Easy and delicious Siu Mai ( Shumai ), a Chinese steamed dim sum dumpling recipe made with juicy prawns and chicken fillings. Learn how to make perfect succulent Shumai at home with simple techniques and easy-to-follow instructions.
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I shared our homemade Prawn Gyoza (Pan-Fried Japanese dumpling) last week on our website and social media and it was a great hit. Siu Mai recipe is one of the highly requested recipes by our friends and readers. So here is our simple and easy Siu Mai with the delicious homemade dipping sauce. A must-try Classic Chinese appetizer for dim sum dumpling lovers.
If you love classic Chinese appetizers and want to try the different flavours and textures, Sesame Prawn Toast, Crispy Deep Fried Dumplings, and Prawn Spring Rolls recipes are a must-try!
What is Siu Mai?
Siu Mai is a Classic Chinese dim sum dish also known as Shumai, Siew Mai, or 燒賣 in Chinese. Traditionally Siu Mai is made of pork and prawn/shrimp fillings wrapped in thin yellow wonton egg wrappers and steamed in a bamboo steamer. Garnished with fish roe, crab roe, or grated carrots. A popular breakfast dumpling dish that you can find at Cantonese dim sum restaurants called Yum Cha and many Chinese restaurants. Also great as a starter or savoury snack that you can enjoy any time of the day.
All you need are minced prawns, minced chicken or pork, wonton pastry, and a handful of simple seasoning sauces.
It's so easy to make it at home, that even an amateur home cook can be a Siu Mai master in no time. Quick and easy to fold and no special techniques or ingredients are needed. Taste way better than takeout dumplings or frozen dumplings. When you make it at home you can add more prawns, meat, or vegetables according to your preference.
Prepare the ingredients
First, you need to gather the ingredients and chop up the vegetables and make a prawn mince.
Prawns/shrimp - Add peeled and deveined prawns or shrimp. Pat dry the prawns with a paper towel and make a mince by using a sharp knife or food processor. You don't need to make it into a fine smooth paste. Leave some bits and small chunks.
Chicken mince - Traditionally Siu Mai is made with pork mince but we are using chicken thigh mince. Feel free to add your choice of chicken and pork mince to this recipe.
Mushroom - Dried shiitake mushroom is ideal for this recipe, it has a rich umami smokey flavour and a bit chewy meaty texture. Soak them in warm water for a few minutes until their size doubles up. Then chop it into tiny pieces.
Spring onions - Add finely chopped 2-3 spring onions ( green onions ) or Chinese garlic chives for flavour.
Siu Mai pastry - Round siu mai pastry is not easy to get at our local Chinese supermarket. So we usually use egg wonton pastry/wrappers and cut out all corners to make it into round shape.
Prepare filling and wrapping
- Place all the filling ingredients, ground chicken, minced prawns, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, and garlic. Season the fillings with salt, light soy, Shao Xing cooking wine, white pepper, sugar, cornstarch, and sesame oil.
- Combine them well until it becomes a thick sticky paste.
- Place the Siu Mai wrapper on one hand.
- Scoop about one heap tablespoon of fillings with a butter knife or spoon and place it in the middle of the wrapper. Then gently squeeze it with your hand to form a cylinder shape.
- Flatten the top by using a butter knife and flatten the bottom part by using your hand and finger. ( See my videos and photos for clear visual instructions. ) Garnish with carrots and place them in the lined steamer.
- Repeat the process until the fillings or wrappers runs out.
How to steam it
- Fill the large pot/wok with water and bring it to a boil.
- Place the bamboo steamer over it.
- Close the lid and steam for 8-9 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Remove from heat and serve immediately while warm. Delicious on its own or serve it with dipping sauce.
3 Ingredients dipping sauce
You can serve Siu Mai with readymade dumpling sauce or make your own dipping sauce at home. Combine light soy sauce, Chinkiang vinegar ( Chinese black rice vinegar ), and sugar in a small bowl and whisk until the sugar dissolves. Add a dash of chilli oil for a kick of chilli heat.
Tips and variations
- You can also use white wonton pastry or Japanese gyoza pastry if you cannot find yellow wonton wrappers.
- This recipe needs 20-25 wonton sheet, and the wonton packet usually contain 40-45 sheets. If you have leftover wrappers you can store them in a freezer-safe bag for later use.
- Perforated parchment paper is a non-stick paper sheet that is used to line the steamer. It prevents the dumplings from sticking to the bamboo steamer. If you don't have perforated parchment paper, you can use non-stick baking paper and cut it into a round shape and create small holes in the middle.
- It's important not to defrost the wonton papers in the microwave as they can be sticky and difficult to separate. I've tried this defrosting method and it didn't work.
