Siu Mai: Dim Sum at Home

Think you can't cook Chinese food at home? Think again! I went along to a Dim Sum class at the School of Wok recently, to follow on from my Quick Fire Street Food class. We learnt how to make Siu Mai, which is a delicious steamed Dim Sum, made from minced pork, prawns, chinese mushrooms, sesame oil and an egg white, with seasoning, all mixed together and beaten by whacking it from a height into the bowl with your hands. Great to relieve any frustration!

A teaspoon or so of this mix is then placed in the centre of a circular wonton pastry, and using one hand to cup the pastry, the other to push the mix down and rotate it until it forms the shape you see below. Looks easy, but takes a bit of practice!

The open wontons are then steamed in a bamboo steamer for about 10 minutes. I don't have one (yet! that Christmas list is growing) so had to improvise, but they cooked beautifully and drizzled with some dark soy sauce, tasted delicious!

Siu Mai

It was so much fun learning to make dim sum - something I never thought I could do at home, and it really easy far simpler than you'd think. At the same class we also learnt how to make Jiaozi, really flavoursome half-moon shaped Chinese dumplings, which are deep fried; The Most Delicious BBQ ribs, cooked in the oven, the longer, the better which just fell off the bone, and are definitely next on my list to try at home; and Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf, which looks really impressive, and is also utterly delicious.

Makeshift steamer

Steaming...

Steamed