Har Gou

Photo by Lucy Siew, Miri, Sarawak.

This is a recipe from Sunflower Food Galore

Chinese: 蝦餃 (Sun flower Galore)

Method of wrapping click here to view slide show

Pastry:

80g wheat starch (澄麵粉 or read in Cantonese as 'dung mein fun')

20g tapioca starch or oriental potato starch

¼ tsp salt

140 ml boiling water

2 tsp lard (melted) or cooking oil

a little cooking oil for greasing

Filling:

200g raw prawns, roughly chopped

50g pork fat meat, cut into very fine dices (optional)

50g chopped bamboo shoot or water chestnut, chopped (optional)

1 stalk of spring onion, finely chopped (about 4 - 5 tbsp)

1 tsp of light soy

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

½ tsp sesame oil

This makes 16 - 18 pieces

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients for the filling, leave in the fridge for 1 – 2 hours.
2. Mix the two flours and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well and pour in the boiling water, mix. Then mix in the lard or oil. The pastry should be quite lumpy, don’t worry. Leave it to cool a little.
3. Rub a thin film of oil on the working board. Scrape the pastry onto the greased area. Rub hand with a little oil too. Knead the dough till smooth.
4. Roll into a rod shape about 2 cm thick, mark equally and cut into 16 – 18 pieces. Each piece around 13 – 14g. Put pieces into a bowl cover with cloth.
5. If there is any dough sticking on the working area, scrape that off.
6. Grease a small area of the working area with a very thin film of oil.
7. Take a piece of dough roll into a ball between your palms. Then press into a disc and roll it out on the greased area. See picture for the wrapping technique.
8. Cover the completed dumplings till you are ready to steam. Can leave in fridge for few hours if you are not ready to eat.
9. Steam at high heat for 4 minutes. Eat while hot on its own or with soy sauce or chilli oil.