This shumai recipe is one of my most popular videos, with over 1.5 million views on YouTube and raving reviews in the comments! It's a dim sum favourite for many of us. Originally a Chinese dish, these little pork and shrimp dumplings have become a solid part of the Thai food culture and we call them kanom jeeb. Yes, we do add our own Thai flare, and yes, there are chilies! They're a lot easier to make than you might think, and they can also be frozen!
If you love dumplings, and want to try a different style, check out my pork dumplings (gyoza) recipe with many tricks for the juiciest dumplings!
Watch the Video Tutorial for this Recipe
What is Shumai or Siu Mai?
Shumai, also called siu mai in Cantonese, are steamed dumplings wrapped in yellow wonton wrappers. The filling for shumai at most Cantonese dim sum restaurants are made from a combination of pork and shrimp, but in Thailand, they also come in all-pork (cheapest) and pork and crab (most expensive) varieties, depending on the place.
They're the perfect dumplings for beginners because they're so easy to wrap. They are cup-shaped, open dumplings that don't require any pleating skills, and are much faster to wrap than, say, gyoza. And no, you don't need to make the skins.
Ingredients
- Garlic
- White peppercorns
- Shrimp. If thawed from frozen, make sure you dry them really well; excess water will make your mix too runny to wrap)
- Ground pork. Preferably not lean. The fat will keep the dumplings juicy. You can find non-lean ground pork at Asian butchers.
- Soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Sugar
- Toasted sesame oil
- Cornstarch
- Egg
- Jicama. This is typically added to lighten the filling, sometimes water chestnuts are used instead, but my preference is for jicama.
- Green onion
- Wonton wrappers, choose ones that are round and thin if you can, but square ones are ok too.
- Diced carrots or tobiko for garnish
- Fried garlic. This is a garnish unique to shumai in Thailand! It can be store bought or homemade.
Dipping Sauce
In Cantonese dim sum restaurants, shumai are not typically served with any dipping sauces unless you ask for it. But Thai people loooove dipping sauces for everything, and we also love to balance salty, fatty things with sour and spicy flavours. So we make a simple, spicy, vinegary sauce that really brightens the dumplings and cuts the grease. If you've never dipped your shumai in anything, I promise this will pleasantly surprise you!
- Soy sauce
- Thai black soy sauce or Chinese dark soy sauce
- Sugar
- White vinegar
- Thai chilies
How to Make Shumai
Here's a bird's eye view of the process for making shumai, but this is a recipe that I think is better learned by watching the video so you see the consistency that the filling needs to have (very important!!), and how to wrap the dumplings. I also include lots of tips not mentioned in the blog post!
- Put 150 g of shrimp in a food processor and grind just until there are no more big chunks. Dice the rest of the shrimp into chunks.
- In a mortar and pestle, grind garlic and white peppercorns into a paste.
- Transfer shrimp into a mixing bowl and add ground pork, garlic mixture, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, and egg.
- Knead everything together with your hands until the mixture is smooth, thick and no longer runny (it should be able to hold its shape).
- Add diced jicama, green onions, and diced shrimp.
- Fold everything together just until well combined. You can cook off a little bit of the filling in a skillet or the microwave at this point if you want to taste and adjust the seasoning.
- If your wonton wrappers are square, trim off the corners so they look like chubby octagons.
- Put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the centre of each wrapper and close it up into a cylinder by squeezing it in your hand (see video for technique), flatten out the bottom and the top with your fingers.
- Garnish the top with 3 small cubes of carrots and push them in slightly to secure them.
- Line your steamer (this can be a bamboo steamer) with parchment or an oiled banana leaf or napa cabbage leaves, and steam on high for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce (see below).
- When they're done, brush the tops with garlic oil, sprinkle with crispy garlic (see how to make crispy garlic in the recipe card below).
- Serve warm with the dipping the sauce!
Making the Dipping Sauce
- Simply combine all ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, or add more chilies, if desired. The dipping sauce will last indefinitely in the fridge, and is good for most other kinds of dumplings as well, so feel free to make a lot!
Storing Leftovers
Storing cooked shumai: Leftover shumai can be refrigerated for a few days and reheated either in the microwave or the steamer (steaming is better). If storing, coat the dumplings well with garlic oil to prevent the wrapper edges from becoming dry. Also store them in an airtight container.
Storing uncooked shumai: If you know that you won't finish them all, I recommend freezing raw shumai instead of cooking them all off, so that when you eat them, they're freshly steamed and not reheated. Freeze them on a tray in one layer so they won't stick together, then once frozen, consolidate them into a freezer bag or container.
Cooking Frozen Shumai:
- Bring a steamer to a full boil. Meanwhile, line the steamer basket with parchment paper, oiled banana leaves, or oiled napa cabbage leaves.
- Steam the shumai directly from frozen; they will 13-15 minutes depending on the size. Be sure to cut one open to check doneness, or use a thermometer and make sure the middle has reached at least 165°F.
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with full video tutorials, so be sure to watch them as I often include tricks and tips not included in the written recipe. If you enjoy the video, please consider subscribing to the YouTube channel!
Shumai (Siu Mai) Shrimp & Pork Dumplings
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Yield: 24-28 pieces
Description
A dim sum classic, shumai or siu mai is a pork and shrimp dumpling and is a favourite of many. These are Thai-style shumai, so the flavour is slightly different from the Cantonese version (in a good way IMO!). They're also the easiest dumpling to make, perfect for dumpling beginners!
Instructions
For the fried garlic and garlic oil:
- Add garlic to a small pot or wok and add just enough oil to almost cover the garlic.
- Turn heat on medium, and once garlic is bubbling, reduce heat to low just to maintain gentle bubbling.
- Fry for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until garlic is golden. Don't fry too long or it will become bitter.
- Drain garlic from oil, keeping them separated so the garlic is crispy.
For the dipping sauce:
- Combine all ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
For the dumplings:
- In a mortar and pestle, grind garlic and white peppercorns into a paste.
- Take 50 g of shrimp and dice the meat into little chunks; set aside.
- Put the remaining 150 g of shrimp in a food processor and grind just until there are no more big chunks.
- Transfer shrimp into a mixing bowl and add ground pork, garlic mixture, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, sesame oil, cornstarch, and egg.
- Knead everything together with your hands (use gloves if you've got them) until the mixture is smooth, thick and no longer runny (it should be able to hold its shape). The mixture will start out quite runny, but will thicken as you knead it.
- Add diced jicama, green onions, and diced shrimp meat; mix just until combined. You can cook off a little bit of the filling in a skillet or the microwave at this point if you want to taste and adjust the seasoning.
- If your wonton wrappers are square, trim off the corners so they look like chubby octagons.
- Put about 1 tablespoon of filling in the centre of each wrapper and close it up into a cylinder by squeezing it in your hand (see video for technique), flatten out the bottom and the top with your fingers. This is by no means the best way to wrap, it's just what works best for me, so feel free to experiment with other wrapping techniques that might feel more comfortable for you.
- Garnish the top of each dumpling with 3 small cubes of carrots and push them in slightly to secure them (optional step). You can refrigerate them at this point for a couple of hours if not serving immediately, but if storing for longer, freeze them according to instructions in the blog post above.
- Bring water in the steamer to a boil. Line the steamer with parchment paper or banana leaves, making sure not to cover all the holes so steam can still come up. Alternatively oil the steamer racks so they dumplings don't stick. Steam for 10 minutes, or 13-15 minutes for frozen. The internal temp should reach at least 165°F.
- When they're done, brush the tops with garlic oil immediately, sprinkle with crispy garlic, and serve immediately with dipping sauce.
