Shanghainese Dumpling Recipe Dim Sum

SOUP DUMPLINGS (XIAOLONGBAO)

Steps:

• In a small pot, add the pork skin and pork bones and cover with cold water. Bring to a rolling boil, and immediately drain and rinse off the bones and the skin. This gets rid of any impurities. Rinse out the pot and put everything back in. Add 4 cups (950 ml) water, ginger, scallion and wine. Bring the pot to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, turn off the heat, allow the soup to cool, and strain the liquid into a bowl. Once the liquid is completely cooled, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the warm water 1 tablespoon at a time. Work and knead the dough for 15-20 minutes. The dough should be very soft and smooth. Cover with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Take your ground pork and put it in the food processor. Pulse for 30-60 seconds until the pork resembles paste. In a mixing bowl, add the pork and the rest of the ingredients except the aspic. Whip everything together thoroughly, for about 2 minutes. You want everything to be extremely well combined, and the pork should look like a light, airy paste. Gently fold in the diced aspic, and do not over-mix. Cover and transfer the filling to the refrigerator until ready to make the dumplings. If you're ready now, you can put it in the freezer for 15 minutes to allow it to firm up and make assembling the buns easier.
• Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the dough into a long cylinder/cigar, about an inch in diameter. Cut the dough into small equal pieces weighing about 11 grams each (the dough chunks should be a size resembling that of gnocchi). Roll out each piece into a round disc about 3 - 3 ¼ inches diameter. Keep everything under a damp cloth.
• Prepare your bamboo steamer. You can line it with cheese cloth, napa cabbage leaves, or these lovely bamboo steamer discs, which can be found in some Chinese restaurant supply stores (if using these, you must brush the discs with oil first!).
• When all that is prepared, take out the filling. You'll be making each bun one at a time. Place about 1 tablespoon of filling in the middle of your dumpling skin. Pleat with as many folds as you can muster: 12-20 folds should do it. Make sure the top is sealed. If the filling ever gets too wet or hard to handle, put it in the freezer for another 15 minutes and start again.
• Place the buns in the lined steamer basket, about 2 inches apart.
• In a metal steamer pot or wok, boil water. If using a wok, put the water at a level so that when you put the bamboo steamer into the wok, the water rises about ½ inch up the bottom of the bamboo base. You never want the water to touch the dumplings inside, though, so make sure not to fill it too high!
• Once the water is boiling, put the bamboo steamer in the wok or steamer pot, cover with the bamboo steamer lid, and steam over high heat for 8 minutes. Immediately remove the bamboo steamer from the pot and serve.
• Ok, so there is definitely a proper way to enjoy these dumplings. Put away the soy sauce because it has no place on the table right now. What you want is Chinese black vinegar. Pour some out into a small, round dish or bowl, and top with some very thin matchsticks of ginger.
• Take out your two utensils-chopsticks and a Chinese soup spoon (a fork would just butcher these and the soup would dribble out all over the table. It would be a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions).
• Carefully, slowly peel the xiaolongbao off of the steamer basket and dip it into the vinegar. Gently transfer the dumpling to your soupspoon and take a tiny bite out of the skin on the side of the bun to make a little hole. Proceed to slurp the soup out of the bun (Carefully. It's HOT). Then, with a little more vinegar, finish the whole thing off in one bite.

DIM SUM ASIAN DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Combine pork, onion, cilantro, red pepper flakes, red curry paste, garam masala, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder in a bowl. Mix well, then set aside. Place flour into a separate bowl. Slowly stir in the water as needed until a soft dough is achieved. There may be some water left over. Roll out walnut-sized balls of dough into thin circles.
• Fill each of the wrappers with about 1 tablespoon of the pork mixture. Moisten the edges of the wrapper, then fold in half, sealing to create a half moon shape. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. Place the dumplings in a steamer over 1 inch of boiling water, and cover. Steam until the dough becomes glossy, about 10 minutes.
• To make sauce: Combine peanut butter, cayenne pepper, sugar, and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl. Cook in the microwave on High for 30 seconds and stir. Serve with the dumplings.

