So, did you all make it to church or other morning appointments on time yesterday when we moved our clocks an hour forward for DST (daylight savings time)?  I hope you did!  It would be quite embarrassing to arrive at an empty church or be an hour late to a party because our clocks displayed the wrong time.  Hee hee. :D

We’ve come to the last recipe of my lean cuts of beef series as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program in partnership with The Texas Beef Council.  I went Asian for the series and have thus far shared a Filipino, a Japanese and a Korean dish.  This fourth dish is Chinese…Beef Siu Mai.  Who doesn’t like dim sum?!

I’ve already done a lot of siu mai and dumpling recipes, mostly using ground turkey or shrimp. I’ve also done a combination of pork and shrimp, my first attempt at siu mai/sio mai making, which wasn’t a very pretty sight although it tasted good.   This is my first time to use ground beef, which I already knew both my hubby and my little girl will like.  My little girl had beef siomai at a popular fastfood chain in the Philippines when we were on vacation.  She loved it so much she practically wouldn’t share. Tsk!

Without further ado, here’s the beef siu mai recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb ground lean beef (95/05)
2 T chopped bamboo shoots
2 T chopped water chestnuts
1/4 C chopped onion
1 1/2 t sea salt
1/2 t sugar
1 t rice wine
1 t sesame seed oil
1 t soy sauce
2 T cornstarch

30 siu mai wrappers

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a bowl, combine all the filling ingredients.

2. Place 1 tablespoon filling in the center of a siu mai wrapper and spread it upto about 1/2 in from the edge of the wrapper.  Gather the edge of the wrapper around the filling.

It will look like this when you’re done pleating/gathering the wrapper around the filling…

3.  Squeeze the center, flatten the bottom and smooth off the top of the filling with wet fingers.

Your siu mai should look just about like this…

4.  Arrange the siu mai pieces on a bamboo steamer (or whatever steaming apparatus you might have!) 1/2 inch apart and steam for 20 minutes.

5.  Serve with a dipping sauce mixture of soy sauce and lemon and if you want a little kick, add a bit of chili oil.

It’s a rather simple recipe, don’t you think?  One can probably fill a wrapper even in the middle of a bsn online session.  That’s multi tasking for you. Special shout out to those taking up bsn online! Hee hee.

I always double the recipe so I have a lot of pieces for freezing.  On lazy days, I just grab a pack from the freezer and steam away. ;)

Cheers and mabuhay, y’all!

Disclosure:  As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program in partnerhsip with the Texas Beef Council, I received a stipend to make the 4 lean beef recipes.  Thank you Foodbuzz and Texas Beef Council! :)

The buns could have used more of the pork filling.  But at least, they were sauced quite nicely so you get the barbecued pork taste in ever bite (sans the pork! :D).  I’ll make sure to double the amount of filling next time.  I’m happy that they were sealed nicely in spite the fact that they still  had sunken tops, like the ones from last year.

Here are some more photos from my 2nd attempt at siopao making:

I made a total of 16 pieces of sioapo.  Here they were, half of them, ready to go on the steamer.

I didn’t want to cram too many pieces in one level of the steamer.  I had to do the steaming in two batches of 8, with 4 pieces of siopao per level of the steamer.

Hopefully, the third time’s going to be a charm and my siopaos will no longer look like a baby’s bottom. Hee hee. :D

The first time I made siopao, we only had 5 left out of the 16 for freezing.  That time, we somehow managed to devour 11 pieces, which hubby, my Mom, my little girl and I enjoyed to the max.  I was so guilty I wanted to buy phentermine diet pills right away!  Not!!!

I steamed these siopaos after dinner, when my little girl was already asleep.  I allowed hubby and myself one sioapo for  taste testing.  The rest went to the freezer.  We still have a few in stock.

I saw some boxed steamed buns in the open freezer section of Costco last weekend.  I was hopeful for a few seconds.  But when I read the ingredients, my heart sank when I saw that it had MSG.  Oh well.  I guess I’ll have to keep making siopao then.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Mabuhay, y’all!

It took me a long time to finally give this little project a go because kneading doesn’t quite appeal to me.  Then again, I’ve given kneading fondant a few tries so I no longer have an excuse to avoid the task.  And besides, I have an aid in the kitchen who is just too willing to knead for me. ;)

The result wasn’t too bad for a first try, that much I can tell you!  The filling is exactly how I imagined and wanted it to be – Chinese-style siopao, as opposed to the more Filipino asado-style.

Are you ready to get to work? Now’s the time to change into something comfy, so hang up your fancy dresses and tuxedo shirts and let’s get down to siopao making business.  Here’s the recipe and step by step photo tutorial.

