Steamed Meat Dumplings/Siew Mai is a staple item in Dim Sum Restaurants. It's fairly easy to make from scratch. However, we’re using packaged wonton wrappers to save time. If you wish to make your own wrappers, the recipe is included in the Notes section. The base of Siew Mai is meat. Use any meat of your choice (pork, chicken, beef, lamb) as long as it's minced. Recommended meat to use is chicken/pork. It’s a must to add the prawn meat for texture and taste.

Recipe by Mama Ding

Total Time | 50 mins

Prep Time | 35 mins

Cook Time | 15 mins

Yields : 30 pieces

Ingredients

• 300 g (1 and 1/4 cup) minced meat (pork/chicken recommended or a mix of both)

• 200 g (7/8 cup) prawns, shelled, deveined and chopped coarsely

• 200 g (7/8 cup) water chestnuts, chopped finely

• 300 g wonton wrappers (1 packet)

• 5 stalks of fresh chives/spring onions

• half a carrot, peeled and grated finely or 1/2 cup of ebiko (topping)

  For the Marinade~

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1 tbsp Hua Tiao wine (Chinese cooking wine)

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tbsp corn flour

• 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
  

Method

01 In a medium bowl, put the minced meat and add the marinade. Stir with a pair of chopsticks or a spatula in a circular motion until well-mixed.

Set aside for 30 minutes.

02 Add prawns and water chestnuts, mix well.

Add chopped spring onions or chives and mix well.

03 Scoop a heaped tbsp of the meat mixture. Place onto the center of a piece of wonton wrapper.

Wrap skin upwards while holding the filling securely. Fold the wonton skin upwards to resemble a cup shape.

Decorate with some grated carrot or ebiko.

04 Arrange completed Siew Mai in a tray/heatproof plate. Line the plate with parchment paper or lightly oil it. Place the wrapped Siew Mai a little apart from each other so that they do not stick together after steaming.

Prepare a steamer.

When the water in the steamer is boiling, place the tray of Siew Mai in the steamer.

05 Steam on high heat for 15 minutes. Remove from steamer. Transfer to a serving dish.

Serve hot with sriracha sauce/chilli sauce.

Notes

Instead of prawn meat, you can also use lobster meat or crab meat for variation.

To make your Homemade Wonton Wrappers:

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of plain flour

• 3 medium-sized eggs

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 cup water + 1/4 cup more if needed

• some cornstarch or tapioca starch for dusting

  Method:

  1 In a large bowl, mix the flour with salt. Mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time. Stir to mix well.

  Slowly add water and keep stirring the mixture. Then knead lightly to form a ball. Adjust the amount of water based on your brand of flour. Stop adding water when there is no dry flour in your bowl.

  2 Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with cling film and rest for 10 mins.

  Knead the dough again for around 10 - 12 mins until smooth. Rest for around 30 mins.

  3 After 30 mins, divide the dough in half. Take one portion and punch it down.

  Using a rolling pin, roll out to a flat thin layer of around 3 mm (1/4 inch) in thickness. Dust generously with cornstarch then fold the dough in thirds and cover with cling wrap again. Rest the dough for another 30 mins.

  Repeat with the other half of the dough.

  4 After resting, take one half of the rested dough. Divide into 2 portions. Set one portion aside.

  Flour your work top and the other portion generously and then roll the dough into paper thin thickness. Flour the rolled thin dough then cut into small 8 cm (3 inch) squares with a knife. Use a ruler to get straight edges.

  After you finish cutting, repeat the process with the other portion.

  5 Repeat step 4 with the other half of the rested dough.

  Dust each piece of the cut wonton wrapper before stacking them up. Store the homemade wonton wrappers in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. They should keep well for up to a week.

  You can use a stand mixer with dough hook attachment or a bread-maker to knead the dough and use a noodle machine to flatten the dough, if preferred.