SHANGHAINESE DUMPLING RECIPE (DIM SUM)

Steps:

• Blanch cabbage until soft and slice thinly.
• Mix meat, cabbage and prawn with seasoning.
• Scoop 1 tsp of the mixed ingredients onto the wanton skin.
• Apply a small amount of water at the side of the wanton skin, gather up the skin to make a little "purse" out of them, and tie with a chive, or thin layer of a green onion.
• Boil water in a pot and cook dumplings for 3 - 5 minutes.
• Scoop dumplings and place on a plate.
• Serve with sauce:.
• Combine all ingredients together with boiling water.
• 10 dumplings/ Serves 5.

SHANGHAI DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• In a lightly sprayed skillet mix all the ingredients except the wrappers,.
• Mix well.
• Over medium heat cook until hot through (apprx) 10 minutes.
• Cool.
• Place a slightly heaped tsp of the mixture in the center of each wrapper.
• With a Q tip moisten the edge of the wrapper all around with water.
• Bring the center of the circle together over the mixture and pull in the edges so you form a small purse. Make sure you have sealed them well.
• Spray your steamer with Pam or other oil as the dumplings may, otherwise tend to stick.
• Steam for apprx 12-15 minutes until the wrapper has an almost translucent appearance and the filling is hot.
• Serve with either a simple soy sauce or the spicy Asian sweet chili sauce.

XIAO LONG BAO (SHANGHAI SOUP DUMPLINGS)

Steps:

• Stock your pantry
• Look for the ingredients and supplies featured here at an Asian market or online at adrianascaravan.com: Chinese-style cured smoked ham (or use Smithfield ham), dried shiitake mushrooms, Shaoxing (also spelled Shao Hsing) wine, black vinegar, dumpling wrappers (don't use wonton wrappers; they are too thin), and bamboo steamer sets.
• Make the soup
• Combine 10 cups water and all remaining soup ingredients except gelatin in large pot. Bring to boil, spooning off any foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until chicken pieces are very soft and beginning to fall apart, adding more water by cupfuls if necessary to keep chicken submerged, about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• Strain and chill
• Strain soup; discard solids. Return broth to same pot. Boil until reduced to 2 cups, about 35 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Pour 3 tablespoons water into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until gelatin softens. Add to hot broth; stir until gelatin is dissolved. Transfer to 13x9x2-inch glass dish. Cover; refrigerate aspic overnight.
• Make the sauce
• Mix 1 cup black vinegar, 6 tablespoons soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons fresh ginger strips in small bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
• Make the filling
• Combine all filling ingredients in large bowl and mix with fork just until blended. Cut aspic into 1/3-inch cubes. Add aspic to pork mixture; stir gently with wooden spoon just until incorporated. DO AHEAD Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.
• Assemble the dumplings
• Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Place 1 dumpling wrapper on work surface. Spoon 1 very generous teaspoon filling onto center of wrapper, including at least 2 or 3 aspic cubes.
• Pleat the wrapper
• Lightly brush edges of dumpling wrapper with water. Bring 1 corner of wrapper up around filling, then pleat remaining edges of wrapper at regular intervals all around filling until filling is enclosed and wrapper forms bundle-like shape with small opening at top.
• Twist the top
• Gather top edges of wrapper together and twist at top to enclose filling. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. DO AHEAD Can be refrigerated, covered, for 1 day, or frozen in single layer in covered containers for 2 weeks.
• Prepare the steamer
• Line each layer of bamboo steamer basket with cabbage leaves; place over wok filled with enough water to reach just below bottom of bamboo steamer basket. (Or line metal steamer rack with cabbage leaves and set over water in large pot.) Place dumplings atop cabbage, spacing apart.
• Steam the dumplings
• Bring water to boil. Cover; steam until cooked through, adding more water to wok if evaporating too quickly, about 12 minutes for fresh dumplings and 15 minutes for frozen. Serve dumplings immediately, passing sauce alongside for dipping.