Special Occasion Dumpling Recipe (Flower Shumai)

I named today’s shumai recipe Special Occasion Dumpling. Although it uses almost the same ingredients as my Shumai recipe (shao mai) and is cooked in the same way, today’s dumpling looks like a flower with a wow factor. It is not only visually attractive but also delicious – a perfect crowd pleaser.

The flavour is the same as normal shumai, but the texture is quite different because of the way the fillings are wrapped.

Instead of wrapping shumai mixture with a piece of shumai sheet, I shredded shumai sheets, and coated a ball of shumai mixture with them.

I call it Flower Shumai in English, but in Japan, it is called ‘kikka shūmai’ or ‘kikuka shūmai’ (菊花シュウマイ), which means chrysanthemum flower shumai. This is because the strands of shumai sheet on the surface resemble the petals of a large Japanese chrysanthemum flower. The tiny yellow in the middle of the Flower Shumai is the disc florets.

Flower Shumai (left) and a large Japanese chrysanthemum flower (right).

It might look more complicated than the normal shumai, but in my view it is easier to make Flower Shumai than the normal shumai.

What’s in My Special Occasion Dumpling Recipe (Flower Shumai)

I could have used the same ingredients as the Shumai recipe, but I added prawns and shiitake mushrooms to the shumai mixture to make it special. You can of course make dumplings without them.

Shumai Mixture

• Pork mince
• Uncooked prawns, minced
• Very finely chopped onion
• Rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
• Corn flour/cornstarch

Flavouring

• Salt
• Sugar
• Ginger juice
• Soy sauce
• Sesame oil

Wrapping and decorating

• Shumai sheets, cut into 3mm/⅛” strips
• Boiled egg yolk (not in the ingredients photo, but in the next section)

There are different brands of shumai skin sold at Japanese/Asian grocery stores. You can read the section Shumai Sheets in my post Shumai, which explains the characteristics of different shumai sheets with sample photos.

I used Japanese shumai sheets (above photos), which are the thinnest and the smallest in size. The Flower Shumai in the post photos here are made with Japanese shumai sheets. But in the video and the Step-by-step photo, I used Shanghai wonton skin. You might notice a slight difference in the thickness of the strands of shumai skin.

Thinner shumai sheets give you a softer texture than the thicker ones when you bite into a Flower Shumai.

How to Make Special Occasion Dumpling (Flower Shumai)

The process of making the meat mixture and steaming the shumai dumplings is the same as the Shumai recipe. The only differences are the shape of the dumpling and the wrapping. See the video.

1. Mix the Shumai Mixture ingredients until the mixture becomes sticky.
2. Roll meat balls of about 3cm/1⅛” in diameter with the shumai mixture.
3. Coat each shumai ball with shumai sheet strips.
4. Place the shumai balls in a steamer and steam for 8-10 minutes.
5. Put a tiny amount of boiled egg yolk on top of each shumai.

I used a 3.5cm/1⅜” cookie scoop to measure and drop all the mixture on a tray, then roll them (I learnt this from Nagi). A cookie scoop makes the meatballs consistent in size and speeds up the process.

Taking a tiny amount from the boiled egg yolk can be difficult. So, I put the yolk through a sieve to make granular egg yolk. This made it easier to pinch a small amount. It is ideal to use a sieve with larger holes than the one used to sift flour.

Just like normal shumai, Flower Shumai is served with soy sauce and mustard to dip in. But some people add vinegar and chilli oil instead of mustard, just like how you eat Gyoza.

I can promise you that your guests will be surprised to see the unique shape and appearance of these dumplings. They will probably ask you what they are and how you made them. Then, they will be delighted to find out how tasty your dumplings are.

I hope you try Flower Shumai!

Yumiko

Watch How To Make It

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Special Occasion Dumpling Recipe (Flower Shumai)

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

10 mins

Resting Time

2 hrs

Total Time

2 hrs 35 mins

 

Although it uses almost the same ingredients as normal shumai (shao mai) and is cooked in the same way, Special Occasion Dumpling looks like a flower with a wow factor. It’s a perfect crowd pleaser. See the video.

Don't forget to see the section 'MEAL IDEAS' below the recipe card! It gives you a list of dishes that I have already posted and this recipe that can make up a complete meal. I hope it is of help to you.

