Chinese Tea Set & Pork Shumai

I make pork shumai throughout the year, but when the weather gets cold, plate of steaming pork shumai taste especially good and comforting. I can have juicy plump pork shumai with veggies every week on cold winter days.

Tableware

When I was thinking of pork shumai, I thought of this Chinese tea set in a tea basket and pulled this out. I bought this set having a weakness for tea things and I understand tea baskets like these were originally created for picnic purposes but no I never took mine out for a picnic.

I’m also not doing a picnic now, but I can enjoy some Jasmin tea to go with my shumai dumplings. This set up reminds me of dim sum in a Chinese restaurant where you get to enjoy small plates of delicious dumplings while sipping some tea!

Bamboo Steamers

You want to have the right equipment before you start making your shumai dumplings. I used to make shumai in my metal steamer pot, but since I bought these bamboo steamers couple of years ago, I will never go back. I don’t know why I stubbornly held onto that clunky metal steamer all these years.

These steamers are much less of a hassle, it comes in small or large size, they are lighter in weight and it cooks the dumplings evenly and without breakage of shumai skins for the most part. You can find these steamers from retailers like Williams-Sonoma, Sur la Table or Amazon.

Shumai Filling

I like to keep my filling simple, so I use ground pork, minced onions, and ginger for my shumai. I usually go for 80% lean ground pork and mince the onions and add grated fresh ginger. Ginger not only adds great aroma and taste to your dumplings, but it also tenderize your pork. For onions, you can use white onions, Japanese leek, or long onions (white stem part only).

To make sure the onions get fully cooked and becomes tender, I microwave the minced onions for about a minute then combine the onions with some flour. Flour will act as a binder when I add the onions to the meat mixture.

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You need to add condiments like sesame oil, oyster sauce, and sake to get additional flavors into your dumplings. Then, put on some gloves and really knead the mixture to make sure all the ingredients are combined well.

Shumai Wrappers

If you go and visit the Asian section of your grocery store or go to an Asian grocery store, you may find that there are fresh wrappers for wonton, gyoza, spring rolls and shumai.

Finding the right wrappers at a grocery store can be tricky and I have been disappointed in the past with wrappers made specifically for shumai.

Sometimes you can’t even find shumai wrappers anyway so what I end up doing is use wonton wrappers as a substitute. There’re not too thick or thin and as long as I don’t overcook my shumai, shumai skin does not break apart. I would not, however recommend using gyoza wrappers, because they are bit more thick than wonton wrappers and you may end up with gummy, doughy shumai.

Shaping your Shumai Dumplings

To get your dumplings in perfectly round shapes looks complicated, especially when you see a professional do it, but it’s pretty simple to do.

First you need to make a circle using your index finger and your thumb. Then place one sheet of wonton or shumai wrapper on the circle and put 2 tablespoons of meat mixture in the middle of your wrapper. As you hold your shumai between your fingers, form your shumai into a round shape by rotating it between your fingers.

Once you practice couple of times, you will get a hang of it.

Veggies with your Shumai

To avoid your shumai pieces from sticking to the bottom of the steamer, you can place a piece of parchment paper or what I do sometimes is to use Chinese cabbage or even regular cabbage leaves to cover the bottom of my steamer. Not only do they make good coverings, they make yummy veggie sides with your dumplings.

You can also add other veggies with your dumplings. I used Kabocha this time as a side veggie, but you can try different vegetables to steam with your dumplings. Try mushrooms, spinach or even pearl tomatoes using the bamboo steamer.

When I make shumai dumplings I also add one or several peas on top of my shumai to add dash of color.

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Ready to Steam and Eat

When your beautifully shaped shumai is ready to go, place the cover on the steamer and place it over a pot or pan with boiling water for about 15 minutes. I tend to make my shumai pieces rather large so it does take about 15 minutes over medium heat to fully cook. If you prefer to make smaller pieces, (1 tablespoon of filling) it should be ready in about 10 minutes.

These shumai are so flavorful, I sometimes don’t use any dipping sauce, but you can use soy sauce, spicy Chinese mustard, vinegar or even sweet chili sauce to dip your shumai.