Ingredients Print

Check off ingredients as you go

Makes 30 steamed dumplings

For the har gow dough

• 150 g (1¼ cups) tapioca starch (or cornstarch if needed)
• 100 g (⅔ cup) rice flour (or wheat starch)
• 250-300 ml (1 to 1¼ cups) boiling water
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp neutral oil

For the filling

• 350 g (12 oz) cooked shrimp (kosher imitation shrimp)
• 6-8 stems fresh cilantro (coriander)
• 2 cm (¾ inch) fresh ginger
• 1 handful grated carrot (optional, but it’s good with it)
• 2 chives (or 2 scallions or Chinese garlic chives)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
• 1-2 Tbsp mirin
• 1 Tbsp neutral oil (optional)
• Salt, pepper

For the sauce

• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 dash sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger
• or my spring roll dipping sauce

If you change the number of serving, consider adjusting cooking times!

Making the har gow dough

This recipe is a little tricky to get right. If you’re new to dim sum, I recommend starting with gyoza.

1. In a large bowl, mix the starch, flour and salt. Add the water, stirring until you get a dough, then pour in the oil. Knead with a wooden spoon until the dough is smooth and supple. Let it rest for about ten minutes, then roll it into a log and cut it into 30 pieces of about 15-20 g each (cover with a kitchen towel so they don’t dry out).

These proportions work for me, but if something goes wrong, don’t panic: if your dough is too wet, you may need to add a little starch, and if it’s too dry, a little water, kneading all the while until you get a consistency you can work with without it sticking.

Making the filling

2. Put all the filling ingredients in a food processor. Blend, transfer to a bowl and keep in the refrigerator.

Shaping the har gow

3. Take a piece of dough and flatten it into a disk about 7 cm (2¾ inches) across. Lay it in the palm of your hand, place 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper and fold as in the photo, folding over, pleating and pinching to seal.

Cooking the har gow

4. Arrange the dumplings side by side in a bamboo steamer, on a sheet of parchment paper in which I’ve poked small holes (you can also set them on lettuce leaves) so the steam gets through. When the water in the pot comes to a boil, set the covered bamboo steamer on top and cook for 5 minutes. Don’t cook them any longer or the filling will dry out; it cooks very quickly.

5. While they steam, mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and serve! They’re also very good with Sriracha or my famous spring roll dipping sauce.

Ready to eat!

With this same filling you can also make fried Chinese wontons:

Tips and variations

• The starch is what gives the dough its signature translucent look.

• For a vegetarian version, replace the shrimp with grated mushrooms, carrots and zucchini, sautéed in a pan first.

• For a chicken version, you can use the same filling as for these steamed dumplings made with wonton wrappers; it’s excellent too.

• Some people add a handful of chopped bamboo shoots to the filling.

• The ingredient list may look complicated if you’re not used to cooking Asian food. But these are all pantry staples, and if you like this kind of cooking, you’ll get to use every one of them again in plenty of recipes.

• In fact, every ingredient in this recipe is easy to find in most supermarkets, in the Asian foods aisle.