The finest dim sum you'll ever have! Perfect dim sum features a delicate, soft steamed dough exterior and is generously stuffed with vegetables, meat, and a burst of flavorful broth. But how do you capture that liquid broth inside the dumpling? The secret lies in the clever use of agar agar! We’ll break it down in the recipe below. It takes some effort, but the result is absolutely worth it. Here's the ultimate dim sum recipe:
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Main course
modern gastronomy with agar agar
4
1 hour
20 minutes
The most delicious dim sum? Of course, you make it yourself! A great dim sum has a perfectly soft, steamed dough and is packed with flavorful vegetables, meat, and broth. But how do you get that liquid broth inside? It’s simple: by taking advantage of agar agar's unique properties! We’ll walk you through it in the recipe below. It may require some effort, but the result is truly worth it. The ultimate dim sum experience awaits.
Author:Chef Roberto Revel
50g Bacon
4g Ginger
2 onion
1.5 gr Agar Agar
60g Water
10g Sunflower oil
8g Rice wine
10g Sesame oil
8g Soy sauce
10g Sugar
5g Salt
15g Balsamic viniger
15g Wine vinegar
MAKE THE BOUILLON Briefly fry the bacon in a saucepan, then add the broth, the spring onion in large pieces and 1 centimeter of the ginger in pieces (save the rest for later). We just use a cube for chicken broth. Then let it reduce by half until you have about 150 ml stock.1 tbsp Bacon, 2 pc Spring onion, 300 gr Chicken broth, 5 cm Ginger
SIEVE BROTH AND ADD AGAR AGAR Strain the bouillon and then determine the weight of bouillon. Then weigh 1% of that weight into Agar agar. We have assumed here 150 grams of bouillon, so 1.5 grams of agar agar. Mix the Agar agar with the bouillon and stir well with a whisk. Let this soak in for 10 minutes ('hydrate').1.5 gr Agar Agar
BRING THE BOUILLON WITH AGAR AGAR SOLUTION TO THE BOIL Bring the bouillon with Agar agar to a boil. You will see around the boiling point that the mixture becomes a bit glassy.
POUR BOUILLON WITH AGAR AGAR INTO A FLAT TRAY When it boils, let it cool down to room temperature so that the gel can harden. We're going to speed up that process by pouring it out of the hot pan into a flat container. You can also speed it up even further by putting it in the freezer or refrigerator. Once it has solidified (a gel), remove it from the container and place it on a cutting board to shred. Now you have a nice collection of small stock cubes that become liquid again when heated!
Add flour with the water and oil to the KichtenAid and let the dough knead for 10 minutes. No Kitchen Aid? no problem: just use a little elbow grease – knead thoroughly with your hands! Then make a nice ball of the dough and put it in a freezer bag. Get as much air out of it as possible and let it rest for an hour.
We continue with the ginger: grate 2.5 cm of peeled ginger (You should have about 1.5 cm left for later). Speaking of graters: we are a big fan of the Microplane Zester, but any fine-meshed grater will do. Then shred 1 spring onion and mix it with the rice wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Then add the minced meat and the bouillon cubes you made. Mix everything well and let it stand for 15 minutes so that the taste can develop properly. That's it. The filling is ready.
Simple: cut the remaining piece of ginger into strips (julienne) and mix it with the balsamic vinegar and the wine vinegar. Let it rest for the flavors to develop.
Continue with the dough: take the ball with the dough out of the bag. We are going to make the dough pockets out of this. Cut the ball in half and set one half aside. Roll the other half into a roll of dough about 30 centimeters long. Then cut that roll into 12 pieces and roll them flat with a rolling pin until you have flat pieces of dough about the size of your fingers. Repeat with the first half of dough until you have 24 sheets.
MAKE PORTIONS OF THE MEAT MIXTURELay out a sheet of baking paper and make 24 equal portions of the minced meat. Make it easy for yourself and use a scale. In our case, the weight of the filling together was 410 grams, making 24 servings of 17 grams (410 / 24 ≈ 17). Also prepare the steam tray: cut out a sheet of baking paper so that it fits in the steam tray. Make some holes in the bottom of the baking paper so that the steam can pass through. We use an old-fashioned hole punch for this… well, what else…
MAKE THE DIM SUMAnd then everything finally comes together! Take a sheet of dough, fill it with a portion of the filling and fold in nice edges. Finally, twist the tip together so that you get nice dim sum. Place it in the steamer basket.
Repeat until the basket is full.
Steam the dim sum for about 6 to 8 minutes.There are different ways to steam. We use an easy solution here: take a large pan, put a layer of water in it and put a tea light holder to make some distance between the basket and the water. Bring the water to a boil and place the basket on the holder. Close it well so that the steam can reach everything – we just use the lid of the pan here. The steam cooks the meat and the broth agar agar mixture becomes liquid again for this ultimate dim sum.
Bon apetit!
The finest dim sum you'll ever have! Perfect dim sum features a delicate, soft steamed dough exterior and is generously stuffed with vegetables, meat, and a burst of flavorful broth. But how do you capture that liquid broth inside the...
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