This is a popular dish to have at dim sum and for good reason! It's essentially an open topped dumpling made with egg wrappers that’s wrapped around a meat filling and usually topped with fish roe. They're plump, juicy and in my own opinion, quite addictive and thankfully they're not that difficult to recreate at home!
ingredients:
- 17-19 egg wonton wrappers (make sure to thaw it out in the fridge the day before if frozen)
- round cookie cutter
filling:
- 220g pork mince
- 120g prawns, peeled & deveined
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms (rehydrate in hot water for 15 mins, keep aside the mushroom water & mince the mushrooms)
sauce for filling:
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tbsp mushroom water (from the rehydrated mushrooms)
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp chicken powder
- pinch white pepper powder
- 1 tbsp corn starch
toppings:
- 1 small carrot, minced finely
- 5 prawns, topping for siu mai
method:
- Prep the filling - Add your dried shiitake mushrooms into a bowl, cover with hot water and leave for 15 minutes. Once rehydrated, squeeze out any excess water from the mushrooms before mincing - making sure to remove the stem as it will be hard. After cleaning your prawns, slam each of the prawns down with the back of your knife or cleaver, then chop until minced.
- Make the filling - In a bowl, add all the sauce ingredients and mix before pouring it into a bowl with the pork mince. Mix the two vigorously for 1 minute until well combined and paste-like. Add in the minced prawns, minced mushroom and mix until combined. Use your hands to pick up the filling and slam back into the bowl, repeat a few times - this will help make the filling sticky. Keep refrigerated for 30 minutes or use immediately.
- Prep the wonton wrapper - Grab a few wonton wrappers, stack them then place a cookie cutter on top and press down - you should be left with a round wrapper. You can skip this if you want and just use the square wrapper but I prefer the look of the siu mai when it's round.
- Forming the siu mai - Lay the wrapper flat on your palm and add a heaped teaspoon of filling into the centre then spread out the filling until it almost covers the whole wrapper. Then make a 'O' with your thumb, index and middle finger. Use the teaspoon to push the filling down into the hole created with your finger. Rest the base of the wonton wrapper on your ring finger as you continue to press the filling down and add more filling until it's level with the edge of the wrapper. Once level, smooth out the top of the filling with the base of your spoon as you rotate the siu mai in your hand while squeezing with your thumb and index finger, to help ensure it stays round. Repeat until you have no more filling left - watch my Instagram video for a visual guide.
- Garnish - Top 5 siu mai with a whole prawn then garnish all with 1/4 tsp of minced carrot
- Steaming the siu mai - Place the siu mai into a steamer basket lined with parchment paper and cover. Place the basket on top of a pan or wok filled with boiling water. Steam for 8 minutes
- Serve and enjoy - Once cooked, enjoy immediately with your favourite dipping sauce (eg chilli oil mixed with light soy sauce and vinegar)
