Homemade Dim Sum

The Asian food cravings continue and this time I decided to try and make my own Dim Sum. I found an Asian supermarket on Seven Sisters Road recently - about 20 minutes walk away, so close enough to support any significant Asian food shopping requirements.

My Dim Sum menu was:

• Prawn and chilli potsticker dumplings
• Pork potsticker dumplings
• Chilli salt squid
• Asian vegetables in oyster sauce

I have never made dumplings before, so it was a 'fingers-crossed' dish, but both turned out well. It was a bit time-consuming to make, but my always helpful kitchen hand and I managed to make about 30 odd dumplings without really knowing what we were doing and amazingly, they all held together! The dumplings are fried for a couple of minutes (the 'potsticker' part of the name) and then effectively steamed in the frying pan with a bit of water until cooked through. This is such a great way of cooking dumplings as you get a real contrast of textures - crispy on one side and soft and chewy on the other. You also don't need any fancy equipment, although this meal did necessitate the use of literally every pan and plate we own!

The dumplings tasted pretty authentic, I think! The prawn dumplings benefited from the strong flavour of the coriander, so stood out more than the pork dumplings, but both were really enjoyable.


The chilli salt squid was also a new one for me. I have always been a bit nervous about deep-frying, but after a successful first attempt with some corn fritters a few weeks ago, I was excited to give this a try. It was quite a simple recipe - squid coated in seasoned cornflour, deep-fried and tossed with salt, pepper, chilli, coriander, spring onion and fried garlic. But it was absolutely delicious. I really like calamari and this was fresh and full of flavour with a really great texture. My only complaint is that it got a bit cold while cooking the squid in batches.

Finally, in the spirit of eating the occasional vegetable, I used a Nigel Slater recipe for asian vegetables in oyster sauce. This was the easy part of the meal with the chinese broccoli and pak choy boiled and mixed into a sauce of sauteed garlic and ginger with oyster sauce. Simple, but tasty. The only problem was that the leaves were full of water, so after they were drained and the sauce mixed in, heaps more water came out and diluted the sauce. Next time, more emphasis on draining!

I am really quite proud of this meal - a few new techniques, lots going on and some serious timing concerns, but it all turned out pretty well. Dim Sum (or Yum Cha) is probably one of those things that you're just better off going out for, but it is nice to know you can do it yourself, if you want to (if you can be bothered!).

Prawn and Chilli potsticker dumplings
New Entertaining (Donna Hay)
This recipe makes 30 dumplings - I made half.

500g green (raw) prawn meat, finely chopped
2 shallots, chopped
1 tablespoon shredded galangal or ginger
1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
1 tablespoon chilli jam (I used sweet chilli sauce)
2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
30 round wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup vegetable or fish stock (I just used water)

Combine prawns, shallots, galangal, coriander, chilli jam, wine and soy sauce in a bowl. Place 1 tablespoon of mixture onto each wonton wrapper. Mix cornflour and water to for a smooth paste and brush edges of wonton wrapper with paste. Fold wrapper in half, gather up edges like a fan and squeeze with fingertips to enclose filling.

Heat oil in a frypan over high heat. Add dumplings and fry bases until they are golden. Add stock (or water) and cover frypan. Allow dumplings to steam in stock for 3-4 minutes or until tender. Remove lid and allow stock to evaporate. Ensure bases of dumplings are crisp. Remove dumplings from pan and serve immediately with extra chilli jam.