Ground pork and shrimp are wrapped as open-faced dumplings and steamed to perfection. It’s hard to resist homemade pork and shrimp siu mai. Can be made with steamer and Instant Pot.
The Best Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai (Steamed or Instant Pot)
CANTONESE PORK SHUMAI / SHAO MAI
Siu 燒 means to cook and mai è³£ means to sell. The direct English translation is called “cook and sell” dumplings. Like I’ve mentioned before, the Chinese like to name the dishes that convey good messages/meanings. To be able to “siu mai” is a good thing. It means your business is running smoothly, you cook and it is sold immediately. Make sense? 😉
Don’t be mistaken with the Japanese gyoza, which is also a dumpling, but gyoza is more similar to the Chinese jiao zi, where as siu mai uses different wrapper, usually way thinner compared to jiao zi and the filling is slightly different too.
Cantonese siu mai usually filled with minced pork, shrimp, mushrooms and seasoned with Asian seasonings and then wrapped in round siu mai wrappers.
TOP TIPS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1. FOR FLAVORFUL TENDER FILLING
– Use ground pork with some fat
– An addition of egg
– Marinade the filling for at least 30 minutes
2. FOR FILLING TO ADHERE TO THE WRAP
Brush an egg wash inside the wrapper before adding the filling. This helps to shape the siu mai better and when they are steamed the siu mai maintain the shapes pretty well
Siu mai before steaming
HOW TO NICELY WRAP SIU MAI
1. Place the wrapper on your palm
2. Brush lightly with some egg wash
3. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of the filling on the middle of the wrapper
4. Gather the edge to enclose the wrap
5. Use your thumb and index finger to shape the siu mai while topping up with more filling to make sure it’s nicely packed
6. Place the siu mai on a flat surface so the bottom is flat and can “sit”
7. And there you have it!
8. Decorate with some grated carrot (optional)
9. Arrange siu mai on a bamboo steamer or a plate lined with parchment paper
COOKING SIU MAI : STEAMER OR INSTANT POT
Food steamer is a common kitchen gadget that most Asians have in their kitchen. I’m aware that my American friends usually do not have a steamer, but majority own an Instant Pot. Here’s how to do it either way:
1. STEAMED IN THE STEAMER
Simply bring the water in the steamer to a boil. Arrange the siu mai in the bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper or if you don’t have bamboo steamer, place on a dish lined with parchment paper. Steam over high heat for 7 minutes
2. PRESSURE COOK IN INSTANT POT
Pour 1/2 cup of water in the inner pot of Instant Pot. Place a trivet. Set the bamboo steamer lined with parchment paper on top. If you don’t have one, use a regular heat-proof round plate lined with parchment paper. Arrange the siu mai on top. Close the lid. Turn the steam release valve to seal. Press “pressure cook”, and then “high pressure”. Set the timer to 2 minutes and then release pressure immediately when it’s done
My boy loves siu mai and he could easily inhaled 3 in less than 1 minute!