INGREDIENTS: (Yields 16 Buns)

Filling

1/2 tablespoon oil
1/4 cup diced onions
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon catsup
3/4 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup diced cooked barbecued pork

Dough

1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3/4 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar
3-3/12 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 pieces wax paper (3″ x 3″ / 8cm x 8cm)

To make the filling:

Cooked barbecued pork filling

1.  In a wok or pan, cook onions in hot oil on high heat for about half a minute.
2.  Add all other ingredients, except the cornstarch and barbecued pork.  Allow to cook for a minute or so.
3.  To thicken, add the cornstarch dissolved in water.  Then mix in diced pork.  allow to cool and set aside.

Note:  You may do the filling ahead of time and freeze the unused portion.

To make the bun dough…

Dry yeast and sugar dissolved in warm water.

1. In a large bowl, dissolve 1 tablespoon sugar and yeast in warm water.  Allow mixture to sit 5 minutes.
2.  Combine warm milk with 1/2 cup sugar, stir to dissolve sugar.  Add to yeast mixture.
3.  Combine 3 cups flour with salt.  stir into liquid yeast mixture.  Stri until a firm dought is formed.

My assistant kneaded the dough for 10 minutes and didn’t complain one bit.

4.  Turn out on floured surface and knead until smooth, adding extra flour if necessary (about 10 minutes).  Alternatively, you can use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for the kneading.

5.  Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn dough over and cover with a towel or plastic wrap.  Allow to rise until doubled in bulk.

Dough has doubled in volume.

6. When the dough has doubled in volume, remove the plastic wrap/ towel and punch the dough down.

7.  Knead for 2 minutes on a floured surface and allow to rest for another 2 minutes.  Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces.

8.  Roll each piece into a ball, then roll into a 4′” (1o cm) circle, dusting with flour if necessary.  Allow dough to rest 2 minutes.  Roll out other pieces while waiting.

9.  Place 1 tablespoon filling in center.  Pull dough over the filling and close top by pleating, pinching and twisting the edges together.

10.  Place on a piece of waxed paper, pleated edge down.  space 2″ (5 cm) apart on a steamer.  Allow to rise 45 minutes in a warm oven (95F, 35C).

Note:  I skipped this part because my oven doesn’t go down up to 95F.  But then, that’s about our present outdoor temperature!  So just cover the buns and warm them up outdoors..somewhere safe from bugs, dust and insects, of course! :)

11.  Steam for 15 minutes at full steam.  Remove the steamer cover carefully to avoid water from dopping on the buns.

As I said, not bad for a first try.  The buns turned out nice and soft, good enough to eat sans the filling.  This was my first time to work with dough and I didn’t quite know what to expect.  I had no clue how it should feel like or if the dough is too soft.  The two problems I encountered are, one, some of the buns had sunken tops and two, I pulled the dough too much on some buns that after the buns have been steamed, a bit of the filling looked like it’s ready to break out of the buns!  Not a good sight at all!

I would suggest that you do the filling ahead of time, that way, the amount of work that needs to be done doesn’t overwhelm you too much.  It is also not a good idea to make this the same time  you’re craving siopao.  The length of time you will have to work and wait to finally enjoy the fruits of your labor will just drive you to insanity.

Out of 16 siopao, only 5 were left for freezing at the end of the day.  What prevented us from gulping down everything in one day and in one sitting is the fact that it took me a long time to make them.  So it was just proper to enjoy the rest some other time. :D

It was quite a learning experience for me  and I’m just about ready to remove siopao from my Asian market to buy list, as I’ve done with siomai and dumplings. :)

I cheated a little and used imitation crab to make these.  You may also substitute the crab with cooked shrimps. ;)  I got the recipe from my favorite dim sum recipe book.

INGREDIENTS:

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup chopped water chestnuts
1 cup chopped crab meat (or chopped cooked shrimp meat)
1/8 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
won ton wrappers
oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place cream cheese in a bowl and allow to soften for an hour.  Then add remaining filling ingredients.

2.  Combine filling ingredients thoroughly.

3.  Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of wrapper.

4.  Moisten the edges of the wrapper and fold in the shape of a triangle (or crescent of using round won ton wrappers), pressing to seal.

Alternatively, you can wrap them this way:  Pick two opposite corners of the wrapper and seal like so….

Then pick up the two other corners and seal them to look like this…

5.  Deep fry won tons until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and serve with your favorite Sweet and Sour or Sweet Chili sauce.

One word of caution though, the won tons will balloon when you put them in the pan of hot oil,  so press them down with your tongs for a few seconds before putting another piece in the pan.  Do the same when you flip them over.  Keep them down for a few seconds before proceeding to flip the other pieces.

