Dim Sum

It was Dim Sum night!!! WOOP WOOP!! Okay that was a little dorky in hindsight....but oh well. I LOVE dim sum!! I am not the biggest Chinese food fan, but dim sum I am a fan of. So I found some recipes I like and started experimenting. Dim Sum you wonder to yourself? Maybe you even google searched it?? Of course you didn't, you knew I would be smart enough to tell you what dim sum is. It is basically Chinese ravioli. It is a pasta-ish dough that is filled with pork, shrimp, beef, etc with sometimes cabbage or scallions or ginger and various asian condiments. Then they are lightly sauteed on one side and then steamed done. Wonderful little suckers. But this, like so many of my really good recipes, requires time and patience.....or perhaps and visit to my house. I have cut a huge corner in this recipe and I do not regret my decision at all. There is, after all, only so long you can stand on your feet rolling dough and cutting perfectly sized circles before it takes its toll on you. And never mind the mental problems that come with it. Your house is a WRECK, nothing gets done and you feel more drained than when you started. It is an all day endeavor to make the dough yourself and then cut it all. So take my advice, buy some wrappers and save yourself a few hours hard labor.

 

The first dim sum I did was a ground chicken dumpling. Normally I use ground pork, but I was using stuff in my freezer and I had ground chicken instead.....still think it is better with pork.....but then everything is better with pork. I would eat nothing but pork every day if I could get away with it. In fact I would roast a whole pig on a spit in my backyard if I thought the military would let me get away with it!! Can't you just smell the succulent crispy pork skin now??..............................*moment of silence*.........................

 

I was hoping to get the premade potsticker wrappers, unfortunately Albertsons let me down. They were out of those and the Won Ton wrappers the day Alex went to the store for me. So I told him to get the Egg Roll Wrappers and we would improvise. So I absolutely recommend the potstickers first, then the won ton and if like me you had trouble, go for the egg roll wrappers.

Since the egg roll wrappers are thinner, I used two for each potsticker. If you are using potsticker or won ton wrappers, only use one sheet. I then took a cup and cut same sized circles out of each wrapper. I got two circles per sheet. And so I didn't waste the other half a sheet of wrapper, I used the almost deformed pieces to wrap my other dumplings. I used a light amount of flour on the counter so they wouldn't stick to me or the counter.  

This nifty....yeah I said nifty.....little contraption is a dumpling press. Now this was the second short cut I made on this particular dim sum encounter. This little gadget has made the whole process so much easier!! Before I had to spoon the filling and then individually make each fan. Talk about time consuming. You're starving way before you are finished. Not a good thing. Then you start snacking and you are not even hungry when your meal is ready. But it can be done without the press. I will post pictures of the instructions I followed.

Chicken Filling:
8oz finely shredded napa cabbage (about 3c)
1T salt
8oz ground pork or chicken
2T freshly minced ginger root
1 scallion, thinly sliced
2t soy sauce
2t mirin/dry sherry/white wine
1t salt
1/2t sugar
sesame oil

Toss the cabbage with 1T salt; let mixture sit for 30 min. Rinse and squeese cabbage dry. Combine with pork, ginger, scallion, soy sauce, mirin, 1t salt, and sugar in a bowl. Either refrigerate the mixture for 30 min or form into 2tsp sized balls on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

If using a dumpling press, place a circle on the press and place filling in the center of the press and squeeze tightly to seal the edges.

                                                  


If making by hand, shape dough around filling following any of the following techniques. Place the filled dumplings on a floured baking sheet. Dumplings may be frozen for up to a month.

 

As you can see, this recipe makes quite a lot of dumplings. I do end up freezing part of these and have them another night. It is all the loveliness of having dim sum without any of the hassle!!

The other dumpling I made was the Beef Dumpling with scallions. I go back and forth on which one of these I think is better tasting. Some day I say it is the beef and some days I say it is pork. But I think what makes this dish so special is the fact that I altered the recipe!! hehehe!! The recipe calls for ground sirloin and I finely dice a real steak. Tastes so much better!!

Beef Dumplings:
1-2 finely diced sirloin or better steaks
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1T minced fresh ginger
2t cornstarch
1 1/2t soy sauce
1 1/2t sesame oil
1t mirin/dry sherry/white wine
1t salt
1/2t sugar
1/4t white pepper

Combine ingredients in a bowl. Either refrigerate the whole bowl for 30 minutes or portion meat into 2t sized balls and refrigerate on a baking sheet.

Shape  the dough circles around the filling using any of the above mentioned techniques. Place filled dumplings on a floured baking sheet.

For some reason, these did not produce as much as the chicken ones did. But they were still just as tasty!!

Heat 2 seperate skillets over high heat. Add 1T sesame oil in the pan. Place part of the dumplings in the pan and reduce heat to medium. Panfry the dumplings for about 3 minutes. Carefully add 1/4c water to the pan without pouring on top of the dumplings. Cover the pan and reduce heat to low. Steam for about 6 minutes. Uncover pan, and raise heat to medium-high and cook until bottoms are crisp. Repeat with remaining dumplings.

To cook frozen dumplings...DO NOT THAW. Follow the panfry instructions, then steam dumplings for 7-8 minutes instead of 6.

Remove dumplings from the pan and arrange on a platter. Serve with a sauce (recipes to come)

These got a little squirrelly on the crispiness for me, but still tasted good. The ginger in the meat really makes a big difference. I serve with a variety of condiments. Some of these include a store bought Chili-Garlic sauce, terriyaki sauce (all for Alex), Chili Garlic Oil, and Soy Sesame Sauce.

Soy Sesame Sauce:

1/4c soy sauce

2T rice vinegar

2T water

1 1/2t sugar

1/4 sesame oil

1T thinly sliced scallions

Heat soy, vinegar, water, sugar, and oil in a pan over medium heat, whisking to dissolve sugar. Reduce slightly. Remove dipping sauce to a small bowl. Garnish with scallions.

This is my favorite way to eat dim sum. I hope all of yall try dim sum sometime or another! Maybe one day if I get to come back to Florida I will make us all a dim sum brunch!! Wouldnt that be fun?? Until that day I suppose yall can look longingly at the pictures and wish I was home!!



The Fan fold



The Triangular fold



The Inverted Fan fold



The Tortellini fold