Siu Mai Cook-off II

[Dejah]

There are 2 items in this inaugural Chinese cook-off: This thread is for sui mai.

You can use ready made wrappers, or if you are ambitious, make your own.

The filling too will also be your choice.

Do post pictures of your effort...and the recipes or instructions as I know some of you are "a bit of this, a dab of that"...

[snowangel]

For those of you that have made these before, question. Although I can easily get all sorts of skins, they are frozen, and even when thawed just seem a little too "stiff." Tip? Make my own?

I often make potstickers, and for these, one wants a thicker skin, IMHO. Holds up better to the frying, and if the skins are too thin, you can't separate the dumplings easily. But, I think for the siu mai, I want really thin skins, corrrect?

[Dejah]

For those of you that have made these before, question.  Although I can easily get all sorts of skins, they are frozen, and even when thawed just seem a little too "stiff."  Tip?  Make my own?

I often make potstickers, and for these, one wants a thicker skin, IMHO.  Holds up better to the frying, and if the skins are too thin, you can't separate the dumplings easily.  But, I think for the siu mai, I want really thin skins, corrrect?

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I have always used frozen wrappers as I have to go into the "big city" to find a Chinese store. The ones I use look like wonton wrappers but half the thickness. These are very pliable and thin enough for sui mai.

[torakris]

luckily I have very easy access to good skins!

what about the fillings?

My Chinese friends here insist it has to be a mix of pork and seafood (usually shrimp) for the best taste, but I don't really remember the proportions...

I do remember them rubbing the shrimp with salt until it was foamy????

and then pounding the mixture, picking it up and slamming back into the bowl for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

[SuzySushi]

Okay, I'll be making siu mai over the weekend. Two different fillings. One is a recipe using shrimp & ground pork that I've used before. The other is eggplant siu mai, a recipe I copied down many years ago from a cookbook I borrowed from the library (and didn't note the name of!). The eggplant is cooked in black bean sauce and, now that I read it over, the instructions seem to specify too short a steaming time. It will be a real experiment!

[sheetz]

I think I'm gonna try a glutinous rice shu mai. Never made those before.

[Tepee]

luckily I have very easy access to good skins!

what about the fillings?

My Chinese friends here insist it has to be a mix of pork and seafood (usually shrimp) for the best taste, but I don't really remember the proportions...

I do remember them rubbing the shrimp with salt until it was foamy????

and then pounding the mixture, picking it up and slamming back into the bowl for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

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Kristin, the mix is usually 50/50. I haven't heard of rubbing shrimp with salt until it's foamy. I'm guessing that's to get rid of its fishy smell. For shrimps, I just add salt and a pinch of sugar to marinate for a short time. I don't know the science of it, but, apparently, the sugar helps it to develop a springiness. The same thing goes for pounding and slamming...to develop a spring when you bite on the siu mai.....something about developing its gluten, perhaps?

[Tepee]

Suzy and Sheetz....I am thinking I must be a country bumpkin, because I've never encountered egg plant and glutinous rice siu mai. I would love to see your pics and notes on these. Tks! This cook-off is getting interesting!

[SuzySushi]

Suzy and Sheetz....I am thinking I must be a country bumpkin, because I've never encountered egg plant and glutinous rice siu mai.    I would love to see your pics and notes on these. Tks! This cook-off is getting interesting!

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I'm not sure the eggplant is traditional Chinese... I wish I could remember the name of the cookbook! It had recipes from a lot of different cultures, and what tied them together was the bold seasonings.

A couple of my Chinese cookbooks have recipes for siu mai stuffed with glutinous rice. Wei-Chuan's dim dum cookbook calls them "pearl siu mai."

[Laksa]

Suzy and Sheetz....I am thinking I must be a country bumpkin, because I've never encountered egg plant and glutinous rice siu mai.    I would love to see your pics and notes on these. Tks! This cook-off is getting interesting!

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Glutinous rice siu mai is probably a Northern specialty. Who would expect us Southerners to be familiar with it? But that doesn't necessarily mean you're not a country bumpkin, though.

I had this one in a Shanghainese restaurant last year:

[Tepee]

Thanks for the pic and the enlightenment, O Waisik One! Lei gong gom toh double negatives ngo mg chi le ngap mud.<--------country bumpkin talking.

Edited April 15, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[Dejah]

luckily I have very easy access to good skins!

what about the fillings?

My Chinese friends here insist it has to be a mix of pork and seafood (usually shrimp) for the best taste, but I don't really remember the proportions...

I do remember them rubbing the shrimp with salt until it was foamy????

and then pounding the mixture, picking it up and slamming back into the bowl for AT LEAST 15 minutes.

←

I think you can make sui mai with just pork, or a mixture of pork and shrimp, crab, glutineous rice, and you can also add chopped bamboo shoots, ginger, Chinese mushrooms.

To get the springiness to the filling, the addition of liquid(I use water), sugar, baking soda, lemon juice and cornstarch all seem to be at work. My KitchenAid does the "abuse" for me. When you see "threads" in the meat mixture, you will get the springy texture.

[Laksa]

Does anyone know if it's vital to steam the siu mai in a bamboo basket steamer or something that has perforations on the bottom? Can I do them on a plate too or will that result in too much collected liquid and a gooey mess?

And how large can I make the siu mai before it becomes impractical? The size of a grapefruit is what I would like to aim for. I need a man's size siu mai to satisfy a man's size hunger, damnit!

