Try Something New

I often get in a rut even about the foods I prepare. To get out of the boring and into something I love to eat, I decided to try making shu mai.....pork stuffed won ton wrappers. I'm not sure if won ton wrappers are the same as gyoza wrappers but I think won ton wrappers are square and gyoza wrappers are round. I used the round ones that can be found in most local markets in the refrigerated area. Don't these look delicious even though they are raw? Okay they are not too pretty but it was my first try. LOL! One tip I learned by trial and error is when the instructions say to wet the outside edge of the wrapper with water I think that it meant the side that the filling was not going to be in so that when you curl the wrapper around the pork filling it will stick to itself. I think the bamboo steamer is the best way to go because you can stack several at a time. Recipes for the filling can be found in many local cookbooks but basically it has ground pork, an egg, oyster sauce, and green onions. I would add chopped water chestnuts and mushrooms but that is my taste preference. The original recipe had raw fish cake but I tried it and it is too fishy smelling for me. Here they are......my first homemade shu mai! Aren't they delicious looking on a pretty plate.....presentation is everything especially in cooking.

The bottom photo shows what I did with the leftovers that wouldn't fit in the steamer....I made pot stickers (the recipe was on the package of gyoza wrappers). I think I would prefer fried gyoza because the texture would be different from the shu mai. All in all I was very impressed with my new cooking adventure and I have a week's worth of shu mai to enjoy! Go you crafty person.....try something new......get out of your everyday saftety zone! Yes, you can!