THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! . Believe it or not, I been trying different shu mi recipes for FORTY years., looking for the right flavor and texture as my favorite takeout restaurant in Sacramento CA. None of the cookbooks I had talked anything about the rinsing and soaking of the meats, the mixing till sticky, etc.,,,, let alone adding in the lard or fat.,,, I went to our butcher for this one. I haven’t lived in Sacramento in 30 yrs, but always stopped in and got 24 shu mi to take home, and try to talk to the family that makes them, but I don’t speak Cantonese , their instructions where lost on me., All I had was an ingredient list….Until now…. My shu mi turned out Perfect, and my honey just opened a bottle of good champagne,,,,and,, that’s my story. Almost 1/2 a century in the making. Thanks again. Wow.
I love all the ingredients that u put in the Shui mai, and it look so yummy. Thank u for sharing this video. I will try to cook some to day, and hope it will work.
As a student of Chinese cooking for many years, I havr to say this is the most authentic and accurate English language video on siomai making I have ever seen as it ( ...and many of your other videos ☺.. ) describes and clearly explains the often obscure yet crucial techniques and ingredients often known only to master chefs. Love all your videos ! Well done 😊!!
Great recipe. I’ve been making dim sum for 17 years. I added sesame seed oil and oyster sauce to the recipe and I used granulated chicken flavor soup base from the Asian super market instead of the normal chicken bouillon we use in America ( game changer) The soup base has msg in it already so I axed the additional msg. Identical to restaurant sui mai. Pork loin works well for the recipe considering how hard it is to get fresh ham without it being cured lol. Pork belly also works fine in lieu of pork fat.
@@bruah4364 fresh ham is the back leg of a pig, shoulder is the front leg. It would probably be ok as a substitute but shoulder has a lot more intramuscular fat than ham/back leg
@Usa mabaho I agree, on the other hand though... premade frozen food is my bread-&-butter (livelihood)! I work at a great big frozen food factory. Summer is usually our slow season! But, because everyone is stuck at home... and no one knows how to cook anymore, people are buying lots and lots of my frozen food. No time off for me! I have been working 8-10-12 hour days, 5-6-7 days a week! I hope I can get some time off when all of this is finally done.
I had a hard time finding pork fat so I just used 450 grams of pork belly, about 1/3 fat and 2/3 lean I’d wager, and omitted the melted lard and the pork washing step. I also added 1 tsp each of crushed garlic and grated ginger. Thanks for the recipe and method. It worked out great.
EDIT: I can sleep easier at night lol. Some reports of replication successes too :) As an aside, if you ever make one of these dishes and it turns out well, dropping a quick line... 'made this, turned out well' would be *insanely* appreciated. That sort of info is invaluable to us to make sure that people can actually recreate stuff! _____________________________________ Ok, so we've had two people report replication issues with this recipe so far :/ The culprit appears to be the meat filling not being 'sticky' enough... one person wasn't getting the Siu Mai to wrap without them falling apart, and another's fell apart after steaming . While I still don't know what's totally going on here (without pictures all we can do is kinda guess), our best guesses would be: (1) not stirring the meat mixture enough, or not stirring in one direction only (the likely culprit in my - Chris's opinion) or (2) the lean wasn't dry enough after the soak (the likely culprit in Steph's opinion) or (3) perhaps a dice that's not fine enough or (4) perhaps the Siu Mai wasn't tight enough when wrapping or (5) some fat still attached or any oil in the bowl when breaking down the lean. Any of those could potentially cause a problem. Obviously this is my fault for communicating ineffectively, sorry guys. A couple ideas: So while we've had people report issues here, we've had successful replication with two other recipes that use similar meat filling: (1) Hakka Stuffed Tofu (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wLWsDeII3uY.html ) and (2) Pearl Meatballs (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Kf6s4urZp_s.html ) So first, take a look at the method of how to stir the meat - you swap your hands for chopsticks and really go at it, it should get really super sticky. Second, while it wouldn't exactly be that 'Siu Mai' texture, you could also get the lean into a paste like we do in those recipes. Third, you could always double the amount of the cornstarch slurry. Sucks to hear about replication issues. For us people being able to make this stuff at home is obviously the reason we do these videos :/
this brings back memories when i worked in a Chinese Restaurant in high school. Its all about how the meat is mixed, i remember the boss lady saying, "You call yourself a man? Put the mixture in the bottom of the bowl and hold your fingers together and palm the meat fiercely"!
This is the most authentic and accurate English language video on siomai making I have ever seen as it ( and many of your other videos ) describe the lesser known but very crucial techniques and ingredients often known only to master chefs. Well done ! Love all your recipes ☺
In the 70s there was a retired Asian couple who made dim sum. It was the best I've ever had and I been craving it since. Finely minced pork and shrimp and celery. They didn't give it to me but my asian neighbor downstairs. I didn't know the creators personally. They were very shy and kept to themselves. Now I'm old and still want this like theirs.
