Dim Sum - what is it? Dim sum: a step-by-step recipe, cooking features and reviews

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

The art of Chinese culinary arts is known all over the world. Dishes prepared according to their original recipes are always distinguished by their unusual appearance, and at the same time, excellent taste and wonderful aroma. Sometimes it is difficult to repeat them exactly, as it requires unique ingredients.

Dim Sum occupies a special place in the list of traditional Chinese dishes. What is it, and why did the product get such an unusual name? This is worth talking about in more detail.

Original product

Arriving in China, tourists in every cafe or restaurant can order Dim Sum. What it is, at first glance, it is sometimes even difficult to determine exactly. Outwardly, the product is very similar to Russian dumplings or oriental khinkali. They are united by the same composition.

Each of these dishes is a product made from dough, in which various fillings are wrapped. However, it cannot be said that they are very similar. How is Dim Sum different from its counterparts? What it is? Name of this productcan be translated from Chinese as "ignite the soul" or "touch the heart." Indeed, the one who tried them will never be able to forget this unique feeling.

Chinese dumplings can be different:

• big and small;
• open and closed;
• boiled in a special broth or deep fried.

But most often, these are miniature pouches of stuffed dough, steamed in special baskets made of bamboo. This is how this dish is remembered by those who come to China for the first time.

A bit of history

Each Chinese dish has its own history and special purpose. And looking closely, you can say about Dim Sum that it is a kind of modern fast food.

The history of its creation is rooted in the distant past. The Chinese have had a tradition called "Yam Cha" since ancient times. In Russian it sounds like "drink some tea". Tired travelers or people exhausted by hard work tried to find a place and time to rest and refresh themselves with fragrant freshly brewed tea. After all, this drink is best able to restore strength and give a charge of vivacity. This is how specialized “tea houses” appeared in the country.

Initially they didn't serve food. It was believed that any product consumed during tea drinking could lead to obesity. Later people realized that it was just the opposite. Good tea only aids in digestion. Then in such establishments they began to serve lungssnacks like "Dim-Sum", which were liked by numerous visitors.

Popular product

Today, Chinese restaurants are opening in many cities, where everyone can taste unusual products and feel the unique national flavor. There are many such institutions not only in Russia, but also in the countries of the near and far abroad. The menu offers visitors a large number of various dishes, among which Dim-Sum (Dim-Sum) occupies not the last place. It can be ordered at any time of the day, from morning to evening.

This easy and delicious product has no time limits. At home, the Chinese consider it obligatory to go to a Dim Sum restaurant at least once a week with the whole family. As a rule, several types of these “dumplings” with different fillings are ordered at the same time.

This is how you get the most out of this unique product. This habit is becoming a good tradition for many Russians as well. Those who visit such establishments for the first time remain simply indescribably delighted. It is these sensations that a product made of super-thin dough with an original filling causes in them. In addition, some types of such products are served directly in the same dishes in which they were cooked. This creates an additional effect and arouses keen interest.

Cooking secrets

To get to know this dish better, you can try to make Dim Sum yourself. How to cook it? This may require the followingproducts:

• for 3 cups of wheat a tablespoon of cornmeal;
• 25 grams of sugar;
• 400 grams of peeled shrimp;
• a little ground black pepper;
• glass of water;
• 15-20 grams of vegetable oil;
• 2 tablespoons each of rice wine and soy sauce.

The whole process consists of four steps:

1. First you need to prepare the dough. To do this, the flour should be poured into a slide on the table, making a small depression in the center. Pour 100 milliliters of hot and 35 milliliters of cold water into it, add oil, and then knead. Cover the finished semi-finished product with a napkin and set aside for 30 minutes.
2. At this time, you can do the stuffing. Finely chopped shrimp should be mixed with water (30-35 milliliters), and then gradually add sauce, wine, pepper and sugar. The last step is to add cornmeal.
3. Roll the prepared dough into a bundle, and then cut into pieces, each of which is then rolled out in the form of a thin circle with a diameter of no more than 6 centimeters. Put a little filling in the center and carefully pinch the edges in any convenient way.
4. Place the products on the steamer grate, covered with lettuce leaves.

After 20 minutes, the product can be safely served, sprinkled with herbs and generously seasoned with soy sauce.

Chinese dumplings with chicken meat

Russian people are used to making dumplings with meat. For the Chinese, this option is also acceptable. To make at homedelicious "Dim-Sum", filling recipes you can make yourself or use those that others have already come up with. Take, for example, the option that requires several stalks of leeks, as well as for the test:

• 200 milliliters of coconut milk;
• a pinch of s alt;
• a glass of wheat flour.

For stuffing:

• 300 grams chicken fillet;
• 1 chili pod;
• 4 green onions;
• ginger root (no more than 4 centimeters).

For sauce:

• 4 tomatoes;
• s alt;
• 3 cloves of garlic;
• a little ground black pepper;
• and also ¼ each of three sweet peppers of different colors (green, red and yellow).

