If you go out for Yum Cha, what are your favourite kind of Dumpling?
For me that question is easy, hands down, no question; Har Gow are my favourite.

Logically, with the amount I like to cook, it wouldn’t take too long for me to want/need/have to learn to make them for myself. Somehow it managed to take a lot longer, than logic should conclude, for me to learn to make them myself.

At Yum Cha the perfectly shaped little dumplings seem so easy, just a little filling in some dough, that you neatly smush together.

Easy.

Um, perhaps not.

I don’t want you to think these are difficult to make, but they are tricky, even trickier to do well. Luckily once cooked, and then tasted, they are perfect.

These babies are made with pork mice, chunckily chopped green king prawns, white pepper, sesame oil and garlic chives from the garden. This was mixed together and then allowed to marinate for a couple of hours in the fridge. (amounts to taste)

The pastry, is a mix of 50/50 wheat starch and tapioca starch. I actually bought a packet that had the right proportions. All up it was 340gms of starch, 1.5 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of oil.Then cold water and oil is combined and the mix is cooked very slowly over a low heat continually stirring until it is done, as the recipe I had so precisely stated. Ouch. But even with my inexperience they worked fine. The main hint that I would like to give is that you need to let the dough cool right down and that oil is your friend. Oil stops the dough sticking. I hadn’t considered the difference between this dough and one containing gluten. Let me tell you they behave a world apart differently.

The dough is rolled out as thinly as you can handle, I rolled mine on baking paper and then use a glass to cut a circle. The dough can be re-rolled as there is no gluten to make the dough tough!

Then a tsp (depending on your glass size) of filling is put in the middle of the circle and the dough is pleated together, if you can, I dare you.

Then place them in a steamer on baking paper over boiling water, steam for 6 minutes. Eat with soy sauce as quickly as possible. Berate the photographer (if present) as much as possible so that you can EAT DUMPLINGS SOONER.

I hope I haven’t dissuaded you from attempting these dumpling, nothing, nothing at all tastes better that a big pot or 2 of steaming, fresh, har gow that you made your self. Priceless.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 9:54 am and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.