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*Recipe is written for 6-quart Instant Pot. Cooking time should remain the same for 8-quart size but will take longer to pressurize. For mini duo (3-quart), I suggest to half the recipe and use the same amount of time to cook*
The Best Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai / Shumai (Steamed or Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- About 25-30 store-bought thin round dumpling wrappers white or yellow wrappers are fine
Filling:
- 3 large shiitake mushrooms
- 300 gr ground pork preferrably with some fat
- 300 gr shrimp shelled,deveined and finely chopped
- 1 tsp corn starch
- 1 large egg
Seasonings:
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
Egg wash:
- 1 egg beaten
Dipping sauce (optional):
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Chopped green onions
For garnishing (optional):
- Grated carrot
Recommended Cooking Equipment:
- Instant Pot
- Steamer
- Bamboo Basket
Instructions
Prepare the filling:
- Soak the shiitake mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes until they are soft. Removed stems and finely chopped
- Mix all the ingredients for filling and seasonings in a large mixing bowl. Use a spoon to stir in one direction until they come together (paste-like). Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
Dipping sauce:
- Mix all the ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil until the sugar is melted. Let it cool down before serving
Wrapping:
- Get your steamer ready by bringing the water to a boil. Place one of the wrappers on your palm. Brush the wrapper with some egg wash. Scoop about 2-3 Tbsp or more of the filling into the center of the wrapper . Shape the wrapper to surround the filling. Smooth the filling on top with wet fingers and add more filling to top it up all the way to the top and smooth again to make sure they are fully packed. Kinda a little overflowing is fine because they will shrink a bit after steaming. Give the wrapper one last gentle squeeze to make sure everything holds up together. Garnish with some 1 peas and 1 corn if using or grated carrots. Place them in a steamer basket or plate lined with parchment paper
Using Instant Pot:
- Place the steaming basket/plate in instant pot. Press high pressure and set the timer to 3 minutes. If your instant pot can fit in another stack of a bamboo basket, you may do so. Once the 3 minutes is up, release pressure and open the lid carefully. Serve immediately once cooked
Using steamer with bamboo basket:
- Fill up a large pot/wok with water (not higher than the trivet that you are going to put in)and bring them to rolling boil. Place a trivet or collapsible veggie steamer and place the bamboo basket on top of this. You may stack another 2 basket on top and then close with the lid of the basket. Steam them in batches for 10 minutes on high heat. Serve immediately once cooked
Using steamer without bamboo basket:
- Fill up a large pot/wok with water (not higher than the trivet that you are going to put in) and bring them to rolling boil. Place a heat-proof plate inside the steamer and steam for 10 minutes. You can only steam one plate at a time. Serve immediately once cooked
You might also want to check these out:
Instant Pot Recipe Archives
Dim Sum Recipe Archives
13 comments
Your recipe is really good & easy to follow. Thank you very much. Do I still set the instant pot timer to 2 minutes for frozen sui mai? Do I have to defrost the sui mai before steaming in the instant pot?
Hi Mary, I’m glad you like, you don’t need to thaw, I would probably add another 5 minutes.
I find that the store bought ground pork needs to be put into a food processor(with all the seasoning) and pulsed for about 10-12 seconds for the shu-mai to have more of a meatball texture/bounce to it. Using the ground pork straight from the store without (though flavorful) doesn’t have that chewy taste like the dim sum restaurants. Anyone else tried pulsing the ground pork first like I did?
Hi Thai, I haven’t tried to do that with store-bought ground pork, but what you said made sense though. I know my mom used to hand chop (with two cleavers) her minced meat and she said by doing that the meat is actually more “bouncy”. So, I guess it’s worth an extra step.
Haha. Our moms must’ve shared the same cookbook because my mom would do the same but with only one cleaver when she made shrimp balls, meat balls for our new year’s meal.
Thanks for the reminder, I’m gonna try that next time when I made Asian-style meat balls, fish balls, or even this siu mai again 🙂
Hi, I just made this and it was great.
i want to know how long can I store siu-mai. I had stored the cooked siu0-mai in the fridge and the next 2 days, it got slimy. I think its from the wrapper since the filling taste okay.
Hope you can advise.
thanks
Hi Elizabeth, you can actually freeze the uncooked siu mai for up to 3 months. When you are ready to cook, you don’t need to thaw and you can steam straight away, you may need to add 5 minutes extra since they are frozen
Hi Marv! I’ve just made this. They were delicious! Couldn’t wrap them as pretty as yours though, but the taste was so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Debbie, I’m glad you like them. The look will improve as you get more practice I’m sure 🙂 Thank you for your feedback!!
Marv, I have been trying few of your recipes and all are so delish! I am wondering if this is the same filling for siomai bandung?
Thank you,
Hey MN neighbor! (North Dakota here) I am loving how these look. Also, I have to say that I really am liking the photography.
Hello ND neighbor 🙂 Thank you so much for stopping by Ben and for your generous compliment 🙂