* Congratulations to Jess from Du Wax Loolu, winner of the Valentine’s Day Art Giveaway! She is the lucky recipient of a print of her choice from 52 Prints, and will hopefully find a place for it in her new home.
There is a special place in my heart for my Popo’s (Chinese for grandmother) cooking. She is a meticulous chef who has perfected certain dishes, and could easily open her own restaurant. Instead, she lovingly cooks for her family and friends. One of my favorite specialties of hers is siu mai, a traditional Chinese steamed dumpling found in dim sum restaurants. Siu mai, like most dumplings, take some time to prepare. But boy are they worth it!
Since purchasing a bamboo steamer a few weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at siu mai. My husband was so excited at the prospect of having siu mai for dinner, he offered to help out. Together, we made and steamed the dumplings, and they were excellent. Soft won ton wrappers stuffed with a mixture of pork, shrimp, water chestnuts and mushrooms. Mmm…Popo would have been proud.
Siu Mai
3/4 pound ground pork
1/2 pound shrimp, minced
1/2 cup water chestnuts, chopped
1/4 cup black mushrooms, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup Chinese parsley, finely chopped
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Five Spice powder
2 tablespoon cornstarch
dash white pepper
1 package won ton wrappers
1 egg white, beaten stiff
Combine all ingredients, except won ton wrappers and egg white. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of filling on a won ton wrapper. Squeeze up sides gently, tucking edges together until it meets at the top. Seal by brushing egg white and press together. Continue filling the rest of the wrappers. Place dumplings upright in a steamer lined with parchment paper. Steam on high heat for 15 minutes.
The Larissa Monologues 
Ok now I know that I will definitely try this recipe because I remembered to bring back a can of water chestnuts with me!!Larissa, this is the first time I’ve seen a blogger use the term Popo…man, what memories! We called our grandparents Popo-man and Popo-lady which is weird because only my grandmother is chinese (half), Popo-man is filipino!
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I loveee chinese food, and I will trade my sould for dumplings 🙂
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I remember your Popo! (If it’s the one in Wailea). I always wished I had a Chinese grandma but it’s nice to have friends with ones I can borrow. In spirit, at least.I have a package of won ton wrappers desperate to be used in the fridge. Maybe I’ll substitute roast cashews for the meat. BTW–great pic!
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Yuck. That sounds and looks wet, gummy, and gross!
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looks so ono! Good Job Larissa!
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Hi, I came across your blog. I googled my name…and found yours. Anyways, you have a cute blog!Larissa in Texas
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Thanks so much for posting this. Since we got back from HK and Shanghai in November we (okay, mainly me) have been pining for siu mai. The ones we ate on the HK street for practically nothing were so good!!
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Oh, and anonymous who said it looked “gross”….if you have no idea what you are talking about and only want to send negative comments, don’t! Not cool at all.
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Anomymous, what planet are you from? Siu Mai is technically steamed meat stuffed pasta. Pasta is supposed to be wet.
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Those look great and remind me of how much I love dimsum!I’ve made something similar using premade wonton wrappers and boiling the dumplings instead steaming them. Maybe I should give it another try.
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Oh my goodness, my mouth is watering right now! That looks delicious!
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I owe all my siu mai expertise to my mother and these look exactly like the ones she makes! Love the photo.
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Oh my gosh! That looks so great!I think I’m going to have to branch out my cooking options.
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they look like the real deal and of course they are and mahalo for the recipe.
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Oh I’d love to make them, but don’t eat meat… what should I put instead??By the way, I read on a previous post that you had decided to give up red meat… pork is red meat! 😉I really like your blog, I just wish you posted something new every day!
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can you please send some extras my way 🙂
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Alexandra – You could try tofu as a substitute. By the way, my “no red meat” phase was short-lived, unfortunately 🙂
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Those look so delicious! I’ll have to try them out.
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I made these for a dim sum lunch today and they turned out to be absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
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