Dumpling/Dim Sum Help
 

Since returning from Hong Kong, my son has repeatedly talked about how he misses the food. Living away from a big city, we have no place to get dim sum. His favorites were pork dumplings and turnip cakes. He did like the baked BBQ pork buns from Tim Ho Wan.

So my request: Does anyone have a favorite dumpling recipe? Do you have a dim sum cookbook recommendation?

I'd really like to try to make some for him to add to Christmas dinner.

TIA

Frozen, but not nearly as good. Are there any Asian markets around that may carry it? ON line? I know nothing about how they would get delivered?

We just came back from China and HK this summer and have been going to Dim Sum places around here. We do have a large Chinese or Asian communities around grater LA.

I am sure there's something on utube.

Wow, I understand, and I haven't even been to HK. I've had some good stuff here in Houston and some amazing dumplings in San Fran. I would think the hardest part might be sourcing some of the ingredients, especially the wrappers. The right wrappers make a huge difference to the end result.

Supermarket frozen ones are certainly OK.

The usual steam then shallow fry. Of if you are lazy/hungry like me, I just coat them in rice bran oil and put them in the air fryer.

We have a lot of dim sum in Hawaii and even have a Tim Ho Wan. For us, dim sum is a local kind of thing to take to friends homes for a pot luck, or to watch a football game. I have not tried these recipes, but they look about right. The big thing is getting the proper skins to make the dim sum. Go to your local Asian store and see what they have. Pork hash/siu mai usually uses a pi that is also used for won ton and gau gee. The wrap for half moon, I have not seen in stores. You may have to improvise.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/84858/hawaiian-pork-hash/

https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/recipes/find-a-recipe/gok-jai-(half-moon)

For the pork buns aka char siu bao, you would need to get the char siu sauce/powder to marinate your pork, then roast it, then shred for the filling. You could get an order of Peking duck buns from your local Chinese restaurant, and just fill them with the char siu you made. I know my sister had a recipe to make them as she does Tupperware demos and makes char siu bao. The ingredients should be easy to get. I'll ask her for the recipe.

how about Yan Can Cook? Marvin Yan?

or that guy in Boston - I forget his name

here, they are in all the grocery stores (ok, but not as good as in restaurants or food trucks)

Ming Tsai?

I follow Seonkyoung on YT. The dan dan mian is amazing

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Bingo - thx for help with my senor moment

Dumpling dough is just water and flour. Add water little by little while kneading until consistency is right. Then roll into a log, refrigerate while you make the filling. When the filling is ready, cut small sections from the log, then roll out to disks about 1/8" thick. Thinner is better but more fragile. Make the first one, put filling in it, moisten edges of disk, fold disk in half, then pleat. No need to get fancy with the pleating, do get most of the air out. When you have the amounts right, make ten more disks and fill / pleat. Then another ten. Etc.

This homemade wrapper/disk is much better than the premade wrappers you can buy.

For filling, use pork, shrimp, garlic, ginger, scallion, salt, pepper, a little soy sauce, a little white/rice vinegar, a very little Worchestershire as sub for Chinese black vinegar. And a dollop of fat (lard, Crisco, other rendered fat) or a dollop of jellied broth or a couple packages of Knox unflavored gelatin - this is to keep the filling moist when cooked. Chop everything fine, using food processor or knife, and mix.

You can pan fry, deep fry, steam, or simmer these. If pan frying, use a little oil, set the dumplings in the pan (extra credit for shaping them into little crescents) with pleat up. Fry over medium heat until the dumplings stick to the pan, then pour 1/2 oz water into the hot pan and cover. The water will steam the rest of the dumpling and release the stuck-on part. Remove lid and keep cooking until the water is gone, then serve.

This is your basic Asian dumpling.

For shao mai, make smaller dough disk and same filling, but instead of folding over and pleating the disk, put filing in center and then pleat disk into sort of a "trash can" shape with the filling in the can. (Think of how a potted plant is set on wrapping paper and the paper pleated to fit around the pot.) Bring your forefinger and thumb tips together, holding the trash can in the circle of these fingers, and squeeze a little to give the can a little bit of an hourglass shape. Use other hand to lightly compress the filling in the can, leaving some of the can sticking up above the filling. Leave the can open. Then fill the can with something red like chopped carrot or red pepper. That's for looks. These have to be steamed.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1576392964.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1576392964.jpg

I used to make Dim Sum. So good. But like a lot of asian foods, its labor intensive. I got lazy and started getting frozen. Seeing these recipes inspires me to get back to it. I mainly remember one must mix the pork filling until it becomes a paste. Makes them much easier to fill and fold properly.


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This is great! Thanks guys. My son does the frozen stuff but he says it's not the same, as most frozen foods are. I just thought for Christmas dinner I would surprise him with a dumpling.

A dumpling? Just one?

:D

I cook more Oriental food than probably anybody on this site. Not dim sum. Too much work, for too little reward. Sushi, dim sum and tamales are three things that I tend to buy only in restaurants.

