer over a pot of boiling water. Steam for 8 to 10 minutes, until the wrappers are cooked through and the filling is opaque.
Serve immediately in the bamboo steamer, alongside small dishes of light soy sauce, chilli oil and black vinegar with ginger for dipping.
Tips
- The 70-20-10 ratio matters. About 70% pork, 20% shrimp, 10% pork fat is the classic Hong Kong balance. If your pork is very lean (10% fat or less), add finely diced pork back fat to bring the total fat back up; without it, the siu mai will be dry.
- Stir the filling in one direction. This is the whole texture trick. Working the filling with chopsticks or a spatula in one direction for 3 to 4 minutes develops the sticky, cohesive matrix that holds the siu mai together. Skipping this step gives you crumbly dumplings.
- Yellow wonton wrappers, not gyoza wrappers. Siu mai use the thin, yellow, round wonton wrappers (sold at Chinese grocers). White gyoza wrappers are too thick and change the character.
- Steam over rapidly boiling water. High heat, tight-fitting lid, 8 to 10 minutes. Lower heat gives you soggy, undercooked dumplings.
- Fish roe on top for colour. The classic orange dot is tobiko (flying fish roe), sold at Japanese and some Chinese grocers. Finely grated carrot is the vegetarian shortcut and looks similar.
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