How to make the siu mai skin translucent

Everyone is familiar with siomai. In breakfast shops, siomai is an indispensable food. Of course, some people who have the time and conditions will make siomai at home. The process of making siomai is not simple, and if you want to make the siomai skin have a translucent appearance like the ones in breakfast shops, you need to spend some effort and master certain skills. So, how can we make the siomai skin translucent? Here are some tips for you.

1. How to make siomai wrapper

The skin of siomai needs to be mixed with two kinds of flour, one is unleavened flour and the other is boiled flour. First, divide the flour into two parts and add 1 gram to each part of flour;

Mix both portions of flour into smooth dough and set aside;

Combine the two pieces of dough and knead them thoroughly to form a large dough.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap, let it sit for half an hour, then cut into equal portions.

Roll the skin into ruffles. What is a lotus leaf edge? It means that after the skin is rolled thin and round, the outer layer is pinched and rolled thinner again until it has the undulating shape of a lotus leaf. This is how the siomai skin will be made.

2. Tips for making the siu mai skin translucent

The secret to making crystal clear siu mai skin is to use boiling water to mix the dough, press the skin into a thin layer, and the siu mai skin will be transparent after steaming.

Precautions

1. The authentic siu mai wrapper needs a special rolling pin. At home, we usually use an ordinary rolling pin, which can be used to press the outer edge into folds, like the shape of a lotus leaf skirt.

2. When wrapping the siomai, you don’t need to close the top. Just hold the edge of the siomai with your thumb and index finger and gently close it. It’s actually easier than wrapping dumplings.

3. Before steaming, be sure to spray water on the surface of the siomai, because when rolling the siomai skin, you need to add a lot of flour to press out the lotus leaf skirt. If you don't spray water, the steamed siomai skin will be very dry.

3. How long does it take to steam siu mai?

Put it in the steamer and steam for 5-8 minutes.

4. Are siomai and baozi the same?

Shaomai is a very popular special snack, which is said to have originated from steamed buns. The main difference between it and steamed buns, besides using unfermented dough to make the skin, is that the top is not sealed, but is shaped like a pomegranate. The earliest historical record: In the Chinese textbook "Pusitong" published in Goryeo (now North Korea) in the 14th century, there is a record of "vegetarian sour stuffing Shaomai" being sold in Yuan Dadu (now Beijing). The book's notes on "Shaomai" say that it is made by wrapping meat with thin slices of wheat flour, steaming it, and eating it with soup. It is called Shaomai in the local dialect. "麦" can also be written as "麦". It is also said: "The skin is thin and the meat is solid. The meat is chopped into pieces and tied with a thin thread on the top, so it is called shao mai." "The skin is made of flour, the filling is meat, and the top is the pistil. It is called siomai in the dialect." If we compare the preparation method of "shao mai" here with today's siomai, we can see that they are the same thing.