Sui Mai

Sui mai, or "shumai," as it may be pronounced, is one of the most common dumplings found in Cantonese dim sum.  There are countless variations of this dish throughout Asian cuisines, but to me sui mai has always meant one thing: sticky, steaming, savory morsels of pork, shrimp and scallions in a thin, starchy, open-topped wrapper. 

My older brother first introduced me to the steamy world of dim sum when I was about ten years old.  Visiting him in Boston while he was in college, meant that I was introduced to the foods that he was discovering away from home.  It was in this time of my life that I first tried Indian food, and it was in this time that I first set foot into a Cantonese dim sum parlor. 

For those who have not had the pleasure, dim sum is sort of a Chinese-brunch version of what the Spanish call tapas.  They are small dishes.  Frequently, but not exclusively, they are dumplings, and they may be steamed, deep fried, pan fried, or boiled.  Historically, they developed in China as a snack to accompany tea.  Dim sum parlors took off, and the whole affair developed into its own branch of the restaurant industry.  In classic dim sum parlors, Chinese women push around steel carts carrying towering piles of steaming bowls, plates of fried goodness, and the inevitable dishes of unidentifiables to western eaters. 

The whole affair is lot of fun!  It is always inexpensive, and it is always delicious! 

Recently this month, Sarah, Vanessa and I took our swing at homemade dim sum.  We made three types of sui mai: the classic shrimp/pork dumpling, an all pork dumpling, and for Sarah, after seeing that our chicken had gone bad, an impromptu chicken nugget sui mai.  I think that I may need to patent that last one.  It was pretty awesome.  Here are some pictures:

Sui Mai in the Steamer

Shrimp/Pork Sui Mai on a Flower Plate

The Last Chicken Nugget Sui Mai and Chicken Nuggets

The shrimp and pork dumpling was from a recipe that I found on-line.  Then with the leftover ground pork, I made up a dumpling filling with ground fennel, soy sauce, scallion, sriracha, fish sauce, a little sesame oil and of course, the meat.  The chicken nugget dumpling was chopped up nugget,  soy sauce, fish sauce and scallion.

YUM YUM DIM SUM!!!!!!!!!!