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Sekai Gohan
Dim Sim: Melbourne Pork, Chicken and Cabbage Steamed Dumplings
Ingredients
| Ingredient | Amount | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Pork mince | 9 oz (250 g) | Savory depth and fat |
| Chicken mince | 9 oz (250 g) | Lighter, springy bite |
| White cabbage, finely chopped | ½ cup | Moisture, sweetness and bulk |
| Cabbage outer leaves | as needed | Lining for the steamer |
| Spring onion (scallion) | 1 | White part in the filling, green part sliced to finish |
| Ginger, grated | ½ thumb-sized piece | Freshens the meat |
| Cornstarch (cornflour) | 1 tbsp | Binds and holds moisture |
| Soy sauce | 1 tbsp | Salt and savoriness |
| Sesame oil | 1 tbsp | Aroma |
| Sugar | 1 tsp | Rounds the seasoning |
| Ground white pepper | ½ tsp | Gentle heat at the finish |
| Wonton wrappers | 40 | The skin |
| Chilli oil | to taste | Topping |
Steps
1Mix the filling in a cold bowl
Put the pork and chicken mince in a large, cold bowl. Add the chopped cabbage, the white part of the spring onion, the ginger, cornstarch, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and white pepper. Mix well by hand; the cold bowl keeps the fat from softening under warm hands and separating. Do not taste the raw mixture. Stop when the mince has lost its separate grains and the filling holds together as one even, cohesive mass.
2Fill a wrapper and bring two corners together
Lay one wrapper flat on your palm and keep a small dish of water beside you. Put a level tablespoon of filling, about ½ oz (15 g), in the center. Bring two opposite corners up to meet above the filling and dab the tips with water. The filling should sit well inside the edges, and the wet tips should press together and hold rather than spring apart.
Level spoon, 40 wrappersA heaped tablespoon fills fewer wrappers and leaves some over, and it strains the skin so it splits in the steamer. A level spoon spreads the filling across all 40.
3Close the square, pleat and set on the tray
Bring the remaining two corners up to the same point and press them shut, wetting again if a tip lifts. Push the side pleats inward to tidy it into a compact parcel. Set each one on the lined tray with space around it, and steam soon after wrapping, before the skins dry out. Every parcel should be closed on top, sealed on all four sides, standing apart from its neighbors with a dry base.
4Line the steamer
Bring water to a boil in a pot that fits under your steamer. Lay the reserved cabbage outer leaves over the base of the basket and pierce them in several places with the tip of a knife. A perforated steamer liner, or baking paper with holes torn in it, does the same job. Hold the basket over the pot: steam should rise freely through the gaps.
5Steam and check the center
Set the basket over the boiling water, cover, and steam for 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Leave space between the parcels and work in batches. The wrappers turn translucent and no pink shows in the filling; a skewer pushed into the middle draws out clear juice, not cloudy. Push a thermometer into the center of one parcel: it must read at least 167°F (75°C). If it reads lower, cover and steam longer, then check again.
Ten or twelve at a timeA packed basket blocks the steam, the skins turn sticky and 10 minutes will not reach the middle. Steam 10–12 per basket and keep the rest on the tray until their turn.
6Finish and serve
Bring the steamer straight to the table, or lift the dim sims onto a plate without tearing the skins. Spoon chilli oil over them and scatter the sliced spring onion greens. Put a little soy sauce out for dipping. Serve while they are still steaming, with every wrapper whole.