Okay, so today I decided to tackle chive dim sum. I’ve always loved them, but I’ve been kinda intimidated to make them at home. Figured it was time to just go for it!
Getting Started
First, I gathered all my ingredients. This is probably the most important part, ’cause if you’re missing something halfway through, it’s a total pain. I made a checklist:
- For the Dough:
- Wheat Starch
- Tapioca Starch
- Boiling Water
- A little bit of oil
- For the Filling:
- A whole bunch of Chinese chives (the star of the show!)
- Some dried shrimp (soaked them beforehand)
- A tiny dash of baking soda (my grandma’s secret!)
- Salt, sugar, white pepper… the usual suspects
- Sesame oil, for that yummy flavor
Making the Dough
The dough was surprisingly easy. Seriously. I mixed the wheat starch and tapioca starch together in a bowl. Then, I slowly poured in the boiling water while stirring like crazy. It went from powdery to clumpy to… well, dough-like! I added a bit of oil and kneaded it until it was smooth and elastic. It felt like Play-Doh, but, you know, edible.
Making the Filling
This part was pretty straightforward too. I finely chopped the chives. I mean, really finely. Then, I tossed them with the rehydrated and chopped dried shrimp. After that, in went all the seasonings and the magic baking soda. Gave it a good mix with my hands until everything was evenly distributed.
Putting it All Together
Now for the fun part! I rolled out the dough into a thin sheet. I learned to split the dough into smaller portion for the convinience. Then I used a cookie cutter (you can use anything circular, really) to cut out little circles. I placed a spoonful of the chive filling in the center of each * folded it. I pinched the edges together to seal them.
They looked like adorable tiny dumplings at first. I did not do a good job on folding them though, It took me 3 to 4 dumplings to finally get it.
Cooking Time!
I steamed the dim sum for about 8-10 minutes. You know they’re done when the dough turns translucent, and you can kinda see the green filling inside. My kitchen smelled amazing at this point, by the way.
The Taste Test
They were SO GOOD. Seriously. The dough was chewy, the filling was savory and flavorful… I was pretty proud of myself. I dipped them in a little bit of soy sauce with chili oil, and it was heaven. It tastes just as good as the ones I had in the restaurant!
Will I make them again? Absolutely. It was a bit of work, but totally worth it. And now I can impress my friends and family with homemade chive dim sum. Win-win!