- I love to use traditional bamboo steamer because I find it more authentic and tasty when I steamed with bamboo steamer. Feel free to use stainless steel steamer, an electric steamer, or even good to go with microwave steamer.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, place the uncooked Shumai on the non-stick baking paper on the tray. Leave enough space to prevent them from sticking to each other. Cover it with cling film and freeze it in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until set. Then transfer them to the freezer-safe bag. It usually lasts in the freezer for a couple of months.
To cook the frozen Siu Mai, you can place them in the lined steamer and steam them for 14-15 minutes. You can steam it from frozen and do not need to defrost.
Shao Mai or wonton wrappers come frozen and you need to store them in the freezer. To defrost them, you can leave them in the fridge overnight or leave it the at room temperature for 1-2 hours. Defrost time can be varied according to the temperature of the room and fridge.
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📖 Recipe
Chicken Siu Mai ( Shumai )
Equipment
- Perforated parchment paper Or non-stick baking paper ( details in note )
- Bamboo Steamer Or choice of steamer
- Large mixing bowl
Ingredients
- 200 gram Chicken mince About 7oz ( Chicken thigh mince or pork )
- 200 gram Prawns About 70z ( peeled, deveined, & minced)
- 3-4 Dried shiitake mushroom Pre-soak warm water ( 15-20 mins ) cut small dices.
- 3-4 Spring onions Finely chopped
- 20-25 Wonton paper Or Siu Mai pastry, Defrosted in fridge ( details in note )
- ¼ Carrot Cut fine dices for garnish ( details in note )
Seasonings
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shao Xing Wine Or Japanese mirin
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Sugar Optional
- 1 tsp Garlic
- 1 tbsp Corn starch
- ¼ tsp White pepper
Siu Mai Sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar Chinese black rice vinegar or rice vinegar
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Chilli oil Optional
Instructions
Prepare Fillings & Wrapping
- Place all the filling ingredients, ground chicken, minced prawns, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, and garlic in a large mixing bowl. Season the fillings with salt, light soy, Shao Xing cooking wine, white pepper, sugar, corn starch, and sesame oil. Combine everything well until it becomes a thick sticky paste.
- Place the wonton wrapper on one hand. Scoop about one heap tablespoon of fillings with a butter knife or spoon and place it in the middle of the wrapper. Then gently squeeze it with your hand to form a cylinder shape.
- Flatten the top by using a butter knife and flatten the bottom part by using your hand and finger. ( See the videos and photos for clear visual instructions. ) Garnish with carrots and place them over the lined steamer. Leave enough space between each dumpling to prevent them from sticking to each other.Repeat the process until the fillings or wrappers runs out.
Steaming Siu Mai
- Fill the large pot/wok with water and bring it to a boil. Place the bamboo steamer over it. Close the lid and steam for 8-9 minutes over medium-high heat. ( Do not overcrowd the steamer and steam two to three batches if needed. )
- Remove from heat and serve immediately while warm. Delicious on its own or serve it with dipping sauce.
Dipping Sauce
- Combine soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and chilli oil in a small bowl and mix until sugar dissolved.
Notes
- Use round shape Siu Mai pastry or use square yellow colour wonton pastry/wrapper. Trim off the corners and make it into a round or octagon shape. Instead of a wonton wrapper, you can also use Japanese gyoza paper but do not recommend Chinese dumpling pastry for this recipe.
- Garnish each dumpling with grated carrots or crab/fish roe.
- You can also add extra seafood and vegetables in the fillings like scallops, crab meat, wood ear mushroom, water chestnuts, etc.
- We used chicken minced but traditionally Siu Mai is made with pork mince, so feel free to add chicken thigh mince or pork mince to your preference.
- Perforated parchment paper is a non-stick paper sheet that is used to line the steamer. It prevents the dumplings from sticking to the bamboo steamer. If you don't have perforated parchment paper you can use non-stick baking paper and cut it into a round shape and create small holes in the middle.
- You can use bamboo, stainless steel, electric, or microwave steamer.
- If you want to make it non-alcohol or halal Siu Mai, you can omit Shao Xing rice cooking wine.
- This recipe makes 20-25 dumplings and if you are making for a crowd you can double or triple the ingredients.
- Dried shiitake can be substituted with fresh shiitake or your choice of meaty mushroom.
Rick says
Hi Khin, I love your recipes, the only problem I have is my wife and I are gluten intolerant. Most of the time I can make your recipes with little changes.
I love dumplings & dim sum. Since I can’t use the wrappers you mentioned, do you think I can use rice paper like in spring rolls? Or will they not hold up?
Thanks for any suggestions.
chelsea says
Awesome, love these!!!! I make a batch yesterday and freazed the rest, already steamed 4 from frozen today for a snack!
Khin says
Wonderful! So glad that you enjoyed it, Chelsea.