Okay, so check it, yesterday I decided to try making dim sum. Yeah, dim sum! I know, sounds fancy, right? But I was craving those little bite-sized goodies, and figured, “Why not give it a shot?”
First thing I did was hit up the Asian market. Needed to grab all the essentials – rice flour, tapioca starch, shrimp, pork, shiitake mushrooms… the whole shebang. Spent like an hour wandering around trying to figure out what everything was, but eventually, I had a basket overflowing with stuff.
Got home, blasted some tunes, and started prepping. The filling was actually pretty easy. Chopped up the shrimp and pork super fine, minced some ginger and garlic, threw in some soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little sugar. Mixed it all together and let it sit while I tackled the dough.
The dough… oh man, the dough. That was the tricky part. I followed this recipe online, said to use a mix of rice flour and tapioca starch with boiling water. Sounds simple, right? Wrong! It was like trying to wrangle a sticky, goopy monster. I added more flour, then more water, then more flour again. It was a total mess.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I got it to a point where I could actually roll it out. Rolled it super thin, cut out little circles, and started filling them with the shrimp and pork mixture. Pinching them closed was another challenge. Some looked okay, some looked like mangled dumplings. But hey, they were all gonna taste the same, right?
Steamed them in my bamboo steamer for about 15 minutes. The apartment started smelling amazing! When they were done, they were all translucent and jiggly. I made a dipping sauce with soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, and a touch of chili oil.
And… BAM! They were actually pretty good! Not exactly restaurant-quality, but definitely edible. The dough was a little chewier than I wanted, probably messed up the water-to-flour ratio, but the filling was spot on. I ate like, ten of them in one sitting.
Would I do it again? Definitely! But next time, I’m gonna try a different dough recipe. And maybe watch a few more YouTube videos before I start. But overall, it was a fun (and delicious) experience. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be a dim sum master!
- What I Learned: Dough is hard. Don’t be afraid to experiment. And always have a backup plan (like takeout).
- Next Time: Perfect that dough recipe. Maybe try a different filling. And definitely make more!