Dim Sum Fun

My most recent issue of Cuisine at Home arrived about 2 weeks ago. This is always a joyous event for me as it is usually doesn't disappoint. This issue the large article on Dim Sum caught my eye and I just had to try it!

Some of you may be asking yourself "what the heck is Dim Sum Emily"? They are Chinese dumplings that are filled with meats or vegetables. They are usually steamed or boiled and are right up my alley because they are like little snack foods!

After reading the article I decided that I needed to get a bamboo steamer. They did recommend a couple of other methods but for whatever reason I decided I needed to be "authentic". I check out Bed, Bath and Beyond and Target and couldn't find one. I was thinking I was going to have to hit up William Sonoma and spend a small fortune when a friend who was attending the same child's birthday party that day suggested the Cost Plus Word Market a few stores down. Am I the last person on Earth to know about this store? What a cool place! I didn't have a lot of time so I can't wait to go back but they had the steamer and some cool chop sticks for about $15.oo.

So...on to the actual food. I didn't brave making my own dough this time around, although it looks doable, instead I opted for the pre-made wonton wrappers and made all three protein dumplings in the article. Beef & scallions, shrimp, and pork potstickers. All three had a different cooking method. The beef was boiled, the shrimp steamed, and the pork fried & steamed.

The beef and pork were very good, the pork being my favorite. The shrimp was really not good at all, I found it flavorless. The dipping sauce of basically sweetened soy sauce was also very good.

Peter of course didn't care for any of them but kind of liked the pork. I do have to give him credit for trying them though.

I had a blast with this one, it had been a long time since I had taken on a challenging cooking project. A word of caution, you will need a good bit of time if you choose to try it. It took me about 3 hours from start to finish. Wrapping these little treats takes a loooooong time and it is not easy to make the cute little packages in the article pictures. They also seem to freeze very well, so that made the time worth it as well.