This dish is prepared in several steps:

1. First you need to prepare the stuffing. To do this, the first thing you need to do is cut the meat into pieces and lightly fry them in a pan, only greasing it with vegetable oil. Grind the cooled chicken additionally with onion and ginger. The composition should not be very liquid.
2. To prepare the sauce, put all the vegetables in the oven for a few minutes. This will make it easier to remove the skin from them. Then the peeled tomatoes must be rubbed through a sieve to remove the seeds, and the resulting mass should be transferred to a saucepan and put on fire. After the liquid has mostly evaporated, add the pepper pieces and mashed garlic.
3. The prepared sauce must be combined with the filling, and after mixing, add chopped chili peppers. Composition ready.
4. Combine the dough ingredients together and mix them well with a blender. The semi-finished product will have a pleasant coconut flavor.
5. Divide the dough into pieces and roll them into discs with a diameter of 6 centimeters.
6. Put a teaspoon of stuffing in the middle of each of them and pinch the edges carefully.
7. Line the inside of a bamboo steamer with leek stalks, and then carefully place the cooked dumplings on top.

5-10 minutes after boiling water, food can be served directly in the same bowl in which they were prepared. BBQ sauce is a great addition.

Dim Sum in a slow cooker

In modern families, the hostess has a lot of different kitchen appliances. Therefore, for example, the lack of a special bamboo steamer cannot make her refuse to make the famous Chinese snack.

You can see this if you look at the step-by-step Dim Sum recipe for the multicooker. For work you will need:

• 20 sheets of rice paper;
• 450 grams of lean beef;
• hot pepper pod;
• chive;
• 4 green onion stalks (white part);
• 30 milliliters of soy sauce.

For decoration, you can use ground paprika, red hot pepper and herbs.

For sauce:

• 1 teaspoon sugar;
• 2 limes;
• tablespoon of soy sauce.

Technologycooking:

1. Beef, along with onion, peeled garlic and pepper, pass through a meat grinder. It is better to do this twice so that the composition is softer.
2. After that, you can add a little soy sauce and 1-2 drops of vegetable oil, and then mix everything well. The filling is ready.
3. Soak sheets of rice paper in warm water for a few seconds.
4. Split minced meat into several equal parts and say them in the form of balls.
5. Spread a sheet of rice paper on the table, and then wrap the meat ball in it. Repeat actions until the products run out. So that the paper does not stick to the surface, the desktop must first be moistened with plain water.
6. Grease the grid in the multicooker with vegetable oil and carefully place the blanks on it. After that, you need to close the lid, set the “steam” mode on the panel, and set the timer for 15 minutes.
7. To prepare lime sauce, squeeze the juice and mix it with the rest of the ingredients until they are completely dissolved.

After the signal, the multicooker can be turned off, and the finished products can be removed with tongs and carefully laid out on a plate, poured over with sauce, and, if desired, decorated with the products left for this.

Hong Kong dumplings

Each province or administrative region of China has its own habits and traditions. In Hong Kong, for example, they like to fry Dim Sum. The recipe in this case will be somewhat different.

The following items will be required:

• for 0.5 kilograms of flour 200 eachgrams of shrimp and pork;
• 50 grams of spinach or Chinese cabbage;
• teaspoon of vinegar;
• 50 ml chicken broth;
• s alt;
• ginger;
• a little white pepper;
• as well as 50 milliliters of vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of sesame oil.

The whole cooking process takes no more than one hour. For this you need:

1. Combine flour with water, and then, adding vinegar, knead the dough.
2. For the filling, first mince the pork, and then add finely chopped shrimp with cabbage and broth. After that, s alt the mass, add ginger, pepper, sesame oil, onion and mix well.
3. Roll out the dough into a thin pancake and divide it into pieces.
4. Fill each piece with stuffing and pinch the edges in any way convenient for this. The Chinese use many different types of sculpting.
5. First fry the blanks in vegetable oil, and then, adding a little broth to the pan, simmer under the lid for 6-7 minutes.

In principle, such dim sums do not need to be supplemented. But if you wish, you can use any of your favorite sauces.

Khinkali from China

Many chefs, seeing a clear resemblance to oriental cuisine, believe that the ancient Asian snack is nothing but Chinese khinkali. "Dim-Sum" is really very similar to them. The difference is only in the preparation of the dough. In the finished product, it should be almost transparent. This can be achieved using a rather original recipe.

You will need a minimum number of ingredients:

• For the dough - for 300 milliliters of boiling water 150 grams of wheat and 112.5 grams of corn starch.
• For the filling - for 0.5 kilograms of fresh shrimp, a pinch of s alt and sugar, as well as a little sesame oil, white pepper and powdered broth.

The technology of this dish is extremely simple:

1. First you need to make the stuffing. To do this, all the ingredients must be thoroughly kneaded by hand. Oil and pepper are added last. The mixture should contain sufficiently large pieces.
2. To prepare the dough, the starch must be mixed with boiling water, and then the finished product should be put in the refrigerator for an hour.
3. After that, it needs to be rolled into a thin bundle, which is then divided into several parts.
4. Roll each piece into a pancake of the minimum possible thickness, put a little stuffing in the center, and then squeeze the edges tightly, making it desirable to make 12 folds.
5. Put the products in a double boiler and cook until the dough becomes transparent.

Such dim sums are most often served with soy sauce at the table.