Here’s the book I have on it. It’s not a fancy coffee table book, more something that would be used to train a Chinese cook in school. No idea where you would find it...

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1576416429.jpg

You can find anything these days.


Chinese Dim Sum (Chinese Edition) (Chinese) Paperback – November 1, 1990

OK. Maybe one is shooting a little low. ;)

There are just no local places that do anything beyond americanized Chinese food. I just want to try to give him a little reminder of his travels.

I'm also thinking of taking him to NYC in the spring. Shouldn't be too hard to find a great place for him to get his favorites.

Are you using AP Flour for this? Thanks

This might help.

https://odyhouse.com/products/dumpling-mould-set-of-2pcs

Most recipes call for rice flour, and tapioca flour.

There are two basic types of dough, one with flour and water only and one that includes yeast, too. Of the doughs that include only flour and water, sometimes hot water is used, sometimes cold water is used and sometimes a mixture of the two is used. The resulting doughs have differences in elasticity. Standard all purpose, wheat flour with a medium gluten is recommended.

In general terms, the doughs that include yeast are typically used in buns and those without yeast are typically used in things like potstickers.

Check out Fuscia Dunlop, although she is an expert on Sichuan cuisine.

Her cookbooks are thorough and informative..

Land of Fish and Rice.

This one may have recipes that are closer to HK

This a recipe for Wontons in hot oil. but the filling is typical..

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/sichuanese-wontons-in-chilli-oil-sauce-em-hong-you-chao-shou-em-51147600

TYou could easily mmake the wontons, and have them in nice broth, if the heat is to much




If you to make it to NYC, i recommend taking the 7 train, and check out Flushing, Queens. The Chinatown there is growing larger than the one in Lower Manhattan..

In reality riding the 7 train you can sample Thai, Burmese, Indian, Mongolian. Nepalese,Dominican, Mexican, Salvadoran, etc...

Usually but have used bread flour. Not super critical, this dough isn't going to rise, form crumb, crisp up, etc. It simply needs to be cooked, not fall apart, and ideally not be too thick.

Make a test batch, experiment with different size/thickness for the rolled-out disk/wrapper and different pleating. You want to get a process that works for you, before starting to mass produce.

I remember my grandmother and aunts in the kitchen, wrapping dumplings.

I should make a batch and freeze some.

Get a book and have him learn. If he's gonna live far from his favorite food, he needs to learn to make it.

Hard to believe there is no good dim sum anywhere in SC or NC - I know NC has good bulgogi...

a food trip to NYC is never a bad idea however

It sounds like the problem is that they aren't near any major hubs that would have it assuming it exists. I'm sure that there are parts of every state that due to the location don't have much ______ cuisine. She didn't say there weren't any in the state, just that they aren't near where they live.

It might be easier, nicer, better to learn to make them than it would be to drive 6, 10, 14 hours round trip to see if there are good dumplings around.

There are 3 Trader Joe’s in S.C
Lots of dumplings, including soup dumplings.

https://www.google.com/search?q=trader+joe%27s+frozen+dim+sum&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari

Thanks. Good to know Trader Joe's carries some good stuff. I'll need to check it out.

We do have 2 Asian markets that are within 15 minutes of the house. A former Mandarin tutor my son had didn't think much of their frozen stuff so I never tried that. But having those markets close makes it easier to get some of the ingredients needed for dishes.

There a lot of discussion about how to make dumplings but I see no concern at all about the sauce

If the sauce sucks then it doesn’t matter how good the dumplings are


While subjective, I think it’s pretty obvious when the sauce is perfect. You don’t just dunk a well crafted dumpling in soy sauce

The Asian markets are more likely to have better stuff than Trader Joe's. At least the markets in my area do...

Some dim sum is eaten without any sauce...

Lots of recipes out there for a sauce for potstickers, etc... Google is your friend, you don't even have to get out of your comfy chair and put on pants.

I will say that any soy sauce-based dipping sauce benefits from using a good soy sauce. Not the crap you buy in a regular grocery store... I'd start with one that is brewed using traditional methods. I generally use condiments that are indigenous to the cuisine I'm cooking but I do have preferences and might use a Japanese soy sauce when cooking Chinese, for example.

Last thing... When eating dim sum out, skip the chicken feet offering.

I have a few of those. They certainly speed up the process, but the resulting dumpling is not as nice as one that is hand formed.

I agree

I’ll add that I don’t stick to always using indigenous condiments. Lately my preference for dipping sauce is a Vietnamese sauce called
NUOC CHAM. I could pour this on everything. Don’t be afraid of fish sauce. !!!!

Hell, fish sauce has been in my pantry for decades. Not that I would put it on dim sum, but I get your point.

To the OP, I used to live in manhattan. While there I would frequent a place in China town called Lin’s Dumpling House. I would get the boiled shrimp dumplings which came with spicy chili oil as the sauce. 20 years later I still dream of a big plate of these. I believe they are still there but whether or not they are still good, I can’t say. If you go, I suggest you check it out