Making Siu Mai: easy Chinese dumplings

If you ever get into a food discussion with my children, ask them to tell you about the time their mother (and longtime Illinois Times food writer) Julianne took them to a dim sum restaurant and watch them roll their eyes.

Years ago, my family had driven me up to O’Hare International Airport so I could catch an early Sunday morning flight. My wife seized this opportunity to expose our children to Chicago’s vast culinary horizons. After dropping me off, Julianne headed to Chinatown for a dim sum brunch.

Dim sum is an age-old dining tradition that has its origins in the teahouses along China’s famous Silk Road. In a dim sum restaurant, instead of ordering off a menu, servers roam the room pushing carts of food from which guests can select. A typical cart might hold stacks of small bamboo containers with lids, or baskets filled with deep-fried shrimp, spring rolls and other fried foods. Servers move from table to table, lifting the lids to reveal what’s inside. If the diner selects a dish, it is served up and marked on an order card that is found at each table. As soon as one cart leaves another arrives.

Julianne had an insatiable culinary curiosity and minimal self-restraint. That Sunday morning she had nearly 100 different dishes to choose from, including such kid favorites as Chicken Feet with Garlic Sauce and Jelly Fish with Sesame. Every few minutes another cart would arrive with something new to sample. The table was soon filled with over 20 different dishes. My daughter, Anne, recalls the experience: “Yes, it was pretty hilarious, the dim sum fiasco. I think they had to bring an extra table or tray to hold the food because it wouldn’t all fit on our table. I definitely remember when the food started coming out. I’m pretty sure the staff was giggling.”

Siu mai, Cantonese steamed pork dumplings, are one of the most popular items at dim sum restaurants. A spoonful of a minced pork mixture is placed atop a gyoza wrapper. Pinching the sides to form pleats creates a little cup. The open-top dumplings are then steamed.

Siu mai are easy and fun to make. When I go on camping trips, I pack a frozen pint deli container of siu mai pork mixture, a pack of gyoza wrappers and a Mason jar of dipping sauce. I enjoy teaching my companions how to make these cute little dumplings.

Siu Mai – Pork and Jicama Dumplings

(Adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl) • 1 large egg white • 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger • 1 tablespoon minced garlic • 1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil • 1 tablespoon Asian sesame oil • 1 tablespoon soy sauce • 1 tablespoon cornstarch • 2 teaspoons sugar • ½ teaspoon salt • 1 cup diced (1/4 inch) jicama • ½ cup minced scallions • 1 ½ pounds ground pork (not lean) • 60 gyoza wrappers or square wonton wrappers* • 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds, toasted • 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted • Frozen peas for garnish

*Gyoza wrappers are thin, round pasta sheets packaged in stacks and sold in the freezer compartment of Asian stores. If you can’t find gyoza wrappers, you can substitute square wonton wrappers, which are available at most grocery stores. Separate the wrappers and restack in piles of 10. Cut through each stack with a round cookie cutter, and discard trimmings.

Equipment needed:

Metal or bamboo steamer (I use a “Thai Chinese-style 26 cm. stacked steamer” available from Importfood.com for $36.95. Bamboo steamer sets are available from the site for $26.40. Pasta pots with a removable perforated insert can also be used.)

Make the filling: Lightly whisk egg white in a large bowl, then whisk in ginger, garlic, peanut oil, sesame oil, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add jicama, scallions and pork and mix with your hands until well combined.

Assemble the dumplings: Arrange 6 round gyoza wrappers in one layer on a work surface (keep remaining wrappers covered with plastic wrap) and mound a tablespoon filling in the center of each. Lightly moisten edge of wrappers with a finger dipped in water. Working with one at a time and leaving dumpling on work surface, gather up the edges, pinching pleats around the circumference, forming a little cup, leaving dumpling open at top. With wet finger, flatten filling so it is flush with edge of wrapper, and transfer dumpling to a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour and cover with plastic wrap. Make more dumplings in the same manner with remaining wrappers and filling. Top each dumpling with a green pea.

Steam the dumplings: Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit steamer insert and poke holes in paper, or generously oil steamer insert bottom. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in pot (bottom of insert should be above water). Arrange dumplings about ½ inch apart in insert and steam, covered, until dough is translucent and filling is just cooked through, about 8 minutes. If steaming multiple stacked inserts, reverse the position of the trays after 4 minutes.

Stir together black and white sesame seeds.

Sprinkle seeds over dumplings and serve immediately with siu mai dipping sauce.

Siu Mai Dipping Sauce

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup water

• 3 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar

• 2 teaspoon sugar

• 3 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions

Peter Glatz once hired a young Chinese woman named Sing Ping to be his dental laboratory assistant, hoping she could teach him about Chinese cooking. One day she invited him to have dinner with her family. Everyone watched in anticipation as he took his first bite. “This is delicious! What is it?” She giggled and said proudly: “Fried pig uterus!”