Oh My! Siomai!

Every now and then, I crave for siomai and whenever that happens I would go out to buy some in the supermarket nearby. There are many food stalls and  restaurants selling them, proof that Filipinos have come to love this yummy Chinese dumpling.

I have made siomai before with my father, it was good. What we made was somehow different from those we buy. I guess the texture was different. We used lean meat back then, and it must be the reason why we did not get the texture we wanted.

One morning, I was watching TV and the cooking segment of the program featured siomai. The next day, I went to the market to buy the ingredients and made siomai again.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg ground pork (make sure there are fats included)
1/2 cup minced shrimp
1 cup water chestnuts, shredded and squeezed
1 cup carrots. shredded and squeezed
1/2 cup white onion, minced
2 tbsp. sesame oil (optional)
1/8 cup scallions, chopped
1 piece raw egg
1 pack wonton wrapper
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix all ingredients except wonton wrapper. If you want to test if you have achieved the saltiness you want, you can form a small ball of the mixture and fry it; unless you don't mind tasting it raw.

Wrap the mixture with the wonton wrapper. I put about 1 tbsp of the mixture in the wrapper and wrap it. Wrapping could be tricky. I had to watch videos on how to do it. I'm not even sure if I did it correctly. 

There are two common ways to cook siomai; steaming and deep-frying. Well, we tried both. I prefer steamed siomai while my brothers prefer them fried. 

fried siomai

These are best served with a dip made from soy scaue, chili, and lemon.

steamed siomai

Did I achieve the texture I wanted? No. I wanted them to be exactly like those in restaurants and stalls but these are "very meaty". I saw a recipe that uses cornstarch and other extenders, so I might try making siomai again. My brothers said that they prefer my siomai. Yeah! I won't cook again if they don't compliment my cooking.