The first time I had the pleasure of experiencing the Chinese tradition of Yum Cha was a few years ago now in San Francisco and happened to coincide with the first time I met my future in laws. An intimidating time for many a young man but especially for an Englishman being initiated into an Australian family. The point score I believe is not favourable to begin with. It gets worse. Yum Cha my future wife informs me as we sit at the table was a gastronomic past time she and her family had embarked upon every Sunday for quite some time whilst living in America and at which therefore had become quite proficient, even to the point of knowing some of the linguistics. I on the other hand was definitely in the category of novice. More familiar with roast beef and Yorkshire puddings as traditional Sunday fare. Hailing from England my experiences of Chinese cuisine up to this point had been limited to sweet and sour chicken Hong Kong Style and the occasional crispy duck with pancakes and hoi sin sauce after a few too many at the local on a Saturday night. I was the proverbial fish out of water. That however was all about to change and the anticipation had my mouth watering before we even set foot inside a restaurant.
Anyone who has ever had the fortune to visit Chinatown in San Francisco will know that it is an electric, Eastern flavoured hive of activity. Busy market stalls selling everything from suit cases to saucepans dominate the streets and the smell of steamed dumplings fills your nostrils every which way you turn. Machine gun like Cantonese chatter fires in waves across the streets as the locals go about their day to day existence. It is the authentic Chinese experience. If you were going to change your perception of the cuisine of the Orient, this it seemed was the place to do it.
Yum Cha restaurants I have discovered tend to follow a very simple design plan. Acquire an open space as large as you can and fill it with as many tables as possible. Leave just enough space between the tables to wheel an abundance of food trolleys, install bathrooms as small as possible, a kitchen, a fish tank and your away. The emphasis you feel is where it should be, the food. The first Yum Cha restaurant I visited was I am pleased to say, exactly like this. Another trend that has developed during the last few years whenever we have been for Yum Cha and I would estimate in excess of one hundred times, we are almost always the only westerners in the restaurant. This I can promise you is a good sign and a very important factor when choosing your Yum Cha spot and our success is mainly due to my father in law who seems to have a knack of finding the place to go. It is almost as if he has innate sense for sourcing out the hot spots and we are all lucky enough to benefit from this whenever we venture out for dumplings.
Having entered the restaurant and been ushered to a table the experience begins as a multitude of trolleys arrive one by one in close procession amidst a short, sharp synopsis in Cantonese as to what lies within. I sense from the expression on the face of the trolley bearer that I am supposed to comprehend what she is saying and duly respond. I look the other way. I am not disheartened. Excitement builds as the small bamboo baskets pull up beside me and the lids are removed in clouds of sesame scented steam to reveal the delights inside. There is something that makes you feel wonderfully vulnerable when immersed temporarily in a culture where you are unable to understand one character let alone a single written or spoken word and you are at the mercy of those around you and armed only with your senses. Chicken feet, spare ribs, braised tofu and other delights which I have almost stabbed with a chop stick in order to get onto my plate are nonchalantly waved away. We are not it appears here for these mere morsels. We are here with one purpose: dumplings, and they promptly begin to arrive. Round ones, half crescent shaped ones, transparent ones all arrive in front of us and everyone carries on as if this is completely normal for a Sunday lunchtime. Other than the language barrier there is now one more pressing obstacle to overcome and it involves the two wooden sticks posing as a knife and fork sat on the table next to me. The tricky art of negotiating a small slippery dumpling from the basket onto my plate and eventually somewhere in the vicinity of my mouth without first embarrassingly dropping it onto the table or worse into the small bowl of dipping sauce is now required to avoid the shame of having to ask for them to be bound together in the child friendly way. Eagerness and ravenous curiousity take over and I manage to raise the dumpling up and into my mouth employing a self invented balancing technique which thankfully no one is paying attention to. As soon as I bite into my first dumpling I am rewarded with an explosion of flavours of the Orient. Sesame, ginger and the subtle saltiness of soy combined with the delicate fusion of prawn and pork pirouettes perfectly on my palate. I am enchanted and enthralled all at once and I want more.
As I have said I am somewhat more experienced with the art of Yum Cha these days and am able to wave away the unwanted dishes with firm control knowing that I am awaiting better things. My wife and I have now visited our local Yum Cha spot so frequently that we have our own corner table and the waiters know to get the take away containers ready as we will definitely be taking some home for further analysis and for lunch the next day. Recently they have also stopped looking perplexed by our behaviour which is comforting. Now to dissect the dumpling, move it into the home kitchen and share with you my recipe for perfect Chinese Dumplings.
