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DUMPLINGS / DIM SUM
| Mandarin: Jiao Zi / Bao Zi |
Cantonese: Dim Sum |
Dim
sum, popular the world over and especially in China, offers a wide variety of different
shapes and sizes, with fillings ranging from pork and vegetables to mushrooms and bamboo
shoots. Some enclose the filling in a very thin dough skin ( jiao zi) while others use a
dough made from a glutinous rice flour. There are also steamed buns (bao zi) filled with
meat or a sweet bean paste.
The
best way to experience the diversity and delicious flavors of dim sum is to indulge in dim
sum eating, yes.. that wonderful procession of tasty morsels that the Cantonese have
elevated to an art form. Although dim sum originated from northern China, it was in Canton
that the practice developed of enjoying these snacks with tea at breakfast or lunch time.
Dim Sum literally means "dot on the heart", and indicates a snack or refreshment, not a
full blown meal. However the range of dishes available on a dim sum menu nowadays embraces
other specialties - spring rolls, spareribs, wontons, etc - dim sum or dumplings remain the
essential items.
Unlike the majority of dim sum, which are rather complicated to make that they can only be
prepared by some highly skilled chefs, dumplings are comparatively simple to make at home
Both jiao zi and bao zi are available ready-made from Asian or Chinese stores - the former
are sold uncooked and frozen, and the latter are ready-cooked and sold chilled.
preparation
& cooking techniques..
Frozen jiao zi dumplings should be cooked from the freezer. There are three different ways
cooking and serving them.
poaching..
|see cooking guide|
The
most common way of cooking dumplings in China is to poach them in boiling water for approx. 5
minutes, longer if cooking from a frozen state. The dumplings are added to boiling water and
when it boils again, a cupful of cold water is added to the pan, and the water is
brought to a boil again. These is repeated twice more, by which time the dumplings will be
ready. They are traditionally served hot with a vinegar and soy sauce dip, chili sauce or
chili oil.
steaming..
|see cooking guide|
The
best way to do this is by using a bamboo basket as a steamer. The dumplings are placed on a
bed of lettuce or spinach leaves on the rack of the steamer, which is then covered. The
dumplings are served hot with a dip.
shallow-fried..
|see cooking guide|
Here
the dumplings are cooked in flat frying pan. They are shallow-fried, then a small amount of
boiling water is added to the pan and then the dumplings are steamed under cover until all
the liquid has evaporated. When cooked this way, the dumplings are crispy on the base, soft
on the top and juicy inside. They are often called by their popular name, which is
"pot-stickers".
PEKING DUMPLINGS
These
crescent-shape dumplings are filled with minced pork, greens and spring onions and seasoned
with salt, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine and sesame oil. In northern China, they are eaten for
breakfast on New Year's Day, but are available all year round, and are often served as
snacks or as part of a meal.
STEAMED BUNS
Steamed buns are to Asia what baked bread is to the West, and bao (filled buns) are the
Chinese fast food equivalent of hot dogs, hamburgers and sandwiches. There are two main
types of steamed buns, either plain or filled.
The
plain, unfilled buns made from leavened dough are treated in much the same way as plain
boiled rice and are intended to be eaten with cooked food. Then there are the filled buns (bao
zi). The name literally means 'wraps' and these be savoury or sweet. The sweet ones usually
contain either a lotus seed paste or a sweet bean paste filling and are usually eaten cold. Savoury bao zi come with a wide range of fillings, the most common of which being
pork, and a very popular type is filled with Cantonese char siew (honey-roasted
pork). These are available ready-made, and are best eaten hot.
Also
available ready-made, but uncooked, are what are known as Shanghai dumplings. These are
little round dumplings, much smaller than char siew bao, and each consisting of
minced pork wrapped in a thin skin of unleavened dough.
PRAWN CRACKERS
Prawn
cracker, also called shrimp chips, are made from fresh prawns, starch, salt and sugar. They
are very popular as cocktail snacks, and some restaurants serve them while you wait for your
order to arrive. The raw crackers are grey in color. The small Chinese ones are not much
bigger than a thumbnail, while those used in Indonesia are much larger, about 15cm long and
5cm wide. Indonesian prawn crackers are more difficult to find in the West. Once deep-fried,
both types puff up to four or five times the original size, and become almost snow white.
Ready-cooked crackers are also available and usually sold in sealed packets. They do not
keep well once exposed to the air, so should be eaten as soon as possible after opening.
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