Cook and sell dumplings (Siu mai)

If you ever wonder why it is called “cook and sell” dumplings, well, it is a direct translation from the Cantonese dialect siu mai. Siu 燒 means to cook and mai 賣 means to sell. Like I mentioned before, the Chinese like to name the dishes that convey good messages/meanings. To be able to “siu mai” is a good thing. It means your business is running smoothly, you cook and it is sold immediately 😉

I’m almost certain that you’ve probably seen or heard of siu mai before. Siu mai is one of the most popular and common dim sum dishes. The fillings of the dumplings can vary from chicken, turkey, beef, pork, seafood, or combination of any. I made these siu mai with the classic filling: pork, shrimp, and mushrooms. Feel free to change the fillings to suit your preference. You’ll find that it’s a no brainer to make siu mai. Even if you have never made it before 😉

COOK AND SELL DUMPLINGS / SIU MAI (About 35 dumplings)

What you will need:

• About 35-40 store-bought thin round dumpling wrappers

Filling:

• 12 oz of ground pork
• 10 oz shrimp (shelled, deveined and finely minced)- save the tails for decoration
• 5 shiitake mushrooms (soaked in warm water, discard stems and cut finely chopped)
• 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• Pinch of salt and white pepper powder

Dipping sauce:

• ½ cup soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp of sugar
• 1 tsp of sesame oil

For garnishing:

• Carrots (peeled & grated)

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients for filling in a large mixing bowl. Use a spoon to stir in one direction until they come together (paste-like). Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes

Dipping sauce:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil until the sugar is melted. Let it cool down before serving

Wrapping:

1. Get your steamer ready by bringing the water to a boil. Place one of the wrappers on your palm and scoop about 2-3 Tbsp or more of the filling into the center of the wrapper. Shape the wrapper to surround the filling. Smooth the filling on top with wet fingers and add more filling to top it up all the way to the top and smooth again to make sure they are fully packed. Kinda a little overflowing is fine because they will shrink a bit after steamed. Give the wrapper one last gentle squeeze to make sure everything holds up together. Garnish with some grated carrot on top. You can tuck in the tail of the shrimp on top of the siu mai as decoration too (as shown in the photos)
2. Continue until you are finished with the wrappers and fillings. Steam them in batches for 10 minutes on high heat and keep the rest cover in plastic wrap so the skin won't dry out