[Jon Tseng]

As mentioned (and pictured) glutinous rice siu mai are a bit bigger and are stuffed with a mix of rice, dried shrimp and wind-dried sausage, in my experience.

Only really seen them in Shanghai where they are commonly sold on the streets. Haven't seen them in the North/Beijing

Addictive, but filling

J

[Dejah]

Does anyone know if it's vital to steam the siu mai in a bamboo basket steamer or something that has perforations on the bottom?  Can I do them on a plate too or will that result in too much collected liquid and a gooey mess?

And how large can I make the siu mai before it becomes impractical?  The size of a grapefruit is what I would like to aim for.  I need a man's size siu mai to satisfy a man's size hunger, damnit!

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Dim sum: touch(like a finger tip) of heart...

Grapefruit size: PUNCH! In the movies, if you punch someone in the heart, it stops! Might take some waiting to cook...

I don't use a bamboo steamer when I do large amounts. I use the perforated inserts in my steamer. It works fine. If you use a plate inside the steamer, then you will get an accumulation of liquid which may make your sui mai skin soggy.

[Laksa]

Only really seen them in Shanghai where they are commonly sold on the streets. Haven't seen them in the North/Beijing

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I don't know my Chinese geography as well as I should, but I sorta considered everything north of Fuzhou as being "northern" I was thinking of Shanghai and not Beijing though...

Dejah, I will try to use a perforated pan of some sort. As for the size...I was trying to achieve the best compromise between cooking time and the time I have to spend forming each dainty little dumpling.

[sheetz]

And how large can I make the siu mai before it becomes impractical?  The size of a grapefruit is what I would like to aim for.  I need a man's size siu mai to satisfy a man's size hunger, damnit!

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When I was in Australia the Chinese places sold something called a "Dim Sim" which looked basically like a gigantic shu mai. I think they must have used egg roll wrappers for the skins.

[sheetz]

Here's the recipe for glutinous rice shu mai I will use, courtesy of Martin Yan:

http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails/recipe%5F2107.asp

[Chris Amirault]

Does anyone know if it's vital to steam the siu mai in a bamboo basket steamer or something that has perforations on the bottom?  Can I do them on a plate too or will that result in too much collected liquid and a gooey mess?

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I don't use a bamboo steamer when I do large amounts. I use the perforated inserts in my steamer. It works fine. If you use a plate inside the steamer, then you will get an accumulation of liquid which may make your sui mai skin soggy.

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I have heard tell that the large metal steamers produce more moisture because the metal allows the steam to bead; the bamboo doesn't allow for that sort of condensation. Since hearing that, I always put the bamboo top on when I'm steaming anything whose moisture I need to be careful about (which is usually!). Is that just b.s.?

[SuzySushi]

I have heard tell that the large metal steamers produce more moisture because the metal allows the steam to bead; the bamboo doesn't allow for that sort of condensation. Since hearing that, I always put the bamboo top on when I'm steaming anything whose moisture I need to be careful about (which is usually!). Is that just b.s.?

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I'd suspect that's true. I like bamboo steamers because they add fragrance to the foods (and look attractive to bring to the table). Another trick to prevent condensation, btw, is to wrap a tea towel around the underside of the lid of a pan, fastening it on top with a rubber band or twist-tie so it doesn't hang down onto the burner.

[Dejah]

What has been said about the condensation with metal steamers is probably true, but I've never noticed excess moisture on the dim sum I've made...baos, sui mai, har gow, etc.

Maybe this time I will use the big bamboo lid I have and see if there is noticable difference. That's what's great about a cook-off...trying and learning something different!

[torakris]

I use a metal steamer too. I ahve noticed that sometimes they seemed a bit water logged.. I thought maybe the heat was just too high and the water was bubbling through the holes.

Maybe it is time to pick up a bamboo steamer.

[jo-mel]

I will be watching and reading this cook-off, but will be half home and half not, so can't do any actual cooking.

About the wrappers --- there was a time when there were wonton wrappers and gyoza wrappers - period. One was thick and square and the gyoza were thicker, with a faint oval shape, But now the wontons come in Shanghai style and Hong Kong style --- with the Shanghai style thicker than the other. Even different brands have varying thicknesses. (At least in my area of the world) For Shao Mai, I like the thin ones, but when I have new people making them who had hands made of thumbs, the thicker ones were easier to handle.

I like Rhoda Yee's recipe for Shao Mai. I also like to feel the texture of the ingredients, so I usually chop everything by hand, rather than use machine. Her recipe calls for 1 pound 'pork sausage' and 1 pound ground pork. I never knew if she meant ground Chinese sausage or regular pork sausage. The latter was too fatty and the former was tooooooooo sweet sausagy, so I ended up with all not-too-lean pork. But -- her original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp. minced salted turnip and just that little amount lends a flavor that is not overpowering, but makes you want to say ---- What is that masked flavor??!!

[Makan King]

I believe I had some glutinious siu mai when I was in Din Tai Feng in Taipei. I think you can get them in the Beijing and Singapore branches too. I can't say I was enamored by them. Of course, the xiaolongbao ruled!

Does anyone know how to make sio be, the Teochew version of siu mai?

[hzrt8w]

And how large can I make the siu mai before it becomes impractical?  The size of a grapefruit is what I would like to aim for.  I need a man's size siu mai to satisfy a man's size hunger, damnit!

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When I was in Hawaii for the first time and saw some manapua, I thought that was scarily big!

Where do you find the paper-thin, grapefruit size siu mai wrappers?