Prawn dumplings
MAKES 24-30
“Originally from Guangdong, China, it was Hong Kong that brought har gow into the international food arena. These dumplings are considered a test for the skill of a great dim sum chef!” says Chan. Pictured p107
420 gm peeled, deveined prawns ½ tsp caster sugar
⅛ tsp ground white pepper 2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp canola oil
70 gm pork fat, thinly sliced
100 gm bamboo shoots DUMPLING SKINS 200 gm (1 cup) wheat starch 250 ml (1 cup) boiling water 2 tbsp cornflour 1 tbsp lard
1 Toss prawns with ½ tsp salt, give them a quick rub, then rinse under cold running water and pat dry with paper towel. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Place half the prawns into a mixing bowl. Finely chop remaining prawns and add to the bowl with 3/4 tsp salt. Using a clean hand, mix in one direction in a circular motion until mixture is elastic. Add sugar, white pepper, sesame oil and canola oil and gently combine.
2 Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil over high heat. Add pork fat and bring back to the boil. Immediately drain and rinse pork fat in cold running water, then pat dry with paper towel. Squeeze out any excess water, then finely dice the pork fat. Repeat this process to blanch the bamboo shoots.
3 Combine pork fat, bamboo shoots and prawn meat in a large bowl then refrigerate until needed.
4 To make dumpling skins, combine wheat starch and 1/2 tsp salt in a mixing bowl. Pour in boiling water and mix well with a pair of chopsticks or a spoon. Cover and rest (5 minutes). Add cornflour and lard; knead dough until smooth.
5 Divide dough into four pieces. Work with one portion at a time and keep the rest covered with a clean damp cloth. Roll one piece of dough into a long cylinder about 2cm thick, then cut into six or seven 1.5cm pieces. 6 Use a rolling pin to roll each piece of dough into a 7cm circle and lightly oil each one. Just make sure you work quickly; if the dough starts to crack it means it is too dry, which will make it difficult to fold and the finished texture will be rubbery. 7 Hold a round of dough with your left hand, oil side down, and add 1 tsp of filling. Pleat the dumpling by pushing the dumpling skin with the index finger of one hand and pressing to secure the pleat with the index finger of the other hand. You should be able to achieve
7-8 pleats.
8 Repeat with remaining dough and filling, covering dumplings as you make them so they don’t dry out.
9 Pour water into a large saucepan to a depth of about 3cm and bring to the boil. Lightly oil a large bamboo steamer to prevent sticking and line with baking paper or individual dim sum papers.
10 Working in batches, add dumplings to steamer basket in a single layer, then cover and steam until soft and translucent (3-4 minutes). Remove from heat and rest for 1 minute before opening the lid. Serve hot.