I don't believe making siumai is as difficult as it looks; it's just time consuming with making of the dough and the chopping filling from scratch. I substituted the skin with store bought wanton wrapper, using ground pork instate of cutting pork myself. As far as chopping shrimp, it's fairly easy to do. I do use the suggested seasoning from your show, and everything turned out very well. I made a lot of dim-sum items for one Sunday brunch and it was a hit with my family and friends. Thank you for your video, I am a fan.
This was such an incredible and savory recipe. I honestly had no idea what the difference between my ground pork shumai and the amazing ones you get in Dim Sum places was but wow...this was so authentic and tasty. I love the scientific explanations you give for your videos! It is very useful and helpful. Thank you!
Loved the authenticity of the process. Been wondering why the real deal is so simple yet complicated. The scientific explanation also adds up to the understanding of why such techniques are important.
I have studied authentic cooking from many countries for years now and just from watching the techniques here I can tell this recipe is brilliant! I can't wait to try it, have to buy some cookware first, but I'll be sure to let you know how my favorite food ever turns out.
i tried this method, and it was really labor intensive, but in the end my shumai tasted great and authentic! My family loved it so much and I felt like a real pro.. lol ..thanks for sharing this
This is the most thorough recipe I found to make siu mai. I've had tried so many recipes at home and it never tastes like at the restaurant. Thank you so much!
Finally made these. The flavor and texture of the filling were great. The wrapper, not so much. It was springy and spongy in a way that I didn't care for even though I experimented with a few different levels of thinness. All had the same issue. The restaurant version I'm used to is silky smooth with a slight chew. Maybe I'll just buy the wrappers next time.
Interestingly enough, I have it on good authority that the REAL way to get egg noodles (no egg actually needed) or any other wrapper to be yellow is ALKALINE WATER. Egg noodles don’t really get their color from eggs, it’s that they’re prepared with water that is more alkaline. If you have ever noticed that dim sum has the most subtly sulfury odor, it’s this alkaline process that does it. In some Asian groceries, it is labeled “Lye Water”. My Chinese to English to Chinese interpretation is terrible, but it’s something like “Gan Suey” or “Gan Sui”. Alkalinity causes noodles to be chewy, stretchy, and will hold together better in the hot soup water, like when you are making wonton. It actually modifies the starches and gluten compounds. This is the secret to truly amazing fresh Japanese ramen noodles and I assume cooking with alkaline water is a technique they imported from China. (Ramen are known as “Chinese noodles” in Japan.) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8tgWfIyb8qo.html (try this for reference)
Hi! Your videos have given me the confidence to try all kinds of Chinese dishes that I would previously only order in - and have been so successful! I will definitely be giving this a whirl. Thank you.
Very helpful and well explained ! (+1) Suggestion: theoretical alternatives to yellow food coloring (for those who lack it) are simple countertop infusions of powdered turmeric, saffron, or Annatto seed ... simply infuse directly into the liquid used to make the dough (while you prepare all the other i gredients), and strain/filter before use.
I have tried quite a few recipes from your videos and found them all to be excellent. As somebody in the US who wants to cook authentic Chinese, home style, your channel is great. If you are looking for material which is interesting to us, I would love to hear some more details about rolls, custard, scallion, pork.floss, etc... Thanks for great videos!
Ooooh, things right up my alley! Great idea! Gonna make curstard soonish this year, and rolls! I always make the Vietnamese rolls, now I'm gonna explore some Chinese counterparts as the Vietnamese rice paper rolls. Thx for the suggestion and I'm very glad that the dishes turned out great. :)
Siu mai is definitely my favourite dim sum dish, and seeing this video made me think "I can learn to make my favourite dim sum?!?" I was very, very wrong. This seems like way too much effort for someone like me to make.
I must say MSG is a necessary ingredient which makes the Siu Mai really pop with flavour in your mouth. You have to be careful with how much you add because if you put too much you will kill the dish. I learned this the hard way!!! God i love Siu Mai! Great recipe and video!
In my experience: if you can’t find proper “dumpling flour” & only have APF (all purpose flour), adding an egg to the dough mixture is vital to the consistency of the dough when it’s steamed. And the more you practice the intricate folding of the creases of the dumplings, the better you’ll get at it over time. Your video was very awesome & thank you so much for sharing ✌🏾🥟🍤
sio mai is how hokkienese prase 燒賣, no wonder because majority of phillippine's chinese were fujian origins also your surname is tio I suppose it's hokkien for 張
super nice recipe of shiomai..iam a filipina(Philippines) but my daughter love this.. thank you sir for sharing the best shiomai recipe and now i know how to make it.. Thank you and more power!!!
Followed the recipe and i find it very flavorful. Im lessening the sodium in the filling next time as id like to dip my siumai in soy citrus chili garlic. The less salt in the filling will be compensated by the dip. But if you follow the recipe a chili oil minus soy sauce will do.
Omg !!! This recipe actually changed my life 😂 the best recipe ever ! Been making dumplings for a while and never managed to get them quite right until now ! 😍😍😍 thank you sooo much !
