Spring Chicken Siu Mai
Ah, it feels good to be home : ) Reuben and I just got back from 9 wonderful days on the East Coast! We danced around, ate, and celebrated love with some of my best friends in New York City. Then we got some quality time in with his parents in cute little Roosevelt, New Jersey. His mom made us brownies and this incredible chorizo, chickpea, and cod stew that I'm still dreaming about. Triple C! I also developed an addiction to these coconut and seedy cluster things they kept at the house. I'm still dreaming about them and trying to find the time to recreate them myself. THEY ARE SO GOOD. At the tail end of our trip we spent the last weekend in Philadelphia. It was MUGGY. I forgot what that type of weather felt like. It was so hot and wet, the second you went outside your skin was instantly damp. Living in San Francisco has made us wimps. We live in a bubble of constant 65 degree weather and any temperature slightly above or below that is either hot as balls or cold as tits. Is cold as tits a saying??? I caught myself telling someone in Philadelphia how we don't eat outside in San Francisco because it gets down to 55 degrees at night and it's freezing. I realized I sounded like an idiot. My inner midwesterner was embarrassed.
Despite the muggy weather in Philadelphia, I absolutely loved it there. Reuben and I have been wanting to make a trip out there to see if we could potentially move there. I think the answer is yes, definitely yes. The food was so great! We ate at 2 Michael Solomonov restaurants, Dizengoff and Abe Fischer. Insanely good! We would have made it 3 if I didn't feel like a meatball the whole time and had some actual stomach room to grab a donut at Federal Donuts... next time! Center City was super cute and charming. Super walkable too! I was worried that Philadelphia would be missing all the Asian food we're spoiled with by living in San Francisco, but then 1 block from our Airbnb was a ramen place that made brisket ramen with kimchi and a matzo ball and all my worries disappeared. It's hard to compare any city to San Francisco, but I think Philadelphia has all the amenities and culture points we need, but just a lot cheaper and a little more charming with all the cute old neighborhoods. Downtown Philadelphia is also not nearly as poopy as Downtown San Francisco... ugh, gross. If/when we move there I'll just have to buy a bunch of loose summer dresses and shorts to help acclimate to the weather.
Since we've been living in the Inner Richmond, which is the Asian food mecca of San Francisco, I've developed this irrational fear of not having access to great Asian food whenever we move. We just have the best Thai, Burmese, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Chinese restaurants within 4 blocks of our apartment. But the day that we move will come, and I will be prepared to make my favorite dishes! I'll probably never be able to recreate the magic that happens in the kitchen of Good Luck Dim Sum, but I'm feeling pretty confident that my dumpling making skills will satisfy my cravings. These Spring Chicken Siu Mai were inspired by all the beautiful spring produce popping up at our farmers market. I love this season so much! It's almost as great as late summer, when all the tomatos and stone fruit taste like candy. The chicken siu mai are a lot lighter and maybe slightly healthier than the traditional pork and shrimp or beef fillings. Once it's all steamed together it tastes super fresh and sort of like all the best parts of your spring garden rolled up into a little dumpling. Bonus points for it being super easy to assemble too. No fancy pleats or pinching necessary!
Spring Chicken Siu Mai
makes 36 dumplings
Materials:
1 lb ground chicken (turkey works too)
1/3 cup fresh peas
1/3 cup diced carrots (same size as peas)
2 spring/green onion stocks - whites and greens thinly chopped
1 egg
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
36 round wonton wrappers
extra peas and carrots for garnish
Steps:
1. Combine ground chicken, peas, carrots, spring onions, egg, cornstarch, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, and white pepper in a bowl. Gently mix together with your hands or a rubber spatula until evenly combined, avoid over mixing. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marinate.
2. Place a heaping tablespoon (about 1.5 tablespoons) of filling in the center of your wonton wrapper. Fold up the side of the wrapper, but leave the top of the dumpling open. Place on a lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Cover prepared dumplings with a kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. Top each dumpling with either a pea or a cube of carrot for garnish.
3. Boil water in a pot and place a bamboo steamer (the same diameter as the pot) on top. Line the bamboo steamer with cabbage or a parchment paper disk with perforated holes. Arrange dumplings in the steamer, cover, and steam for 7-8 minutes.
4. Remove dumplings from the steamer and enjoy by dipping into some dark soy sauce.
