Nothing says “Chinese breakfast on a sunny and beautiful morning” better than Dim Sum. Colloquially, Dim Sum can be described as an assortment of small (both in size and quantity) dishes that are served in either steamer baskets or small plates. The term Dim Sum has Cantonese origins and when literally translated, means to “touch the heart”. In fact, that’s how you’d be feeling after a nice and hearty meal of Dim Sum.
In terms of taste, there really is a dish for everyone. Fancy something sweet? Look no further than having either the creamy egg tarts or the aromatic sesame balls. In the mood for savoury instead? There’s an array of options such as the pork and shrimp dumplings (siu mai), barbecue pork buns (char siew bao), wrapped prawns (har gow). You’d be hard-pressed to find another Chinese dish that has this many options for your taste buds!
With an abundance of Dim Sum restaurants, this consequently means that each eatery usually spins their own variation on the dim sum dishes. In fact, you’ll often see many Dim Sum aficionados arguing and fighting over which joint has the best overall Dim Sum!
As Dim Sum is more of an assortment of delectable dishes than a single entity, this recipe will provide step-by-step instructions on creating both sweet and savoury Dim Sum dishes!
Siu Mai
Ingredients (Pork and Prawn Filling):
- 100 g of ground pork
- 100 g of shelled and sliced tiger prawns
- 1 finely chopped spring onion
- 1 tablespoon of grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons of cornflour
- Sea salt
- Fresh black pepper
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Ingredients (Dumplings):
- 10 wanton wrappers
- Groundnut oil
- 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of fiery chilli sauce
Directions:
- Thoroughly mix the onions, ginger, cornstarch, sesame oil, salt and pepper in a bowl. Let it rest at the side.
- Take 2 teaspoons of the fillings and place it in the centre of a wanton wrapper. Then, gently mould the wanton wrapper to form a ball-like shape with its top exposed.
- With the bamboo steamer, oil its bottom with groundnut oil and line it with parchment paper. Put the dumplings in a steamer and put it atop a pan of boiling water and cover the lid. Steam for 7 minutes
- Mix the 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of fiery chilli sauce into saucers, and serve with the Siu Mai!
Chinese Shrimp Balls
Ingredients:
- 400 g of peeled and deveined shrimps.
- 8 peeled water chestnuts
- ½ chopped green onion
- ½ teaspoon of grated ginger
- 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
- 1 large egg white
- Grounded black pepper
- ½ teaspoon of sugar
- ¼ teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon of rice wine
Directions:
- Preheat the pan with sesame oil at high heat.
- Put the prawn in lightly salted water for 6 minutes. Thoroughly wash with cold water and dry with paper towels.
- Carefully mince the shrimps and water chestnuts.
- Proceed to mix the minced shrimps and water chestnuts into a bowl with the chopped green onion, ginger, rice wine, sugar, soy sauce, pepper, sesame oil, egg white, and cornstarch.
- Mould small balls that are no bigger than 1.5 cm in diameter.
- Add the shrimp balls into the pan for 4 minutes. Remove the shrimp balls and drain the excess oil with paper towels.
- Serve with the sauce of your choice!
Sesame Balls
Ingredients:
- 3 cups of oil
- ½ cup of white sesame seeds
- ¾ cup of brown sugar
- 1 cup of water (boiled)
- 2 cups of glutinous rice flour
- 1 cup of red bean paste
Directions:
- Preheat a pan with the oil to 120 degree Celsius.
- Spread the sesame seeds over parchment paper, while placing a small bowl of water beside the seeds.
- To dissolve the brown sugar, place it in a single cup of boiled water.
- Pour the glutinous rice flour into a large bowl, and mix with the mixture of dissolved sugar and water. Continue stirring until the mixture becomes a caramel dough that is sticky in texture.
- Take a small pinch of the dough, and use your thumb and index finger to form an indentation in the dough, and mould it to form a small ball.
- Take 1 teaspoon of the red bean paste and put it into the ball. Seal off the ball by carefully moulding it with your fingers.
- Dip the ball into a small bowl of water.
- Roll the ball over the sesame seeds, and repeat the process for as many balls as desired.
- Deep fry the balls till they turn to golden brown in colour. This should take no longer than 2 minutes.
- Serve piping hot to your guests!
