Breakfast and dim sum · Dried shiitake 90 g
Dice thoroughly cooked dried shiitake and combine with freshly steamed sticky rice, onion and peas, then wrap with separately purchased skins as open-topped shumai. Use 25 g from the Xianyitang 90 g pack. Cook the filling first, then assemble and steam the wrappers. Rice, wrappers and peas are bought separately.
Times are estimates and include soaking and preparation; some tasks can overlap. Check hydration and doneness as described.
Recipe illustrations; measure ingredients using the written quantities.
Pick over and rinse the sticky rice. Submerge in about 1 litre cold drinking water, cover and refrigerate at 5°C or below for roughly 4–6 hours, or as its pack directs, until hydrated without an obviously dry hard centre. Discard the water, rinse again and drain well in a fine sieve. Continue refrigerated soaking as labelled if needed. Use uncooked sticky rice, not cooked rice or sushi rice.
Rinse 25 g dried shiitake, then submerge in about 600 ml warm drinking water, about 30–40°C, for 15–30 minutes until soft at the centres. Recheck if firm rather than leaving indefinitely in warm water. Discard soaking water, clean the gills and trim tough stems. Bring the mushrooms to the boil in about 500 ml fresh water, then gently simmer for the pack’s 40–60 minutes until cooked throughout, topping up to avoid drying. Drain, cool only enough to handle safely and dice to about 5 mm. Brief stir-frying is not a substitute.
While the mushrooms simmer, line a steamer basket with a food-safe cloth or perforated liner. Spread drained rice no thicker than about 2–3 cm. Bring sufficient water in the lower pan to a full steam, add the basket and steam covered for roughly 40–50 minutes, adjusting to the rice label and quantity. Check the lower water level and top up safely with hot water. Rice must be soft and sticky without hard centres; sprinkle a little of the recipe’s drinking water over it and continue steaming if needed. Cook the peas separately as labelled and drain.
Gently cook onion in 10 ml oil for about 3–5 minutes until soft. Add fully cooked diced shiitake, light and dark soy sauces and a little of the measured drinking water. Bring to the boil, then fold in cooked rice and peas for about 2–3 minutes until hot throughout. Add sesame oil and spring onion. The filling should hold together moistly without pooling liquid, so add water gradually. Spread it briefly to cool to a safe handling temperature and assemble promptly rather than leaving it at room temperature.
Keep wrappers supple as their label directs. For dumpling wrappers, gently thin the outer edge while retaining a supportive centre. Place about 30 g warm cooked filling in each and gather into an open cup with rice and mushroom visible at the top. Adjust the yield for smaller wrappers or remaining filling rather than overfilling. Arrange on a perforated steamer liner, leaving about 2 cm gaps.
Add the basket once water is steaming fully. Cover and steam each batch for about 18–20 minutes, adjusting to the wrapper label until fully cooked. About 24 usually require two batches. Replenish the lower pan safely with hot water and prevent it boiling dry. Wrappers must be soft and cooked with no raw flour layer; centres must be hot throughout. A clean thermometer can check 75°C for 30 seconds. Steam longer and recheck if necessary, taking care with escaping steam. Serve freshly made rather than judging doneness by wrapper colour alone.
Wrappers commonly contain wheat and some contain egg. Soy sauces contain soya and may contain wheat; sesame oil contains sesame. The Xianyitang dried-ingredient packs state that they are packed in a facility also handling peanuts, tree nuts, sesame and soya. Check the actual labels of every brand used.
Best freshly made. For finished shumai made continuously from freshly cooked rice, cool promptly in shallow containers and aim to refrigerate at 5°C or below within 1 hour of finishing. Eat within 24 hours and reheat only once until hot throughout. Reheating does not make rice or filling safe after prolonged room-temperature storage.
