dimsum

last nite teringin nak makan chinese food, ni semua gara2 my cousin's iftar menu - Seafood Treasure in Drop Egg Soup. will try that one day. so off we went to the asian grocer to get bamboo steamer despite already having a big steamer. well, we have to do it in style, jadi ke tak jadi, belakang kira.

i used  the recipe (with some modification) from The EveryDay Chinese Cookbook, a 500 pages book that cost only £2! .

ingredients (serves 4)

for the dough

150g/ 1 1/4  cups plain flour
50ml/ 1/4 cup boiling water
25ml /1 1/2 tbsp cold water
7.5ml/ 1/2 tbsp vege oil

for the filling (this is where i modified because some of the ingredients in the book are non-halal)

4 oz minced chicken
1/2 tbsp light soy sauce ( i used kicap manis cos i dont have any kicap cair)
1 tsp demerara sugar ( i suppose this can be substitured with granulated sugar/brown sugar)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar (this is my substitute for dry sherry). you can skip this if you dont have any rice vinegar.
1 tsp cornflour
dash of white pepper ( i added this for seasoning)

method

1. to make the dough, sift the flour into a bowl. stir in boiling water, then add cold water with the oil. mix to form a dough and knead to smooth. dont be tempted to add any more water or oil.. just knead thro and thro.
2. divide the dough into 16 equal pieces  and shape into balls. using a rolling pin, roll the ball into  thin dimsum circle.
3. for the filling, mix the chicken, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, pepper  & oil
4. add cornflour and stir well until thoroughly combined.
5. place a little of the filling in the centre of each dimsum circle. pinch the edges of the dough together to form 'little purses'
6. line a steamer with a damp tea towel. place the dimsum on the steamer and steam for 10 minutes
7. serve with 'cili kicap' or hoisin sauce + chilli sauce dip.

seriously, i never thot making dimsum could be so easy... not bad for a first timer eh??