Firstly I would like to clearly explain 3 problem areas I came up against when I began to attempt Chinese cookery at home.
Problem 1: I have absolutely nothing in the pantry closely related to Chinese cookery.
Problem 2: I have no cooking implement in the kitchen closely related to Chinese cookery.
Problem 3: (The most problematic I feel). I have no knowledge of or any experience closely relating to Chinese cookery.
Alas. Where to turn. Where else but the modern man’s encyclopaedia: Google. A quick search for Chinese Dumplings reveals recipe after recipe, photos and even videos of how to make these little treasures and the education process begins. Firstly: ingredients, and a trip to the Chinese supermarket is in order. Sesame oil, shitake mushrooms, soy sauce, ginger, spring onions, white pepper and water chestnuts all make their way into the basket. Rice wine is a little harder to find and I am amazed that you can by wine that is 13% alcohol for $3 and I can’t help but wonder if it’s quaffable. This may be the star of my next dinner party. I digress. Next, and this is where this fairly simple shopping trip thus far begins to become slightly more complex. Pastry. A look in the fridge reveals what can only be described as a plethora of potential pastry. Coincidentally it also contains a number of pre made and ready to steam dumplings which do look rather tantalising. I must be strong.
To cut a long story short we have now experimented with several different types of pastry with mixed results and have decided that won ton wrappers are the way forward. They are square, easy to work with and seal easily to insure successful steaming. An additional benefit is that each pack contains around 200 sheets of pastry. providing plenty of opportunity for trial and error. The next thing I need is a bamboo steamer and this is easily acquired for a small fee. A few sets of chopsticks for authenticity and we are almost ready to get home and give these a go. Just need to pick up the pork mince and some prawns and we’ll be ready to get home and start cooking.
What always amazes me about Chinese dumplings is that they are so juicy and tender and I have come to realise that what makes these dumplings juicy and tender is actually the key to making a successful dumpling at home. So, what is it that provides this juicy and tender quality? Every recipe I have read online has stated that you should use pork mince but I have never read one that stated what kind of pork mince you should be using. Therefore after picking up a few packets of pork mince from the supermarket and making dumplings that have been tasty but a little dry and shrunk inside the pastry I begin to wonder how to get the dumpling to really fill the pastry and how to achieve that sumptuous moist texture that I experience every time I eat one of these delicacies in a restaurant. Then, an epiphany. I amaze myself by turning to the traditional English kitchen and an old fashioned dish I used to eat at school, “Faggots”, in order to salvage my dry Chinese dumplings and propel them to another level. For those of you who don’t know or have a different idea of what “Faggots” are, a “Faggot” is similar to a meatball but is cooked in a casing of fat in order to keep it tender and juicy. Here lies the answer: fat. Wonderful, flavoursome, juicy fat and this is the key to our success: fatty pork mince. Having worked in a butcher’s shop for a few months when I first moved to New Zealand I have some experience in the kind of pork that is ground to make sausages and this I felt was what we were looking for. A good piece of shoulder with the fat left on or even better a fusion of shoulder and belly which in my opinion has proved the best for dumplings. Makes sense when you think that the Chinese are masters of turning cheap cuts of meat into sumptuous delicacies that belly should feature here. So this I have discovered is the key and this is my tried and tested recipe for Chinese Dumplings.
Ingredients
500g Fatty Pork Mince (Ask your butcher)
250g Prawns
100g Diced Water Chestnuts (Optional)
60g Dried Shitake Mushrooms (Soaked in water and drained)
Good sized knob of ginger
Bunch spring onions (White part only)
1tbsp Sesame Oil
2tbsp Light Soy Sauce
2tbsp Fish Sauce (Optional)
White pepper (To taste)
50 Won Ton Wrappers
Method
Place all except water chestnuts in a food processor and blend until the mixture resembles sausage meat. 30 seconds should do the trick. Add the diced water chestnuts if using.
Lay your won ton wrappers out on a board and carefully spoon some filling into the centre of the pastry. The important thing here is not to overfill the pastry so that you are able to seal all the edges. Dampen the edges slightly with water and press together. Tap to ensure they’re sealed.
Once you’ve made all the dumplings you require place your steamer over a pan of rapidly boiling water for 5 minutes and you are ready to serve with your favourite dipping sauces and in our house you can’t have a Chinese meal without Bok Choy. Simply steamed and served with sweet soy and lime. Delicious.
I hope this has inspired you to give Chinese Dumplings a go at home. It’s really satisfying. They’re a real party favourite and everyone’s always impressed. I’ve recently even been able to impress the Grand Master. The father in law.
Happy Cooking.
The Hare
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