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Hóng Kitchen

Siu Mai

Chinese · Medium · Makes 24 dumplings

Siu Mai
Siu Mai
The dim sum canon's open-topped twin and the pork-and-shrimp's classic pairing: the yellow wheat wrapper's cup, pleated to its open crown and filled with the pork-shrimp mixture whose surface shows the shrimp's pink and the roe's orange — the siu mai that the dim sum cart's second position and the teahouse's most-eaten dumpling. The technique is the wrapper's cup shape (the open crown the dumpling's own identity) and the filling's pork-shrimp balance.

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The filling

  • the fat the filling's juice)

The topping — the crown's colour

The wrappers

  • the same wonton family's round), kept covered
Checkpoint — the mise en place complete: the fillings chilled, the wrappers covered, and the steamer's water at its rolling 100 °C rise — the dim sum table's own preparation, checked and ready before the first dumpling's pleat. - The filling mixed in one direction to a sticky, cohesive mass, chilled 30 minutes, and the wrappers and toppings at the board.
Step 1. Fill and cup — the open crown's shape. A wrapper flat on the palm, a spoon of filling (about 25 g, generous) at the centre, and the wrapper's edges gathered up around it — the cup's shape formed by the fist's gentle close around the wrapper's waist, the filling's mound rising proud above the wrapper's rim, and the crown's topping pressed in. Checkpoint — each siu mai is an open-crowned cup — the wrapper's pleats gathered at the waist (the filling held but visible at the crown), the pleat's line running the cup's side, and the topping (the shrimp's pink or the roe's orange) set at the crown's centre. The dumpling's own identity is the open crown; the sealed siu mai is a different (and wrong) dish.
Step 2. Steam — 8 minutes at the rolling rise. The siu mai on their parchment's discs (spaced), the bamboo's steamer at the rolling boil (the 100 °C steam's full circle) (the 100 °C steam's full circle), and 8 minutes — the wrapper cooking to its tender and the filling's pork and shrimp cooking through. Checkpoint — at 8 minutes, the wrappers are tender and translucent at their gathered waists, the filling's crown visibly cooked (the pork's colour and the shrimp's pink set), and a sacrificed one's centre cooked through — the filling's juicy and the wrapper's tender. The eating test: the first siu mai's bite — the wrapper's tender cup, the filling's savoury (the pork's fat and the shrimp's snap in one), and the topping's own note — the dim sum canon's most-eaten dumpling, complete. Chef’s Note — the wrapper's yellow tinge is the specification: the egg-enriched round is the siu mai's own wrapper, its colour the egg's and its tenderness at the steam's clock — and the plain white round's substitution the common error. The pork-shrimp balance at the 60:40 carries the juice and the snap; the lean pork's substitution the dryness's cause.

Doneness & Quality Checkpoints

  • The filling: the 70/30's fat, the one-direction mix, the shrimp's snap in the chop.
  • The shape: the cup's gathered waist and the open crown — the topping pressed in.
  • The steam: the 8-minute clock at the rolling rise.

Finish & Plate

The steamer's basket to the table, the siu mai in their rows — the dim sum trolley's second presentation, and the chilli oil's dip or the soy-vinegar at the side. The cooked dumpling serves the moment; the filled, uncooked freeze 2 months.

Siu Mai

Siu Mai

Prep: 45 minutes · Cook: 8 minutes · Total: About 55 minutes · Makes 24 dumplings

Ingredients

The filling

  • 300 g pork mince (the 70/30 ratio — the fat the filling's juice)
  • 200 g raw shrimp, coarsely chopped
  • 2 scallions, minced; 1 tbsp (15 g) grated ginger
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy, 1 tbsp (15 ml) Shaoxing wine, 1 tsp (5 ml) sesame oil
  • 1 tsp (5 g) sugar, 1 tsp (5 g) salt, 1 g white pepper
  • 1 tbsp (10 g) cornstarch (the bind)

The topping — the crown's colour

  • 24 small raw shrimp (the tail-off, peeled — one at each crown) or 1 tbsp (10 g) tobiko or the masago's roe, or the grated carrot's honest substitute

The wrappers

  • 24 round siu mai wrappers (the thin, yellow-tinged — the same wonton family's round), kept covered

Instructions

  1. Fill and cup — the open crown's shape. A wrapper flat on the palm, a spoon of filling (about 25 g, generous) at the centre, and the wrapper's edges gathered up around it — the cup's shape formed by the fist's gentle close around the wrapper's waist, the filling's mound rising proud above the wrapper's rim, and the crown's topping pressed in. Checkpoint — each siu mai is an open-crowned cup — the wrapper's pleats gathered at the waist (the filling held but visible at the crown), the pleat's line running the cup's side, and the topping (the shrimp's pink or the roe's orange) set at the crown's centre. The dumpling's own identity is the open crown; the sealed siu mai is a different (and wrong) dish.
  2. Steam — 8 minutes at the rolling rise. The siu mai on their parchment's discs (spaced), the bamboo's steamer at the rolling boil (the 100 °C steam's full circle) (the 100 °C steam's full circle), and 8 minutes — the wrapper cooking to its tender and the filling's pork and shrimp cooking through. Checkpoint — at 8 minutes, the wrappers are tender and translucent at their gathered waists, the filling's crown visibly cooked (the pork's colour and the shrimp's pink set), and a sacrificed one's centre cooked through — the filling's juicy and the wrapper's tender. The eating test: the first siu mai's bite — the wrapper's tender cup, the filling's savoury (the pork's fat and the shrimp's snap in one), and the topping's own note — the dim sum canon's most-eaten dumpling, complete.

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The filled siu mai hold 24 hours and freeze 2 months — the steamer's on-demand treasure. The sticky rice and the mushroom versions run the open-crown doctrine. - The canon's seat: the open-crown doctrine's master — the cup's honest shape and the pork-shrimp balance — at the dim sum canon's most-eaten position. > Chef's Note — the siu mai's 8-minute clock at the bamboo's steam and the har gow's 6 at the same — the two dumplings' shared steamer and the different times the dim sum canon's own argument for the steam's individual calibration: the siu mai's thicker wrapper and its pork's centre want the two extra minutes that the har gow's crystal-thin wheat starch and the shrimp's fast-cooking centre do not, and the steaming together (the two in one basket, the one clock) is the common home error that overcooks the one and undercooks the other. The separate baskets or the separate stages the dim sum kitchen's own answer; the record's clocks the calibration.