I happened to catch this video while looking for a siomai recipe and boy do I love it so much. I watch the video on my iPad while making my siomai following the steps carefully. I also made the wrapper from scratch just as instructed. I did not have lard so I just added a couple drops of sesame - that's about the only change I made. Except that the wrapper tends to separate from the meat after it was cooked, my siomai turned out pretty dang good. Thank you so much.
We do have some people saying the wrapper felt off. I'm guessing it's a bit too dry, maybe try dipping your finger in water and then smear some water on the wrapper before wrapping, that may do the job~~
Made this many times now and its always good, although i have to reduce the salt and white pepper to suit our taste but this by far the closest flavor and authencity i can recreate in my kitchen. Thanks
Instead of food coloring, you could use turmeric/curmin (same thing, different names, I think the curmin is extracted from turmeric, but turmeric is also sold under the name of curmin), at the price of possibly making the dough a bit spicy.
Haha I'm pretty sure they just were upset at the food coloring bit. I told them not to shoot the messenger ;) Seriously though, it seems like whenever RU-vid selects a video to recommend to people outside of core subscribers the like-ratio'll go down. It's pretty consistent. Like, if you take a look at puffed rice cake or spring pancakes, those're at 98-99%. This guy's at 95% and chicken feet's at 93%. Just the natural way of things.
I've made these before and I had my doubts with this recipe. The recipes I usually follow uses ground pork and has way more ingredients for the seasoning, i.e. oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, cornstarch, and an egg...etc... but hands down this is the best, most authentic recipe out there. It's the same texture and taste as the ones in the restaurant. This recipe takes a little more effort but totally worth it. But for those who have made it, how do I get a more dense end product. As mentioned in the video, I have a springy dumpling but want something a little denser. Thanks for the amazing recipe and how to try out more. I won't be going back to ground pork when making these!
I made it ... and it was deeelicious! Halved the recipe for the filling but probably should have just done the full recipe as it would have been easily consumed. Only variation to the recipe was that I used supermarket mince pork that had 10% fat instead of the lean pork and fat. Followed the full recipe for the skins but turned leftover sheets into spaghetti pasta after cutting out the needed 20 circles. Didn't have "egg yellow" colouring and used just the standard yellow instead. Thanks for this recipe (and the many others) ... goes in my "for keeps" recipe book 🙂
hey, as far as I understand (learning from Kenji Lopez-Alt and my old biochemistry book) what you achieve by washing the pork is getting the myoglobin out which tenderises the meat
Wow, I have been looking for an authentic recipe like this for years, thanks for sharing. Meanwhile, looking at the comments it’s clear that some viewers are here to criticise only, not to appreciate and learn... I would just ignore them, especially the anti-msg group. Common guys, it’s so simple, just skip that and move on!! Grow up! Steph and Chris, keep sharing and thanks for your generosity.
Cheers, appreciated :) The anti-MSG stuff doesn't really get to us - there's tons of nonsense out there re MSG... people got their biases, people love their pseudoscience. For every David Chang that's fighting the good fight there's ten 'wellness bloggers' out there muddying the waters. C'est la guerre! We tend to respond to criticism in general because I believe that people can learn from disagreement! Whenever we've gotten a (non-MSG related) criticism I'd say 15% of the time they're wrong and we're right, 5% of the time we're wrong and they're right, and 80% of the time it's just a different way/approach of doing things. So that's 85% of the time people can learn stuff! Pretty valuable in my book :)
This looks much easier than I expected it to be! Love this dim sum, I'll definitely try to make some myself. I would love to see an example of a really basic and classic Chinese poor man's dish, what the poor liked to eat historically or what the modern Chinese college student might make living on a budget. Basically the Chinese equivalent of something akin to Pasta Aglio e Olio in Italy. I wonder if there is a classic just like that?
Hmm... off the top of my head when it comes to recipes like that we got a few on this channel. Stuff like a simple egg fried rice, a fried veg with garlic, or when it comes to a meat dish something like Hongshaorou (pork's cheap here). Something we don't have is tomato and egg (tbh neither of us are really big fans of the dish haha). Edit: This was actually a fun exercise. We were thinking of some very basic homecooked dishes. - Hongshaorou (braised pork belly), ~15 rmb for a medium sized batch - Stir fried veg with garlic, ~5 rmb - Simple steamed river fish, ~10 rmb - Tomato and egg, ~8 rmb - White rice, ~0.5 rmb per serving You could theoretically make all of those dishes and it'd be a very complete, simple meal. Would take about an hour to knock out all of all of them if you knew what you were doing and it could feed four adults (10rmb, ~$1.50, per person).
That egg yolk yellow food coloring also looks like the color of turmeric, so maybe that can be used as a sub, since turmeric is also used as coloring in other recipes, and the flavor is mild enough not to be detectable in such small quantities.
The process of making sai ma is pretty awesome, but take too much effort for me lol , I rather just go eat at the restaurant but one day I will try to make it