This is the finished product…

And this is how the pouches looked…

Noticed how some parts of the won tons ballooned?  We didn’t really care though.  Hee hee. :D

Crab Rangoon is now perennially on request here at home.  It’s always fun to be able to enjoy food we order from restaurants in our very own home…at a much reasonable price. ;)

Other than the trial batch of Turkey Siomai, that is, the first time I kitchen-tested the recipe, I’ve made Turkey Siomai two other times, for an Easter picnic and a birthday party.  I used the Chicken Siomai recipe from my dimsum bible (Quick & Easy Dimsum Appetizers and Light Meals by Judy Lew) and simply substituted the chicken with turkey.

INGREDIENTS: (Makes about 25)

1/2 lb ground turkey (or boneless chicken breast, chopped)
1/4 cup chopped bamboo shoots
1/4 cup chopped Chinese black mushrooms
2 tablespoons water chestnuts
1 tablespoon rice wine
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 egg white
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pper
25 Siu Mai wrappers

Note:  You can make the fillings a day ahead and refrigerate.

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Prepare vegetables.
2.  Combine all the filling ingredients thoroughly, making sure that all ingredients are disperesed well.  Allow the mixture to set in the refrigerator for at least an hour for better flavor.
3.  Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons of the fillings on a wrapper and pleat the sides to surround the meat.  Wet fingers to smooth off top of siu mai.
4.  Place in a steamer, each 1/2 inch apart and steam for 20 minutes on high heat.

Note: I use my aluminum steamer when steaming a large batch of siomai.  Otherwise, I just use my bamboo steamer.  You may put vegetable toppings on the siomai if you like! :)

5.  Serve with soy sauce and lemon wedges on the side.

These tummy ticklers look way better than the first batch of siomai I ever made, if I may say so myself. :D The recipe book actually calls for 2 tablespoons of filling per wrapper.  But I find that the siomai pieces come out way too big!  The wrappers I’m using are about 3 inches in diameter.  1 1/2 tablespoon of the filling is still big but is  just enough amount to fill the wrapper.  Whatever the size, I promise you that these will be bestsellers at your next party.  And if you’re the least bit business-minded, you have a better chance of selling these than term life insurance for seniors. :D

More dimsum recipes in the days to come. ;)  Cheers!

Today’s meatless recipe is Shrimp Dumplings.  Yes, yes, dumplings again. :D  I was very excited to try this, yesterday.  This is a lot simpler than the Turkey Dumplings I posted a week ago, in that you only need two key ingredients, shrimps and bamboo shoots.  The rest, you probably already have in your pantry, except maybe for the sesame seed oil.  I loooove sesame oil!  I love its aroma and I think  it’s wonderful how just a small amount seems to instantly transform a dish to Chinese authenticity. :D  Rice wine does that, too, but it just doesn’t smell as appealing.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 to 1 lb (340 g) shrimp – shelled, deveined and chopped
1/4 c bamboo shoots, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 egg white
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

25 pcs. dumpling wrapper (Shanghai style)

DIRECTIONS

1.  Combine filling ingredients in a mixing bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2.  To fill the wrappers, take a dumpling wrapper and pleat half of the circle to form a pouch.

3.  Put in 2 teaspoons filling.

4.  Moisten the edges with water then pinch together to seal.

5.  Gently curve the two ends of the dumpling to form a crescent.

6.  Continue filling the rest of the wrappers.  If you find making a pouch too tedious, you may opt for the less complicated alternative.

My dumplings refused to keep their crescent shape. :D

7.  Arrange on an oiled steaming plate or a steamer lined with bokchoy leaves and steam for 15-20 minutes.  Then serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

This is another authentic recipe straight from my dim sum recipe book.  My only disappointment was the wrappers.  I was hoping they would become translucent like the ones in Chinese restaurants.  But they didn’t.  In fact, even after more than 20 minutes of steaming, a portion of the wrappers were still a little tough.  I may have no choice but to make my own dumpling wrappers next time. *cross fingers*

I can’t complain about the filling, and neither can the biggest fans of my cooking, Hubby and Little Munchkin. :D  It thrills me no end that I’m able to cook food that we love ordering from restaurants.  Yes, it can be tedious and a little messy sometimes (That’s why we have sinks, right? And I don’t mean farmhouse sinks! :D) , but the results are well worth it..  ;)

Have a great weekend, y’all!  Cheers!

Some time in January, I was invited by a dear friend, Ces, to be the  guest food photographer for the theme “Steamed” of  Lasang Pinoy, Sundays.  I posted photos of Steamed Turkey Dumplings.  I’ve been meaning to post the recipe but I just keep forgetting!  Today, I found the piece of paper where I wrote the recipe in my “file drawer” in the kitchen.  I should post the recipe now before I lose this piece of paper!

