Guangdong Province — siu mai is documented in Chinese texts from the Song Dynasty; it spread to Japan as shumai via Chinese traders in the early 20th century
Siu mai: open-topped dim sum dumpling — the archetypal Cantonese dim sum item alongside har gau. The wrapper is gathered around a pork-shrimp filling into an open-topped cylinder. Top garnished with orange crab roe, green peas, or a single goji berry. The wrapper must be thin enough to be translucent, the filling moist and bouncy. One of the four 'Heavenly Kings' of Cantonese dim sum.
Sweet shrimp, savoury pork, delicate wrapper — the most widely eaten dumpling in Chinese cuisine
{"Filling ratio: 60% pork shoulder / 40% shrimp — the shrimp provides bounce and sweetness","The filling should have visible chunks, not be a paste — do not over-mix","The wrapper is gathered from below and squeezed to form the waist — not folded like a jiaozi","Steam 6–8 minutes at full boil — the top filling should just set"}
{"A small amount of rendered pork fat (lard) mixed into the filling adds richness and prevents the filling from drying","The yellow egg noodle wrapper gives the characteristic yellow edge — it is not a won ton wrapper","The bouncy texture (tan ya) of the filling is achieved by vigorously mixing in one direction until the filling becomes sticky"}
{"Over-processing the filling — paste instead of chunky","Filling the wrappers too early — they dry out at the edges","Under-steaming — the pork filling must reach food-safe temperature throughout"}
Land of Fish and Rice — Fuchsia Dunlop