Pork Floss Cheung Fun 肉鬆腸粉

We’ve made this little dim sum treat before, once using fresh shrimp fillling and once using the dried shrimp and spring onions.  This version is a cheung fun rice roll twist that I discovered online and had to try as I love, love, love Chinese dried pork floss.  Oh it was as good as I hoped it would be, that deliciously intense meaty filling packed the slightest crunch, contrasting wonderfully with the slippery rice sheet wrapping.

These Pork Floss Cheung Fun rice rolls 肉鬆腸粉 are simple to make once you get the trick of making the rather delicate rice wrapping.  But no worries, we’ll show you how to do it!

Dried Shrimp Spring Onion Cheung Fun 葱花蝦米腸粉

Silky, slurpable rice sheets entangled with chewy sea sweet bits of dried shrimp, accented with the sparkle that is fresh fragrant spring onions.  Dressed in a light sweet and savoury sauce that just accentuates it all.  Did I successfully tempt you yet, dear readers?  

This oh so yummilicious treat is the Dried Shrimp Spring Onion Cheung Fun 葱花蝦米腸粉.  This is one of the classic Cantonese versions of the steamed cheung fun 腸粉, delicate rice sheets wrapped around various yummy fillings, normally served at dim sum restaurants.  This might be my favorite cheung fun, actually.  So simple yet so darn marvelous.

Shrimp Cheung Fun 鮮蝦腸粉

This delectable little morsel, the Cheung Fun 腸粉, is a part of the classic Cantonese dim sum experience, a must order for any dim sum lunch.   These dim sum rice rolls come with various fillings such as minced beef, char siu pork, pork floss, dried shrimp and fresh shrimp.  We'll be making the fresh Shrimp Cheung Fun 鮮蝦腸粉 today; an unique experience of sea sweet fresh shrimp rolled up in delicate slippery rice sheets: a savory, slightly chewy, slighty slurpy taste sensation of the first order.  

You can now enjoy this at home with this recipe and guide where we've worked out all the kinks and tips for successfully making shrimp cheung fun at home.  It's fairly easy with the right batter recipe and once you get the hang of it and, may I just say, WOW is it just a great delight to be able to whip up these delicate dim sums at home for a quick and totally delicious snack!

Crystal Skin Dim Sum Wrapper 水晶皮製作

Have you ever had Dim Sum 點心?  You know, that Cantonese teahouse tradition where tea is paired with tiny delectable dishes or steamers of sweet or savory treats.  Sooo goood!  And in the midst of these delectable treats have you ever had those dumplings where the skin was transparent enough to see through to the inside filling?  So amazing amirite?!  

Well these thin transparent wrappers are known as Crystal Skin Wrappers, 水晶皮.  So delicate these wrappers: thin enough to see through yet strong enough to pleat and hold the shape of the dumplings with ease.  Check out the beautiful Har Gow 蝦餃 shrimp dumplings (photo above) that we made with this crystal skin!

Tricky wrappers to make but we managed through much trial and error to get it just right.  Check out how to make the most excellent Crystal Skin Dim Sum Wrappers 水晶皮, both thin enough to see through and yet pliable and easy enough to work with to make and hold the pleats necessary for these fancy dim sum dumpling shapes.

Har Gow Shrimp Dumpling 蝦餃點心

Our latest Dim Sum adventure!  Naturally it must be the world famous Shrimp Dumpling, also known as Har Gow.  Anyone can tell you that Har Gow 蝦餃 (and that other superstar Siu Mai 燒賣) is a must at any dim sum lunch!  (Psst..check out our fab Siu Mai 燒賣 recipe!)

Psst...For those who don't know what Dim Sum 點心 is, it's a food tradition started in Chinese teahouses where little steamers or plates of delicately made foods both savory and sweet were served to go with fragrant cups of tea.  Today this food tradition is still going strong in Dim Sum restaurants everywhere!

Okay, first, confession time: we've been having lots of har gow dumplings lately.  Cuz we wanted to make the perfect Har Gow and our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd attempts were just not quite right.  The dumplings that we managed to make were tasty but the wrapper, oh, the wrapper was quite the bitch to get right.  Too sticky, too thick, too lumpy, etc...

