Pork Shumai

Shaomai

By Chef Cannon

Cuisine: Chinese

Shaomai is a Jiangnan-style snack: open-topped wrappers filled with minced pork, then steamed 8–10 minutes. This page uses shaomai skins and a bottle-shaped wrap. Difficulty 4/5 (Advanced). Ingredients and step-by-step instructions are below, with notes for home cooking.

Difficulty

4 / 5

★★★★☆

Advanced
Estimated Calories

1485 kcal

Ingredients

  • Shumai wrappers
  • Ground pork (3:7 fat to lean; for a low-fat version use pork tenderloin or pork shoulder)
  • Minced ginger
  • Minced scallion (green part only)
  • Light soy sauce
  • Shaoxing cooking wine
  • Salt
  • Sugar (optional)
  • White pepper (optional)
  • Sesame oil
  • Stock or concentrated stock pot
  • Winter bamboo shoots (optional)
  • Pork skin aspic (optional but recommended)
  • Shiitake mushrooms (or rehydrated dried shiitake, optional)
  • Shelled shrimp (optional)
  • Lard (or chicken fat) (low-fat version)
  • Compound food thickener (κ-carrageenan 45%, guar gum 35%, potassium chloride 20%) (or cornstarch) (low-fat version)
  • Steamer liner (in order of preference: oiled bamboo mat, straw mat, bamboo leaves, perforated silicone paper; straw mats are traditional, perforated silicone paper is more common now)

Steps

  1. (Low-fat version) Mix the compound thickener into 10 mL cold water to make a paste
  2. (Low-fat version) Add 25 mL boiling water and stir until it becomes a translucent gel
  3. (Low-fat version) Once cooled, mix into 280 g pure lean ground pork + 15 g melted lard (or chicken fat)
  4. Combine the ground pork with the ginger and scallion, add soy sauce, cooking wine, salt, sugar and white pepper, and stir in one direction until sticky
  5. If using a stock pot, mix the stock pot with 15 mL hot water until fully dispersed into an emulsion, then add 15 mL room-temperature water
  6. Slowly add water or stock while stirring until the filling absorbs the liquid and becomes sticky; if the filling feels too thick, add another 5 mL water and keep stirring
  7. Add the optional ingredients (bamboo shoots, aspic, shiitake), drizzle with sesame oil and mix well. Refrigerate 30 minutes to let the flavors meld
  8. Take a wrapper and place about 20-25 g filling on it (don't overfill or it won't close)
  9. Gently gather the edges of the wrapper with the web of your hand to form a "vase" shape, leaving the top open
  10. Press the bottom gently with your fingers so it stands steadily
  11. If using shrimp, place one shrimp on top
  12. Repeat until all the shumai are wrapped
  13. Arrange in the steamer, spaced apart so they don't stick
  14. Steam over high heat for 8-10 minutes

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Notes

This is a refined Jiangnan-style dim sum: wrappers thin as paper, filling plump and juicy. Biting in, the pork, fresh bamboo shoots and the broth from the melted aspic come together, savory with a hint of sweetness, tender and springy. Pork and shrimp provide quality protein, bamboo shoots and shiitake add fiber and minerals, and the low-fat version further cuts saturated fat. Wrapping takes a little patience, but the steps are clear and beginners can master it with practice; from mixing the filling to serving takes about an hour.

Estimated difficulty: ★★★★
Estimated calories: 1485 kcal

Calculation:
Decide how many servings to make before you start. One serving feeds 2-3 people.

Per serving:

  • Shumai wrappers 240-465 g (about 24-31 wrappers; 30 wrappers of 10 g each recommended)
  • Ground pork 300 g (low-fat version: 280 g pork tenderloin or shoulder)
  • Minced ginger 5-10 g
  • Minced scallion 10-20 g
  • Light soy sauce 15 mL
  • Cooking wine 10 mL
  • Salt 3-5 g (reduce by 3 g if using a stock pot)
  • Sugar 2-3 g
  • White pepper 2 g
  • Sesame oil 5 mL
  • Stock 30 mL
  • Stock pot 6 g (Knorr recommended, about 1/8 of a pot)
  • Winter bamboo shoots 50 g
  • Pork skin aspic 100 g
  • Shiitake 75 g (or 30 g dried shiitake, rehydrated)
  • Shelled shrimp 100-200 g (about 20-25)
  • Compound thickener 1.2 g (or cornstarch 2 g)
  • Lard (or chicken fat) 15 g
  • Most of the fat in shumai comes from fatty pork; with it removed in the low-fat version, a little animal fat is added back to keep the texture
  • If you have no shumai wrappers, use large wonton wrappers or roll dumpling wrappers thinner
  • Wrappers should be 8-10 cm in diameter and weigh about 10-15 g each; keep the wrapper-to-filling ratio at 1:2 - 1:2.5
  • Use a medium setting on the meat grinder so the pork is neither too fine (like paste) nor too coarse (like chunks); a medium texture keeps the filling springy
  • 5 g ginger and 10 g scallion won't mask the fresh pork flavor; 10 g ginger and 20 g scallion tastes more like dumpling filling
  • Rub a little oil on the web of your hand when wrapping so the edges don't stick
  • Only put the shumai in once the water is boiling, so the wrappers don't collapse
  • Extras can be frozen at -18 ℃; frozen shumai need 12-15 minutes of steaming
  • They're even better dipped in rose rice vinegar, or served with Tongxiang chili sauce, chili oil, light soy sauce or shredded ginger to taste
  • Reference: [Pork shumai recipe with step-by-step photos – Xiachufang](https://www.xiachufang.com/recipe/106527847/)

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Cuisine: Chinese