Shumai 烧卖

The filler for this amount of wrappers (Recipes: The Cooking of China 15) contains two stalks of celery, one pound of boneless pork shoulder ground finely, one tablespoon of Chinese rice wine (or pale dry sherry), one tablespoon of soy sauce, two teaspoons of salt, one teaspoon of sugar, one quarter cup of finely chopped bamboo shoots, one tablespoon of cornstarch, and an optional one quarter cup of chopped shrimp. It can be noted that not all pork is good for dumplings – Cantonese chefs would use only the best cuts of pork (Lin-Liu 56). With true Cantonese master chefs, measurements are less exact and personal preference dictates the ratio of ingredients. For instance, more soy sauce or another umami enhancer will bring out the taste of pork (Lin-Liu 61). Other ingredients that can be found in shumai filler include peanut butter, oyster sauce, leek, fennel, ginger, and white pepper (Lo 377). A generic recipe to make the filling is as follows:

1. With a sharp knife, cut off root ends and trim any wilted green tops from cabbage stalks
2. Wash stalks under cold running water, drain and chop into fine dice
3. Place in kitchen towel and squeeze to extract maximum moisture
4. In a bowl combine pork, shrimp (optional), wine, soy sauce, salt, sugar, cornstarch. Mix until uniform.
5. Stir in cabbage and bamboo shoots. Mix until uniform.