One of my mom’s friends gifted me a book that I think was called Dim Sum at Home. My first thought was -why would I ever need to make Dim Sum at home. Half of the fun is going out to eat it. Well, COVID quarantine hit, and that was that. I miss my friends. I miss Sunday brunches of pho or dim sum with them, but I do not crave going back to normal. COVID has peeled back the covers on some atrocities in our society. From racism, bigotry, and toxic restaurant culture, COVID has bared it all. Sometimes we have to fall to rebuild ourselves again.

In this time, we’ve challenged racism in our home, schools, and the workplace. I have a lot of thoughts on that but I’ll save it for a non-recipe post. You can follow me on Instagram for the ongoing convo about systemic race and how we can check our privilege. Most importantly, we’ve brought light to major important systemic issues. If you weren’t sure, BLACK LIVES MATTER.

BTW, Breonna Taylors Killers are still free.

Flood those phone lines. Call (502) 735 1784 and annoy the shit out of these lawmakers and get these cops in jail.

PORK AND SHRIMP SHUMAI

Makes 24, 4 servings

printable recipe

For shrimp topping

• 1/2lb* (26-30ct shrimp) shelled and deveined -
  1 egg white* 

• 1 tbsp tapioca or corn starch
  1/2 teaspoon salt

For Filling / Marinade

• 1lb of ground pork

• 1/2lb* (26-30ct ) shrimp, (aka the other 15ish shrimp of your pound), shelled, deveined, and coarsely chopped

• 1 cup minced scallion (4 scallions), white part only, save the green parts for garnish

• 3 tablespoons tapioca or cornstarch
  1 egg white (about 1 egg)1 tablespoon grated ginger

• 2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
  1 tsp teaspoons granulated sugar

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 2 cloves of garlic

• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

To Steam & Serve

• 32 “Shumai” wrappers or 24 wonton wrappers)

• Napa cabbage, to steam, this prevents them from sticking

• Chinese black vinegar and/or hoisin sauce

• Special Equipment: Steamer

DIRECTIONS

1. Pound together white peppercorn and garlic for filling.

2. Marinate the filling. This you can make ahead and let all the flavor meld together 1 hour -overnight. Keep this cold as it will make the dumplings hold together much more easily. 

3. Slice shrimp, “hamburger” style so you end up with two pieces of shrimp. 

4. Whisk together the shrimp topping -  egg white, starch, salt. Toss in shrimp to coat. 

• You’re giving the shrimp a light toss in seasoning and starch so they have a nice beautiful glaze-like look when you steam. It has that satisfying lip smacky feel the you expect when you have dim sum.

• If you’re feeling something more simple, you can skip the fancy shrimp part and go straight to the filling. 

3. Put together the shumai. Hold your pointer finger and thumb to a look like an O. Place the wonton wrapper into your fingers. That O shape will be where the filling goes. Scoop in one heaping tablespoon. The fat in the pork keeps the filling firm.

• Put together the shumai. When you do this, you must freeze or steam immediately.  Otherwise the wrapper gets soggy and gross and won’t hold.  

4. Top with coated shrimp. I added sliced mushrooms mixed in the same mix - optional. Lay it on top of the mixture so the tiger stripes face out. 

5. Reshape shumai if needed. The base of the shumai should be the width of your shrimp. 

6. Line steamer with cleaned napa cabbage leaves to prevent shumai from sticking. Steam for ten minutes or until cooked.

7. Serve with Black Chinese Vinegar or hoisin sauce