In Cantonese cuisine, siu mai is usually served during dim sum. The rose siu mai is a concept of two of my favourite things in life – siu mai and flowers.
What is dim sum?
Dim sum is traditionally enjoyed in restaurants during brunch. There is a large range of dishes, each with delicately prepared bite sized food portions, savoury or sweet. Dim sum translates to “touching heart” in Cantonese. A term I associate when eating small food items while sipping tea. I love how it is served! Dishes are served in bamboo steamers and are pushed out in a mobile steam heated cart. I get excited when I hear staff shout out what they have in their cart. You can then choose which dish to try. During the pandemic, a lot of the restaurants were closed. I missed seeing those carts so badly! I missed eating the steamy dim sum.
Cantonese Siu Mai
A morning spent feasting on dim sum usually requires at least two orders of siu mai with my family. It is one of the most popular items at dim sum restaurants. Traditionally it is served open faced with a very thin, round sheet of dough and a pleated border. The typical garnish is diced carrot or roe or pea. But you don’t have to go out just to enjoy them, because it is quite easy to make. Here, each petal is slightly open with the filling revealed between the layers. Isn’t it so pretty?
How to Make Rose Siu Mai
The recipe is below but here are some pictures to help you visualize the assembly of the rose siu mai. Roll out dough and cut into circles. Place three across.
Add the filling in like so and fold in half.
Roll from one end to the other and seal the end with some water.
And voila! This is what each looks like after it’s assembled but before it’s steamed. Just stunning!
Lastly, if you make these rose siu mai, be sure to leave a comment or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from you guys and respond to each and every comment. Also, don’t forget to tag me @cookwith.chopsticks and #cookwithchopsticks on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you have made makes me sooooo happy!
More dim sum recipes
Rose Siu Mai
Equipment
- Bamboo Steamer
- Parchment Paper
- Pasta Roller
- Circle Cookie Cutter 3 inch
Ingredients
Dough
- 300 g all purpose flour
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 170 g hot water
Filling
- ½ lb ground pork
- ½ lb shrimp peeled, deveined, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- 2 green onions finely chopped
- ½ tbsp ginger minced
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp white pepper
- cornstarch for dusting
Instructions
Make the dough:
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, turmeric and salt; then pour in hot water. Using a dough hook of a mixer, knead until the dough comes together for a few minutes. Roll dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Rest at room temperature for one hour.
Make the filling:
- Combine all filling ingredients and mix until evenly combined. Refrigerate until ready to fill the dumplings.
Assembly:
- Dust work surface with cornstarch and unwrap the dough. Divide into four portions. Take out one portion and cover the other portions with plastic wrap. Feed dough through the thickest setting of the pasta roller. Dust dough with more cornstarch as needed with each pass, until dough is fairly thin. I pass it up to the thinnest or second thinnest setting. Allow sheets to dry for 15 minutes before cutting into 3 inch circles. There should be enough dough for about 75 wrappers.
- To form a rose, place three dumpling wrappers side by side with edges overlapping ¼ inch. Dab a little water where the edges meet so it sticks together. Spread a heaping tablespoon of filling along the middle. Fold wrappers in half and roll dumpling up into a tight coil. Dab a little water at the end to seal the coil. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
- Bring water to a boil. Line bamboo steamer with parchment paper and arrange rose siu mai inside. Do not overcrowd the steamer. Cover the steamer and steam for 7 minutes or until filling is cooked. Enjoy!
