Shumai

For meats roasted on spits over an open fire or a huge wood burning rotisserie oven, see siu mei.

Shumai

Origin
Alternative name(s)	Variously spelt shaomai, shui mai, shu mai, sui mai, shui mei, siu mai, shao mai, siew mai, or siomai
Place of origin	China
Region or state	China
Details
Course	Dim sum
Main ingredient(s)	minced lamb, seasoned ground pork, whole and chopped shrimp, Chinese black mushroom, lye water dough
Variations	Siomay

Shumai
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	燒賣
Simplified Chinese	烧卖
Literal meaning	to cook and sell
Transcriptions Hakka - Romanization sehw mai Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin shāomài Min - Hokkien POJ sio-māi Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping siu1 maai6*2
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	xíu mại
Japanese name
Kanji	焼売
Kana	シュウマイ
Transcriptions - Romanization shūmai

Shumai, also called pork dumplings, is a traditional Chinese dumpling served in dim sum.

Popular Chinese varieties

In the Qing Dynasty, the fillings varied by season: spring- garlic chives, summer- mutton and pumpkin, autumn- crab meat, winter- mixed seafood.

Many varieties have been created as the shaomai was gradually introduced to all provinces, where it was adapted to the different regional tastes throughout China. However, most people in Western countries associate shaomai only with the Cantonese version due to the Cantonese diaspora.

Huhhot shaomai

Huhhot Shaomai is a regional variety in Huhhot, Inner Mongolia. It is one of the oldest varieties of Shaomai and can be considered the origin of Shaomai.

The wrapping is a very thin, round sheet of unleavened dough, with a pleat border. There is only one kind of filling, consisting mainly of chopped or minced mutton, welsh onion and ginger. Huhhot Shaomai features its excessive use of welsh onion and ginger, creating a dense combined scent, and a slight spicy taste. The filling is put in the center of the wrapping and the border of the wrapping is loosely gathered above, forming a "neck" and a flower shaped top. The Shaomai is then cooked by steaming or pan-frying. Huhhot Shaomai is served in the unit of "Liang", which means either eight steamed ones served in a steamer tier, or eight fried ones served in a dish. Huhhot Shaomai is commonly served with vinegar and tea, due to its greasiness.

Cantonese siumai

This is the most well-known variety from the south-eastern province of Guangdong (archaically known as Canton). As prepared in Cantonese cuisine, siumai is also referred to as "pork and mushroom dumpling." Its standard filling consisting primarily of ground pork, small whole or chopped shrimp, Chinese black mushroom, green onion (also called shallots) and ginger with seasonings of Chinese rice wine e.g. Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and chicken stock. Bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and pepper can also be added. The outer covering is made of a thin sheet of lye water dough. The center is usually garnished with an orange dot, made of crab roe or diced carrot, although a green dot made with a pea may be used. The decorative presentations vary.

Hunan Chrysanthemum shaomai

Called the chrysanthemum shaomai, this variety is made in Changsha, Hunan (province neighbouring Guangdong). This shaomai is named so, due to its opening resembling the chrysanthemum flower petal shape with the egg-yolk. It is spicy with pepper and the wrapper is translucent. Filling largely consists of glutinous rice, pork hash, shrimp, Chinese mushroom (otherwise known as shiitake) bamboo shoots and onion.

Jiangnan shaomai

Shaomai prepared in the Jiangnan region (south of the Yangtze River, stretching from Shanghai to Nanjing) are quite different. The wrapper is larger and tougher than the Cantonese version. Filling is similar to zongzi, containing soy sauce, Chinese rice wine e.g. Shaoxing wine, marinated pork pieces in glutinous rice and steamed with pork fat. It is larger in size than the Cantonese version.

Uyghur shaomai

The Uyghurs of Xinjiang province (norther-western China) adapted the shaomai to two regional varieties.The southern Xinjiang recipes differs slightly from the northern version in terms of ingredients and method. The filling of the northern version consists of mutton or beef, along with green onion and radish, whereas the southern filling primarily uses glutinous rice with smaller amounts of mutton or beef. Minced meat from sheep ribs containing some fat is ideal.

Jiangxi Yifeng shaomai

Called the Yifeng shaomai in the south-eastern Jiangxi province, its distinct flavour comes from a blend of pork mince, bread flour, sesame seed powder, ground pepper and sugar.It is particularly popular in the area of Yifeng Tanshan Tianbao where it is one of the foods eaten during the Chinese New Year celebration.

Shanghai shaomai

Shanghai shaomai uses glutinous rice, pork mince, Chinese mushroom (otherwise known as shiitake) and onion.The mince, Chinese mushrooms and onion are stir-fried before being made into shaomai which may then also be steamed.

Variants from other countries

Japanese shuumai

Shuumai in Japan have pork as the main ingredient and neither shrimp nor beef is used in the dough. Compared to the Chinese Shaomai which is minced, the meat in Japanese Shaomai is ground to a paste.

Indonesian siomay

Siomay or siomai (sometimes called somay) in Indonesia is pronounced the same way as its sisters and is usually a wonton wrapper, stuffed with filling and steamed. It is served also with steamed potatoes, tofu, hard boiled eggs, and is topped with kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and peanut sauce. Because the population of Indonesia is largely Muslim, pork siomay is rare and is usually made from various fish, most commonly wahoo or horse mackerel. This variant is less common in Western countries.

Philippine siomai

Siomai (Cebuano/Tagalog: siyomay) in the Philippines is often ground pork, beef, shrimp, among others, combined with extenders like green peas, carrots and the like which is then wrapped in wonton wrappers. It is either steamed or fried resulting in a crispy exterior. It is normally dipped in soy sauce and squeezed calamondin, and for some, with an oily, spicy garlic mix.

A recent variant on siomai is wrapped in nori sheets instead of wonton wrappers, and marketed as "Japanese."

Serving

In Huhhot, Shaomai is served in a class of local restaurants, which are generallly called 'Shaomai guan', meaning restaurant serving shaomai, mainly as breakfast. Such restaurants also feature dishes made of lamb as well as beef, and commonly have spicy lamb bowel soup as another specialty. These restaurants are usually small and usually carry out their main business of the day in the morning. They remain open throughout the day. But since shaomai and lamb bowl soup, which are majorly comsumed as breakfast, are the main business, customers are few at lunch and dinner time. Though not their typical business, a variety of chinese dishes are served in some Shaomai guan, mainly to attract customers at lunch and dinner time.

Within the dim sum tradition of southern China, shaomai is one of the most standard dishes. It is generally served alongside har gow, another variety of steamed dumpling containing shrimp, cooked pork fat, bamboo shoots and scallions; collectively these are known as hargow-sieu mai (蝦餃燒賣). Chinese dishes are traditionally eaten using chopsticks.

In food stalls in Indonesia, siomai (or "siomay" in local dialect) are eaten together with steamed vegetables and tofu, and served with spicy peanut sauce.

In Philippine food stalls and fast food restaurants, siomai is eaten as is, with dip, toothpicks to facilitating handling, or with rice (using a spoon and fork).

See also

• Har gow
• Siomay