Chrysanthemum Shumai - 菊花烧卖

Rushing through another minced meat dish before I leave again. I believe, this will be a recipe most will appreciate- simply because it's preparation is so simple and yet it looks like it belongs to a high end Dim Sum restuarant.

Even the name sounds a tad more refined and beautiful than the usual fare we turn out in the humble home kitchen. Aptly called the Chrysanthemum Shumai, the petal effect is achieved by coating the minced meat with shredded shumai wrapper instead of just wrapping the filling like a normal dumpling.

Shumai,everyone should know, is the staple steamed meat dumpling served at all Dim Sum restuarants. The Chinese love to eat their Shumai's with soya sauce or black vinegar. We from Singapore and Malaysia would usually have it with Chilli sauce. The Japanese take theirs with yellow mustard and I recently learnt that the Philippinos take their Shumai with Calamansi sauce.

I ate mine today with a Yuzu Pepper paste (the pint sized dollop in the photos) which I bought in Japan earlier this year. A little spicy with the citrusy tang of the Yuzu, it went really well with the prawn and pork based mince in this shumai dish.

For the fun of it, I documented my prep steps again to share with you...


1. Sautee chopped onions with a little oil until it turns fragrant and transparent.
2. Mix all ingredients together and mix well.
3. Let mixture marinate for 30mins.

4. Cut Gyoza wrappers into strips.
5. Lay the wrapper strips on a tray.
6. Shape marinated mince into balls and place on the bed of wrapper strips.
7. Coat each ball with wrapper strips.
8. Place each coated ball on a piece of baking paper (I used small paper squares used for Chinese Pao, steamed buns)
9. Steam over boiling water for 9mins.
10.Serve immediately while hot.





Recipe: (Will make around 10-12 balls, depending on the size of the ball)
Filling:
Minced Pork 150g
Prawns (peeled & chopped) 50g
Diced Onions 60g
Diced Mushroom 1 dried shitake mushroom soaked in water

Seasoning
Salt, Sugar, Sesame Oil 2/3 tsp each
Chinese wine, Spice water 1 tbsp each
Beaten Egg 1/2
Corn Flour 2 tsp

Shumai/Gyoza Wrapper 24 pieces