Attempt number four, finally, we got it!  Oh the Har Gow 蝦餃 we made!   Perfect and delicate little dumplings of deliciously sea sweet shrimp fillings encased in thin translucent skins, all wrapped with the quintessential 13 nos of pleats that form the distinctive half moon Har Gow shape.

Quail Egg Siu Mai Dim Sum Dumpling 鵪鶉蛋燒賣

We continue with our Dim Sum series today with this classic Quail Egg Siu Mai dumpling 鵪鶉蛋燒賣.  It’s seldom offered in dim sum restaurants nowadays, not sure why cuz these are the most delightful and delicious little dumplings.  

The Quail Egg Siu Mai features the same fragrantly savoury pork and shrimp filling of its much better known cousin, the iconic Siu Mai 燒賣 dumpling, but it has the added lovely surprise of a perfectly cooked little egg wrapped inside.  I still remember my wonder and delight the first time I ate one of these, it was so perfect, the combination of the smooth slippery egg and the luscious juicy meat!

Sui Mai - Chinese Steamed Dumpling 燒賣

We're getting serious about dim sum 點心!  What is dim sum?  It's the Cantonese version of tapas, small servings of savoury or sweet bite-sized delicacies, enjoyed with cups of fragrant tea during the ritual of morning tea, known as 'yum cha 飲茶'.

The sui mai 燒賣 is one of the most iconic of these Chinese dim sum treats.  It's certainly one of the most visually distinctive with its yellow skin and orange sprinkles on top.  Also a crowd favorite, so popular in fact that it has popped out of the dim sum restaurants and into a new life as a street food.  It's widely available at corner stores and convenience stores.  Sui mai has become the snack du jour!

These street level sui mai are quite delicious of course but they are very simplified forms of the original sui mai dim sum.  Today we’re going to make the traditional sui mai 燒賣 as served in the dim sum teahouses:  savory juicy morsels of pork and shrimp wrapped in a delicate skin and topped with that classic bit of orange roe.

Chinese Custard Buns 奶黃包

A Chinese Custard Bun 奶黃包, white fluffy bread wrapped tenderly about a gorgeous center of creamy milk and egg custard...yummmilicious...!!  Sunshine in a bun, that's what it is.  You can't bite into one of these buns and not get a smile on your face.  

This delectable treat is usually only to be enjoyed when one can spare a leisurely afternoon to enjoy Cantonese Dim Sum but no longer!  Now you won't have to wait for the dim sum cart to roll around, you can enjoy it anytime you want at home with our easy to make Chinese Custard Bun recipe!

Chinese Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean 蒜蓉豆豉蒸排骨

This Cantonese dish of Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean 蒜蓉豆豉蒸排骨 is pretty darn good.  A taste of home, a real classic.  It's a staple of the Chinese dim sum lunch and tea time, usually served in dainty bamboo steamers in small but utterly yummilicious portions of tender pork and delicious fat, all marinated through and through with the umami that is properly prepared fermented black bean sauce.  

When we have it for dinner at home we like to make it in a much larger portion, being the carnivores that we are, and we finish it all in one a whoosh or two.  It's hard to think of a dish that is easier to prepare and more rewarding in terms of effort vs results!

Hong Kong Style Mango Pudding 香港芒果布甸

One of the delights of the Hong Kong dim sum feast is the mango pudding.  Not just any old mango pudding, mind you, but the classic one developed by the ingenious chefs of dim sum who have been trained in the tradition of creating small, beautiful, delightful tasty treats that can be eaten as part of the buffet of tidbits that is the dim sum lunch.

While mango pudding has existed in many other permutations, this particular Hong Kong Style Mango Pudding, or 香港芒果布甸, is light as a feather, melting in the mouth, packed to the brim with the freshest mango taste and texture and creamy with an aromatic hint of dairy.  Now you don't need to come to Hong Kong for this dim sum treat, you can make it quite easily at home!