Pork and Shrimp Dumpling (Shumai) – Recipe

Do you like dim sum? Of course you do, what kind of monster doesn’t like dim sum; the ritual of lining up on Sunday mornings at your favourite dim sum house, listening to aunties sing the contents of their steamers in a memorized song as their push their carts along a predetermined carpet-worn circuit. If waking up early on a Sunday morning isn’t your thing, but dumplings are, I’ve got a recipe for pork and shrimp shu mai that’s going to knock your groggy weekend socks off and scare the Sunday morning breath of out your mouth.

The recipe is fairly simple. Incorporating a few key ingredients that are synonymous with Chinese cuisine (that are relatively inexpensive, that can keep for a while), these pork and shrimp shu mai freeze and reheat amazingly.

Ingredients:
-1 kg minced pork (ground can be substituted)
-3 shitake mushrooms (minced)
-1 scallion (minced)
-1/2 tbsp ginger (minced)
-0.5 kg shelled and deveined shrimp (chopped coarsely)
-1/2 tsp sugar
-1/2 cube chicken bouillon
-1/4 tsp ground black pepper
-1/2 tsp corn starch
-3 tsp Shaoxing wine (or cooking wine/sherry)
-1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
-3 tsp water
-1/2 tsp salt
-2 tbsp sesame oil
-1 package of *YELLOW* wonton wrappers
-1 salted egg yolk or 20-30 green peas (optional garnish)
(Recipe yields 25-30 dumplings)

Directions:
In a bowl, combine pork, shitake mushrooms, scallion, ginger,sugar,pepper,corn starch, wine, soy sauce, chicken powder and water.
For this recipe I used 1kg of pork butt and chopped it by hand. I find that you lose a lot of the texture and “bite” to the dumpling when you use ground pork. If you have the time (or patience), I highly suggest you mince the pork by hand. When combining the ingredients, it’s advisable to use chopsticks to mix; by using chopsticks, you’re not only mixing the ingredients, but also aerating and essentially fluffing up the pork mixture.

Add your roughly chopped shrimp to the top of the pork mixture and add salt. Mix the salt in with the shrimp before combining with the pork. This step is important as the salt will pull the moisture out of the shrimp further flavouring the dumpling filling. Add sesame oil then cover and refrigerate for one hour.

With your awesomely large man-hands, scoop the filling into your wonton wrappers that have been left out to warm up to room temperature and place a piece of your garnish (I chose to use salted duck egg yolk) on top of your pretty delicate bundle of dumplingness. (*YELLOW* Wonton wrappers – opposed to the white ones because they are thinner and more pliable. )

Get your steamer to a rolling boil and steam for 7 minutes.

Serve with chili sauce or eaten straight as is, these dim sum pork and shrimp shu mai are delicious and simple to make. I remember when I was young sitting in the kitchen watching my grandmothers and mom make dozens and dozens of these with speed and expert precision. Now that I’ve shared my recipe, hopefully you can create the same memories with your family… minus the screaming and yelling and crying.

Let me know how it goes!