Shrimp Har Gow
My family has been in this country for three generations (since immigrating from southern China). We’ve long forgotten our mother-tongue but that has not stopped us from being fluent in the art of ordering dim sum. While it is easy to point at stuff when the carts roll around, it’ll make you feel a lot better to know what you’re getting. Here’s one of my favorites:
Ingredients for the filling:
1 lb. chopped shrimp (You should get it raw.)
1 tbsp chopped bamboo shoots
1 tbsp thinly sliced green onions (The white part only.)
2 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
3 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
4 tsp corn starch
Ingredients for the wrappers:
3/4 cup wheat starch (This is hard to find unless at a Chinese grocery store.)
2 tbsp tapioca starch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup boiling water
2 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
Directions:
Mix together the drys for the wrapper.
Add the boiling water to the drys and stir until smooth. Add the oil and keep mixing. Once it cools down, you can knead it with your hands. Let rest.
Mix together all of the filling ingredients.
Take a piece of the dough and smush it between your hands until about the size of your palm.
Fill with filling.
Coat the bottom of the dumpling with oil to prevent sticking to the steamer.
Set up the steamer. If you don’t have one of these, oops. If you do have one, you just need to boil some water and put the basket on top.
Steam for 6-7 minutes. You should be able to tell the shrimp is done by when it turns pink in color.
Note: the photo is shown with lettuce wraps which can be found here.