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1
Combine the minced pork, chopped shrimp, bamboo shoots, shiitake, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, sugar, white pepper, and cornstarch in a bowl. Mix until the ingredients are evenly incorporated. Throw the mixture forcefully against the interior of the bowl 10–15 times. The filling is ready when it holds together as a single cohesive mass and feels slightly tacky to the touch.
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2
Cover the filling and refrigerate for 30 minutes. It is ready when it is firm, cold throughout, and holds a clean edge when scooped.
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3
Lay one wrapper flat in the palm of the non-dominant hand. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the centre. With the thumb and forefinger of the other hand, gather the wrapper up around the filling in small, successive pleats, rotating the dumpling slowly, while pressing the filling down with a spoon so it sits flush with the top of the wrapper. This is where the dish lives or dies: the wrapper must be gathered snugly enough to hold upright without the filling breaching the rim — overfilling prevents the pleats from setting and the gathered shape from holding. The finished siu mai stands upright, the filling level with the top of the wrapper, with no filling spilling over the edge.
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4
Press a single piece of roe or carrot onto the exposed filling surface of each siu mai. Line a bamboo steamer with perforated parchment or lightly oiled cabbage leaves. Arrange the siu mai with a small gap between each.
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5
Set the bamboo steamer over a wok of vigorously boiling water. Steam for 8–10 minutes. The siu mai are done when the wrapper has turned from opaque white to a translucent, slightly shiny surface, and the filling has visibly firmed and pulled slightly away from the inner wrapper wall.