Dim sum: dish up a dinner with a difference

Most chefs would probably consider themselves pretty good at forensic gastronomy: examining a dish and working out how it was made. They might not deduce every ingredient, but they would have a shrewd idea of the processes involved.

Not so with the delectable Chinese morsels known as dim sum - which roughly translates as "things that touch the heart". Such mysteries should, perhaps, be left to the experts, but in a spirit of culinary curiosity, I agree to meet Hang Qiu Feng, the master dim sum chef at the stylish and beautiful Shanghai Blues in London's High Holborn.

A few years ago, the trolley-clanking New World and the garish Royal China were the only places in the capital to go for dim sum, but now, with Yauatcha gaining a Michelin star and the opening of the impossibly sumptuous China Tang, the humble dumpling has truly taken hold of London. And now there is even Ping Pong, the first dim sum chain.

A dim sum kitchen, I realise, is all about accuracy, experience and deftness: as my rather ham-fisted attempts proved. Not everyone will feel like trying something so labour-intensive at home: even so, the siu mai are especially easy - and can be served as canapés and the others are, at least, very adaptable.

Incorporating the filling into a sticky dough is easier with rice pancakes, sold in Chinese shops. All you need then are chilli sauce, green tea and a few friends prepared to overlook the fact that some of your efforts are a little homespun and misshapen. Things which touch the heart often are. s

Shanghai Blues, 193-197 High Holborn, London WC1, tel: 0800 652 6345

Chilean sea bass puffs

Makes about 10

120g/4oz Chilean sea bass fillet, cut into 10 strips about 5cm (2in)

Thai basil leaves (optional)

1tsp salt

1tsp sugar

1tsp char siu sauce

Rice flour pancakes (see text)

For the egg pastry

50g/2oz plain flour

1tsp sugar

1tsp salt

1 egg, beaten

For the lard pastry

50g/2oz plain flour

50g/2oz lard

1tsp salt

Gently mix the sea bass with the seasonings, top with a basil leaf then wrap in pancakes as described above.

To make the egg pastry, mix the flour, salt and sugar on a board, make a well and pour in the egg. Add a little water if necessary to form a smooth, fairly stiff dough. To make the lard pastry, mix the flour, salt and lard together until smooth. Refrigerate both pastries for 10 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas4. Divide both pastries into 5 balls. Flatten one of the egg pastry balls into a disc and wrap it around one of the lard pastry balls. Roll it out on a floured board until it is about 20cm (8in) long, then slice it lengthways. Attach the two together until you have one 40cm (16in) long strip, then carefully fold it up in a concertina fashion. Slice it in half lengthways: you should see striations in the pastry.

Roll and trim one of the halves until it is 5cm (2in) square, then roll one of the pancakes in it, pinching it together to seal. It is vital that the striations are in hoops around the outside of the pastry so that it puffs properly when cooked. Bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown; alternatively, deep-fry at 200C (400F) for 6-8 minutes and drain on kitchen paper. Serve while still hot.

Duck and taro croquettes

Makes about 10

350g/111/2oz peeled taro root

50g/2oz wheat starch

Pinch of sugar

Pinch of white pepper

Pinch of salt

50g/2oz lard, at room temperature

For the filling

100g/31/2oz shredded roast duck

2 black Chinese mushrooms, soaked then simmered until soft

1tbsp hoi sin

1/2tsp salt

1tsp sugar

Pinch of white pepper

2tsp sesame oil

Rice flour pancakes (see text)

1 sheet of nori, cut into thin ribbons

Sunflower oil for deep frying

Slice the taro root into pieces 1cm (1/2in) thick and steam for 10 minutes, until soft and starchy. Mix in the wheat flour and the seasonings and let the mixture cool slightly.

Slice the mushrooms thinly, then combine them with the duck, seasonings and oil. Fold a pancake in quarters, put 2tsp of filling on it and roll up, folding in the sides and securing with a dab of eggwash. Use all the filling.

While the taro paste is still warm, mix in the lard and knead until you have a very soft pastry. Take a piece the size of a cherry and work it in your hand until you have a disc, then press a filled pancake into it and fold the pastry around it until the edges nearly touch. Secure with a strip of nori dipped in eggwash, then repeat.

Heat a deep fryer to 200C (400F) and fry the croquettes until puffed up, frizzy and light brown: about 5 minutes. Drain on kitchen paper and serve.

Scallop dumplings

Makes about 20

150g/5oz young spinach

225g/71/2oz wheat starch

225g/71/2oz potato flour

For the filling

350g/111/2oz scallops, white meat only, chilled

1tsp salt

2tsp sugar

2tsp potato flour

1tbsp jellied chicken stock

Pinch of white pepper

2tsp sesame oil

Liquidise the spinach with 500ml (17fl oz) cold water, then strain through a muslin and heat to 80C (170F). Combine the two flours in a bowl and mix with enough of the spinach water to make a very stiff dough. When it is cool knead it until you have a stiff, green, springy sausage of dough, about 3cm (11/2in) in diameter.

For the filling, put the scallops in a bowl and break them up. Mix in the rest of the ingredients to form a rough paste. Slice off a disc of the pastry and roll it out on a lightly floured board as thinly as possible: it should be about 6cm (21/2in) in diameter and translucent. Put a teaspoonful of filling in the middle, then gather up the pastry into the shape of a three-cornered hat, pinching the seams firmly together. Repeat until you run out of scallops, then steam the dumplings for 5 minutes and serve immediately.

Pork and prawn siu mai

Makes about 20

250g/8oz lean pork, diced

125g/4oz peeled raw prawns

1tsp salt

20g/3/4oz sugar

1tbsp jellied chicken stock

20g/3/4oz potato flour

2tbsp sunflower oil

2 black Chinese mushrooms, soaked then simmered until soft, squeezed dry and thinly sliced

Wonton wrappers

Blend the pork, prawns and salt together in a food processor until sticky but still fairly chunky. Mix with the rest of the ingredients.

Place two generously heaped teaspoonfuls of the mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper, then turn, gather and shape the wrapper in your loose fist until it resembles a small pillar. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, then stand the dumplings up and steam them for around 10 minutes. Top with salmon eggs or cooked white crab meat and serve immediately.

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