Of the hundreds, thousands of Cantonese meals and millions and millions of dim sum dishes I’ve made in my time, the one thing I’ve never made is my own har gau/gow gee/prawn dumpling/蝦餃.
The reason for that is that the wrapper dough is a giant pain in the arse; wheat starch AND tapioca starch AND potato starch and a bit of lard then boiling water at the exact right temperature to melt your hands off, but you have to knead it hot and then roll each wrapper individually and pleat them till you can barely feel your fingers. I think I’ve made every dim sum dish in existence, but never these.
Did it today. Prawn, pork fat, bamboo shoot, Shaohsing wine, seasonings and the remnants of my scorched fingertips. Very good.
