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Taste Bud: A little bit of heart
Words and Photos Theodora HurustiatiA recipe for Siu MaiSiu mai, or shumai, are some of the most popular Chinese dumplings and are often served as part of a dim sum feast, although their origin is said to be from Mongolia
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Words and Photos Theodora Hurustiati
A recipe for Siu Mai
Siu mai, or shumai, are some of the most popular Chinese dumplings and are often served as part of a dim sum feast, although their origin is said to be from Mongolia. While there are many varieties of fillings for these addictive morsels, the ones typically found in Indonesia are mainly Cantonese-style, using shrimp and minced chicken as a halal alternative to the original filing of ground pork. Sometimes, finely diced black mushrooms and water chestnuts are added–the ingredients giving every bite a pleasant crunch. People from Bandung, West Java, transmogrified siu mai into what we know as siomay; made using fish and served with a generous amount of spicy peanut sauce and a drizzle of sweet soy sauce.
Siu mai played an important role in my personal culinary journey. Cooking the dish made me realize that I could actually make a decent meal. I must have been about 10 years old. Girls had to take a class called “Keputrian”, which might roughly translate as “women’s things” and was equivalent to “Home Economics” in the West. We had to learn how to sew and to cook, as those were the tasks expected of girls by society. As much as I wish I had crafted wooden airplanes like the boys did, my mother said that the siu mai I brought home from school tasted almost like the ones of my pho pho, or grandma. Since then, my culinary experiments–success and failures both–have never ceased.
Makes 13-15 (pieces)
13-15 sheets of wonton wrappers
200g shrimp, peeled and de-veined
200g minced chicken
3 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons tapioca flour or cornstarch
1 clove garlic
20g ginger
1 spring onion
½ small carrot
Salt
- Peel and finely grate garlic, ginger and carrot. Slice green leaves of the spring onion into fine rings. Use bottom part for other recipes.
- Finely chop shrimp into almost creamy p'té consistency using sharp knife or cleaver. Transfer into bowl.
- Add chicken, ginger, garlic, spring onion, sesame oil, tapioca flour and salt. Combine using hands. Lightly knead to form sticky dough.
- Place a heaping tablespoon (about 30 grams) of filling in center of each wonton wrapper. Pleat edges–as neatly as you can–to form tight cylinders. Brush with touch of water if too dry. As you can see from the pictures, I’m not much of a pleater and it’s been a while since I’ve actually prepared siu mai on my own.
- Line steamer basket with parchment paper or thin cotton cloth. Arrange the dumplings–leaving a bit of space between–to assure they don’t stick to one another.
- Garnish each with about half a teaspoon of grated carrot. Steam for about 20 minutes until wrappers are soft and filling turns a slightly coral color.
- Serve warm with chili sauce or simple soy sauce dip. I include fresh chilies in my chili sauce and add a touch of sesame oil, sesame seeds and spring onion rings into my soy sauce.
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Jakarta-born chef Theodora Hurustiati, a 13-year resident of Udine, Italy, was the runner-up in the TV cooking program La Scuola – Cucina di Classe (The School: Classy Cooking).
