I attended The Pen cooking class and will cook dimsum tonight
Tonight is Chinese New Year’s Eve. Every year, our Tiu clan gets together for a home-cooked dinner at our Ama Grace’s home. Tonight, I’m told Ama will be making her chicken and ham soup, la wei fan (steamed rice casserole); my Achi Kat is preparing jiao zi (Chinese dumplings with pork chives and chicken); and Auntie Linda, steamed live pearl fish, and fried eggplant with sweet chili sauce — a delicious mix of Cantonese and Taiwanese dishes.
I’d never made Chinese food before until I attended the dim sum-making class at The Peninsula Manila’s banquet kitchen conducted by Peninsula Hotels dim sum ambassador, chef Yip Wing Wah.
To be honest, it was a lot more difficult than I expected — especially making the wrappers from scratch, which is something I take for granted when I gobble up my dim sum. Teddy Leung, manager of Chinese food and beverage operations from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels Limited, shared that when making dim sum wrappers, it’s not the amount that’s important, but rather the ratio and proportions of flour to water. Getting the wrapper right requires cutting the dough in pieces, rolling the dough with the palm of your hand, dabbing the knife with a bit of oil (vegetable oil is advised as some people are allergic to peanuts), pressing it down on the dough to flatten it, and then rotating the knife clockwise, and counter-clockwise until it becomes paper-thin flat. You then angle the knife and swipe it very quickly underneath so it doesn’t break — whew!
When putting the filling inside, be careful not to put too much because you have to seal it — hold it with both hands and push and press with your fingers until you form a curtain-like pattern. After that, you’re all set.
Here are the recipes from chef Yip Wing Wah so you can make your own steamed prawn dumplings and chive dumplings at home tonight. Happy Lucky Year of the Horse!
HAR GAU, STEAMED PRAWN DUMPLING
(30 portions)
Ingredients:
For the stuffing:
500 gm prawn meat, finely minced
75 gm bamboo shoots, shredded
5 gm salt
3 gm chicken powder
20 gm sugar
900 ml vegetable oil
For the dough:
150 gm high-protein flour
20 gm cornstarch
3 L boiling water
150 ml oil
Procedure:
For the stuffing:
Mix all ingredients for the stuffing and refrigerate for four hours.
For the dough:
Mix the flour and cornstarch with the boiling water and then add the oil to make a smooth dough.
To finish:
Divide the dough into 10-gm pieces. Use a cleaver to flatten them very thin and round. Place a little filling into the center of each dough disc and close them on top, like small purses, kind of like a curtain pattern.
Place into steam baskets and steam for 5 minutes until done.
CHIVE DUMPLINGS
(30 portions)
Ingredients:
For the stuffing:
500 gm shrimp meat, finely minced
10 gm salt
5 gm chicken powder
40 gm sugar
500 gm chives, finely sliced
75 gm Chinese mushrooms, diced
900 ml vegetable oil
For dough:
75 gm chives, blended with
1L water
75 gm all-purpose flour
75 gm cornstarch
Procedure:
For the stuffing:
Mix the shrimp meat wth salt, chicken powder and sugar. Add the remaining ingredients and chill thoroughly for about 4 hours.
For the dough:
Cook the chive water and pass through a cloth. Add flour and cornstarch, then knead until the dough is smooth.
To finish:
Portion into 10 gm pieces. Using a wooden rolling pin or stick, shape portions into thin, round discs about 1mm thick. Place the stuffing on top and close them at the top like small purses. Steam in the pre-heated steamer for 4 minutes and serve.
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