I got this recipe from another dear dear friend, Bet, who is just wonderful in the kitchen.   She got the recipe from her Chinese/Vietnamese sister-in-law.  So this is an authentic recipe! ;)   Bet used this recipe to make Wonton Soup and it was love at first bite for me!  I hope this isn’t a secret family recipe because after I hit “publish”, this won’t be a secret anymore!  Hahaha!

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb. ground meat of choice (I used turkey.  Pork and chicken are always good options. ;) )
1 egg
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp + 1/2 tsp soysauce
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 Tbsp green onion
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp cooking wine
3 Tbsp bokchoy (chopped)

40-50 pcs. dumpling wrappers (store bought)

DIRECTIONS:

1.  In a bowl, thoroughly mix all the ingredients together.

2. Spoon 1 Tbsp of the filling on one dumpling wrapper.

(Note: How do you do a taste test?  Drop a small amount of the mixture in boiling water. Wait for it to cook, which shouldn’t take long, then taste.  Adjust the seasonings as needed. ;) )

2.  Moisten the edges of the wrapper, fold in half then press the top part to seal.

3.  With the side of your thumb and pointer finger (on your left hand), press the left side of the dumpling to seal.

4.  Do the same to seal the other side of the dumpling.

5.  Continue filling the other wrappers.  Set aside the pieces you want to cook right away.  Store the remaining pieces in a freezer bag and freeze.

6.  Steam for 20 minutes.  (Don’t panic when the wrappers become wrinkly.  They’re supposed to do that.  Hee hee.)

7.  Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.  (Mine is soy sauce with lime or lemon.)

Now wasn’t that easy?  Instead of steaming, you can drop these in your favorite noodle/soup broth.  You can also use this very same recipe to make siomai (substitute half the amount of ground meat with 1/2 lb shrimps).  This is your cue to say buh-bye to frozen dumplings! ;)

Making these siomai from scratch was another first for me, not counting the time we made dumplings for a soup (Molo Soup) during Home Economics class in high school.  The effort I exerted in making the wrappers was not left unrewarded.  Both Hubby and Abby complimented the wrappers, saying that they were good.  But I will probably buy ready made wrappers next time as making the wrappers ate up a huge chunk of my time!

The pork siomai I made are too big, probably twice if not thrice the size of a regular siomai.  Hee hee. Given the success of this siomai venture, it looks like I won’t be buying frozen siomai again…at least, not anytime soon. :)

FILLING INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 lb ground shrimp
• 1/3 cup chopped water chestnuts or turnips (singkamas)
• 1/3 cup chopped carrots
• 2 medium or 1 large minced onion(s)
• bunch of spring onions or leeks
• 1 egg
• 5 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 50 pcs. large or 100 pcs. small wanton or siomai wrapper

WRAPPER INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or corn oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1.  Mix all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl.
2.  Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture into each wrapper. Fold and seal.
3.  Meanwhile, boil water and brush steamer with oil.
4.  When the water gets to a rolling boil, arrange the siomai in the steamer and let stand for 15-20 minutes, longer for larger pieces.

Serve with soy sauce, calamansi and sesame oil.

To make the wrapper:

1.  Beat egg and mix with flour till free of lumps.
2.  Bring water, cooking oil and salt to a boil, then pour in flour.
3.  Remove from heat and beat until mixture forms a ball.
4.  Divide the dough into 1 1/4 -inch balls.
5.  Roll each ball on a floured board until paper thin. Set aside.

***UPDATE***

I have another siomai recipe: TURKEY SIOMAI

]]> http://cafemunchkin.com/2008/11/19/homemade-shrimp-and-pork-siomai/feed/ 11 http://cafemunchkin.com/2008/10/08/ww-29-steamed-buns-with-roast-pork-filling/ http://cafemunchkin.com/2008/10/08/ww-29-steamed-buns-with-roast-pork-filling/#comments Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:02:23 +0000 munchkinmommy http://cafemunchkin.com/?p=1080 We bought two different brands of steamed buns the last time we went to the Asian store: one was our usual brand and the other, a brand we were trying for the first time.

This is the new brand…

It is slightly bigger than the ones we always buy.   Four pieces of our usual brand easily fits in my bamboo steamer.  But not these ones…

Taste wise, I’d say I still like our old brand better, although this new one tasted pretty good, too.  Call it brand loyalty.  Hee hee.  A pack of four of this Chef Hon steamed buns costs about $1.99 a few cents more than our favorite.  We don’t really mind because, as I said, these are bigger.

This is our usual brand…

Too bad I can’t interpret the characters. Hee hee.  Our favorite, however, is the Hong Kong Style Barbecue-Flavored Steamed Buns.  The word Hong Kong makes a lot of difference.  This pack costs $1.66.

Come with me to the Dallas World Aquarium for my other WW entry.

Cheers!