Recipe Type: Main, Side

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: dumpling recipe, shao mai, shumai

Serves: 16 -20 pieces

Author: Yumiko

Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)

Shumai Mixture

• 250g/8.8oz pork mince (ground pork)
• 50g/1.8oz raw prawn finely chopped (note 1)
• 100g/3.5oz onion very finely chopped
• 3 dried shiitake mushrooms rehydrated and finely chopped (note 2)
• 2½ tbsp corn flour/cornstarch

Wrapping and Decorating

• 30 shumai sheets (note 3)
• Boiled egg yolk (less than 1/2 yolk is required)

Flavouring

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ginger juice (by squeezing grated ginger)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Serving (note 4)

• Soy sauce
• Karashi mustard

Instructions

Shumai Sheet Strips and Granular Boiled Yolk

1. Place a pile of shumai sheets and cut the pile into about 3mm/⅛" wide strips.

2. Loosen up the strips of shumai sheets, separating each strand, and place them in a bowl or on a small tray.

3. Make granular yolk by putting the boiled yolk through a sieve. Use a sieve that has larger holes than the sieve used to sift flour. Granular egg yolk is fluffy and easier to pinch to decorate the shumai (note 5).

Making Flower Shumai

1. Put all the Shumai Mixture, excluding onion and corn flour/cornstarch, in a bowl. Mix well until the mixture becomes sticky and almost like a paste.

2. Add onion and corn flour/cornstarch to the bowl and mix well. Cover and leave for 1-2 hours in the fridge to let the mixture rest.

3. Wet your hands with water. Scoop about a tablespoon of meat mixture and make a ball around 3cm/1⅛" in diameter. Place the ball on a tray lined with baking paper (note 6 for speedy method).

4. Taking one meatball at a time, place several strands of shumai sheet around the meatball, gently pressing so that the strips stick to the meatball.
5. Remove excess strips so that the meatball is coated with no more than a couple of layers of the strips.

Steaming Flower Shumai

1. I used bamboo steamers to steam the shumai dumplings, but there are other methods of steaming them.

2. Please refer to Shumai Recipe Card for three different ways of steaming shumai. Please follow the instruction for one of the steaming methods.

3. After steaming the dumplings, place a pinch of granular egg yolk on top of each flower shumai.

Serving

1. If you are using a bamboo steamer, you could serve shumai in the bamboo steamer. If using a steamer pot/pan, transfer the shumai onto a plate. If steamed on a plate using a pot, serve the steaming plate with the shumai on.

2. Serve with soy sauce and mustard.

Recipe Notes

1. If you prefer, you can omit the prawns and increase the quantity of pork to 300g/10.6oz.

2. My shiitake mushrooms were medium size. When rehydrated and water squeezed out, they weighed about 50g/1.8oz. If your mushrooms weigh slightly less/more, adjust the quantity of onion so that the total weight of onion and mushrooms becomes 150g/5.3oz.

3. I used Japanese shumai sheets, which are thinner than the Chinese wonton skin. The texture of the steamed shumai made with Japanese shumai skin is softer than the one made with wonton sheets. Please see the sample photos of different shumai sheets in the section Shumai Sheets in the post Shumai.

4. In Japan, shumai is typically served with soy sauce and Japanese karashi mustard. But some people eat it with soy sauce, vinegar, and chilli oil, just like Gyoza.

5. Instead of making fluffy boiled egg yolk, you can break the boiled egg yolk with a fork and use small bits if you prefer.

6 I used a 3.5cm/1⅜" cookie scoop to measure and drop all the mixture on a tray, then roll them. A cookie scoop makes the size of the meatballs consistent and speeds up the process.

7. Nutrition per piece. It assumes that the recipe makes 20 shumai pieces using Japanese shumai sheets.

serving: 28g calories: 57kcal fat: 3.3g (4%) saturated fat: 1.1g (6%) trans fat: 0.0g polyunsaturated fat: 0.4g monounsaturated fat: 1.4g cholesterol: 17mg (6%) sodium: 203mg (9%) carbohydrates: 3.4g (1%) dietary fibre: 0.3g (1%) sugar: 0.5g protein: 3.3g vitamin D: 0mcg (0%) calcium: 7mg (1%) iron: 0.3mg (2%) potassium: 68.5mg (1%)