We made it out alive! If you were following along my Instagram stories over the weekend, then you know all about the massive amounts of snow we encountered in Tahoe! It was crazy. I’ve never seen so much snow in my life. There was definitely at least 7 feet of snow outside of our Airbnb. Reuben got to ski for a hot second (chilly second?) and worked on his excellent snow beard before the storm got so bad that the lifts shut down. My friend Kate and I stayed all snuggly in the house most of the time, making soup, eating snacks, giggling, and catching up on life. We spent a big chunk of time just watching the snow fall. At some points it was a little scary because it was just SO MUCH SNOW, but most of time we were just mesmerized by the beauty. Mother Nature is so talented. By the time Sunday morning came around, the storm passed and the sun finally came out again. We made our way outside, after poor Reuben and our friend Toshi shoveled for an hour so we could get to the road, and flopped around in the snow like a bunch of silly penguins. Or maybe that was just me?? The snow was so fluffy and pillowy and all the houses looked like they were covered in fresh meringue! Now I can’t stop thinking about making meringue…

I feel like living in California for 5 years has made me soft when it comes to the cold. Correction… living in California for 5 years has MOST DEFINITELY made me soft when it comes to the cold. Since we got back from San Francisco, it’s been so chilly and I feel embarrassed that I’ve lost a little bit of my midwestern winter badassery. You know what I mean though? Growing up in Cleveland, school wouldn’t be cancelled unless it was below 0 degrees. ZERO. Now I’m complaining about it being 45 degrees in the mornings… MAN UP CHO! The plus side of it actually being a little cold is that I don’t feel as guilty being the true homebody that I am and staying in all day making dumplings or stewing something for hours on end. When it’s sunny and beautiful out I feel like I need to go frolic outside and be adventurous or whatever.

You might notice that the frequency of dumpling recipes spike during the colder months on Eat Cho Food. Dumplings are the perfect food in general and you can eat them all year long. But there is something so dreamy about making dumplings when it’s chilly outside and your kitchen is turning into a little steam room from the copious amounts of dumps you’re cooking up. Since Valentine’s Day is just a few more days away, I wanted to share an extra romantic dumpling that you can make on a cozy chilly night! Behold the Rose Siu Mai! They are filled with tender pork and shrimp and then rolled up to resemble a beautiful rose! These dumplings are crazy tasty and so lovely to look at, but I’m not going to lie to you and say that they are the easiest dumplings to make. I decided to make my own wonton wrappers for this recipe to get the pretty pink color. This wonton dough is fairly different from my traditional dumpling dough recipe, which is a lot thicker and chewier. If you want to make your life waaaaaay easier, you can just go get pre-made wonton wrappers. Making the homemade wonton wrappers were a lot of fun though and I got to bust out the pasta roller! The extra bit of work put into this recipe just means you but a bit more love into it!

Only make these dumplings for someone you really really really love. So that means your parents, committed partner, long time ride or die bff, or yourself. I highly recommend just making these for yourself. You deserve it! BUT if the man you’ve been getting ramen with for months hasn’t committed to love you even when you get cranky in the mornings, then he doesn’t deserve these dumps. Reuben actually woke me up to a steamer full of dumplings for Valentine’s Day many years ago and it was the sweetest thing!!!! I just knew he was a keeper! Who needs a bouquet of roses or chocolates when you can have a bouquet of dumpling roses?!!!! I mean…. I’ll take the chocolate and flowers too ☺️ Happy almost Valentine’s Day!

Rose Siu Mai

makes about 18 large dumplings

dumpling wrapper materials:

250g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
2 tsp beet root powder
1/2 tsp salt
125g (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) hot water
cornstarch for dusting

** you can also use 2.5”-3” round pre-made Wonton wrappers

dumpling filling:

1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb shrimp - peeled and finely chopped
2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp shaoxing cooking wine
3 green onion stalks chopped
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp sugar

make wrappers:

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour and beet root powder, make a well in the center. Pour in the water and mix with a flexible spatula until you have a shaggy dough. Knead for 4-5 minutes until smooth. Place dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rest for 30 minutes and up to 2 hours at room temperature.

2. After resting, divide the dough into 4 parts. Take one piece of dough and lightly dust with cornstarch. Roll out the dough into a long rectangle, about 1/4” thick.

3. Prepare your pasta roller. Pass the dough through the pasta roller a few times (gradually getting thinner with each pass) until it is fairly thin. I go to setting 6 on my KitchenAid attachment. If it starts to stick just lightly dust with cornstarch. Lay out the thin dough on a clean work surface. Cut the sheets in half if needed to fit better on your work surface. No need to cover the sheets of dough, if they dry out a little it actually makes it easier to assemble the rose dumplings. Cut out 2.75” (or 3”) rounds using a cookie cutter. Stack wrappers on top of each other, making sure each wrapper is lightly dusted with cornstarch so they don’t stick. Repeat with remaining dough. You should be able to get about 54 wrapper out of the dough.

make dumplings:

1. Combine all the dumpling filling ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cover and let marinade for 30 minutes.

2. Arrange 3 wrappers next to each other, slightly overlapping and in a straight line. Dab the areas where the wrappers are slightly overlapping each other so the wrappers stick. Add a heaping tablespoon (about 1.5 tbsp) of dumpling filling to the center of the wrappers. Adjust the filling so that it’s equally dispersed along the centerline of the dumpling. See photos above. Fold the wrappers in half lengthwise, like a hot dog. Lightly dab the folded edge of the wrappers with water and then gently roll up the wrappers starting from the left and going right to make a rose. Place dumpling on a baking tray lightly dusted with cornstarch and repeat with remaining dumplings. Re-knead the scraps and roll out more wrappers if needed. Cover the made dumplings with a towel to prevent them from drying out.

3. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Line a bamboo steamer, that’s the same diameter as the pot of boiling water, with parchment paper (with holes punched out) or cabbage leaves. Fill the steamer with dumplings. Cover the steamer with the lid and steam for 8-9 minutes. Remove the steamer from the pot and lift the lid to allow the steam to release. Once the dumplings to cool slightly, enjoy with soy sauce.