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Ultimate Dim Sum

Ultime Dim Sum

The tastiest dim sum, of course you make it yourself! A good dim sum has a wonderfully soft steamed dough layer and is richly filled with vegetables, meat and broth. But how do you get that liquid broth in the bag? Simple: by making smart use of the properties of agar agar! We explain it in the recipe below. It's a bit of work, but then you also have something. The ultimate dim sum.
5 from 4 votes
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Equipment

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp Bacon
  • 5 cm Ginger
  • 2 pc Spring onion
  • 300 gr Chicken broth
  • 1.5 gr Agar Agar
  • 180 gr Flour
  • 10 tbsp Water
  • 1.5 tbsp Sunflower oil
  • 1 tbsp Rice wine
  • 1.5 tsp Sesame oil
  • 1 tsp Soy sauce
  • 250 gr Minced meat mixture of beef and pork
  • 1.5 tsp Sugar
  • 0.5 tsp Salt
  • 0.2 tsp Pepper
  • 2 tbsp Balsamic viniger
  • 2 tbsp Wine vinegar

Instructions
 

Bouillon

  • 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
    Dim Sum - Broth
  • 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
    Dim Sum - Scale 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.
    Dim Sum hot Agar Agar
  • 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!a
    Dim Sum bouillon cubes

The dough

  • 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.
    180 gr Flour, 10 tbsp Water
    Dim Sum - Dough with Kitchenaid

Dim Sum meat filling

  • 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.
    5 cm Ginger, 1 tbsp Rice wine, 1.5 tsp Sesame oil, 1 tsp Soy sauce, 1.5 tsp Sugar, 0.5 tsp Salt, 0.2 tsp Pepper, 250 gr Minced meat
    Dim Sum Agar Agar Meat Filling

Make the Sauce

  • 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.
    Dim Sum - Sauce

Prepare the dough

  • 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.
    Dim Sum - Agar Agar - Dough Preparation
  • MAKE PORTIONS OF THE MEAT MIXTURE
    Lay 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...
    Dim Sum Agar Agar - portions
  • MAKE THE DIM SUM
    And 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.
    Dim Sum - fill the dough
  • Repeat until the basket is full.
    Dim Sum - Steamer Basket

Steam the Dim Sum

  • 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.
    Dim Sum - Steamed

Serve

  • Bon apetit!
    Dim Sum - served
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