Pork and mushroom dumplings

MAKES 15-20

“Before being introduced to Hong Kong, the earliest appearance of these dumplings dates back to 13th century China. Other fillings include fish paste, beef and pork liver, but pork and mushroom is definitely the classic,” says Chan.

8 pieces dried shiitake mushroom

200 gm peeled, deveined prawns

50 gm pork fat, finely diced

225 gm pork loin, finely diced

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp chopped spring onion, white part only

2 tsp Shaoxing rice wine

⅛ tsp ground white pepper

1 tsp caster sugar

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp cornflour

15-20 yellow wonton wrappers

1 Soak dried shiitake in tepid water for 6 hours or overnight to rehydrate. Remove stem, then squeeze out any excess water and finely dice.

2 Toss prawns with ½ tsp salt, then rinse under cold running water and pat dry with paper towel. Refrigerate for 1 hour, then finely dice.

3 Cook pork fat in boiling water until transparent (5-10 minutes). Rinse under cold running water until cool, then pat dry.

4 Combine pork loin, soy sauce and 1/4 tsp salt in a large bowl and stir until it becomes sticky. Lift mixture and slap it back into the bowl five or six times to make it more elastic. Stir in prawn meat and slap mixture another five or six times.

5 Add shiitake, pork fat, spring onion, Shaoxing wine, pepper, sugar, sesame oil and cornflour and mix until well combined. Refrigerate until chilled (20 minutes).

6 Hold a wonton wrapper in one hand and spoon 1 heaped tbsp of the pork mixture into the middle. Working your way around the filling, push the wonton wrapper up so that it is wrapped around the filling, leaving the top part exposed. Place dumpling on a plate. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

7 Pour water into a large saucepan to a depth of about 3cm and bring to the boil. Cover and steam dumplings for 6-8 minutes. Serve hot.