Siu Mai (Shumai - Chinese Steamed Dumplings)
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
30 mins
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Cook Time
8 mins
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Servings
20 - 24 pieces
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Calories
69 kcal
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Course
Main Course, Appetizer, Snacks
Siu Mai (Shumai - Chinese Steamed Dumplings)
Description
Siu Mai, a classic dim sum dish, features a ground pork and chopped prawn mixture combined with finely minced soaked shiitake mushrooms, green onions, and seasonings including light soy sauce, sugar, salt, and Shaoxing wine. The filling is mixed until pasty, helping create a cohesive texture. Each dumpling is formed by placing a heaped teaspoon of filling into a wonton wrapper and shaping it by hand to have a flat base and round walls.
Steaming is done in a bamboo steamer lined with perforated baking paper over simmering water for about 7 minutes until cooked through. The dumplings have a juicy filling with tender mushroom and a slight prawn bite, balanced by the light seasoning and slight sweetness from sugar.
Serving Siu Mai as part of a dim sum meal showcases their texture contrast and delicate flavors. Garnishing with flying fish roe adds a visual accent typical in restaurant presentations but can be substituted with finely chopped carrot if desired.
This recipe's notes include tips for choosing fatty pork for juiciness, using soaked shiitake mushrooms for depth, and drying methods for steamer liners to prevent sticking. The dumplings freeze well raw and cook from frozen, offering meal prep convenience.
Ingredients
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms , soaked in boiling water, finely chopped (Note 1)
- 350g/ 13oz ground pork fatty (Note 2
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2.5 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp soy sauce Note 4, light
- 1.5 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (aka Shaoxing wine, sub Mirin or dry sherry) (Note 5)
- 150g/5oz prawns peeled and deveined, chopped 0.5cm / 1/5" (Note 3, or shrimp
- 2 tbsp green onion finely minced (Note 6, white part
- 20 - 25 wonton wrappers 8cm/3.5" squares or rounds (Note 7, or egg wrappers
Garnish:
- 50g/1.5oz flying fish roe (Note 8 for alternatives)
Instructions
Filling:
- Place pork, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar with the pork meat/mince in a large mixing bowl. Mix vigorously with a spoon or use your hands until it becomes pasty (initially it will be crumbly) - about 30 seconds.
- Add mushrooms, prawns and green onions, mix until just dispersed (don't crush the prawn meat).
Making Siu Mai (process steps and video helpful!):
- Form an "O" with your forefinger and thumb.
- Place a wonton wrapper over the "O". Push in 1 heaped teaspoon of Filling and push down into the "O" hole.
- Use a butter knife to smear more Filling into until level with edge of wonton.
- Place on work surface and push down to flatten base and use fingers to shape into a round.
Steaming Dumplings:
- Line a 30cm/12" bamboo steamer (or stove steamer) with baking paper with holes in it (Note 9)
- Fill a wok big enough to hold steamer with about 2 cups of water (Note 10). Bring to rapid simmer over medium high heat.
- Place Siu Mai in steamer (20 - 25 fits). Place lid on, place on wok over simmering water.
- Steam 8 minutes, or until internal temperature of dumplings is 75°C/165°F. (If yours are bigger due to larger wonton wrappers are bigger, they will take longer).
- Remove steamer from wok. Remove lid and place a tiny bit of roe in the middle of each dumpling.
- Serve immediate with dipping sauce!
Siu Mai Dipping Sauce:
- Provide soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar or normal white vinegar, Chinese chilli paste (or Sriracha or other chilli). Let people mix their own to their taste (I do: 3 parts soy, 1 part vinegar, as much chilli as I think I can handle).
Notes
- Fatty pork is recommended for a juicy filling; sourcing from a butcher or using pork belly minced at home improves flavor.
- Dried shiitake mushrooms must be soaked and finely chopped to contribute umami and texture.
- Sui Mai wrappers can be square or round; square wonton wrappers folded and pinched achieve the traditional shape.
- The dumplings may be steamed fresh or from frozen; cooking times vary slightly with size and thickness of wrappers.
- Freezing raw dumplings enables easy batch cooking; steam from frozen for best results.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 20- 24 pieces
Amount Per Serving
Calories 69 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 69cal | 3% |
| Carbohydrates | 3g | 1% |
| Protein | 5g | 10% |
| Fat | 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 33mg | 11% |
| Sodium | 165mg | 7% |
| Potassium | 64mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 15mg | 2% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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