Shumai 烧卖

(烧卖shāomài) Shumai is Cantonese cuisine served as a dim sum snack containing variety of fillings. Traditionally, these are purse-shaped pork dumplings. The name translates from the original Cantonese as “to cook and to sell.” This dumpling is primarily prepared in a restaurant as opposed to in the home. Shumai is also said to be named because it is “never left unsold”. We skip of the use of shrimp, use glutinous rice, and add a Chinese secret recipe of cooked pork belly, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Bring them home and steam them for ten minutes and enjoy with your family for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. A few Shumai plus a cup of green tea on a weekend morning will “touch your heart” (点心 dianxin, which in Chinese means dessert).