Har Gow (Prawn Dumplings)

To prepare the dough, add the wheat starch and salt to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the boiling water – you want to make sure it’s literally just boiled. Give the ingredients a mix until just combined. It might look a bit weird and clacky at this point but trust the process, friend. Set aside for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, the mixture will appear crumbly and will have firmed up somewhat. Turn the dough out onto a clean bench. Flatten it slightly with your hands, then sprinkle over half of the cornflour. Using your hands, mix and knead the dough to incorporate the cornflour until smooth. Flatten the dough again and repeat the process, kneading the dough for 3–5 minutes until smooth.

Add the pork lard to the top of the dough, then continue kneading for another 2 minutes until you have a very smooth and soft dough. Roll the dough into 3 logs and place into a slightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and leave for 15 minutes to rest.

To make the dumpling filling, place the minced prawn, ginger, sugar, salt, pepper, lard and sesame oil into a mixing bowl. Mix until combined – you almost want to whip it until it’s sticky and slightly firmed up. Set aside.

Now, here’s where my secret sorcery begins. I found that, for the best result, the dough needs to be lovely and warm when you roll it out. Too cold, and it will just shred up and break into smithereens (highly frustrating when you’re deep in the throes of a dumpling craving). Here’s what to do. Place a steamer basket on a pot of boiling water. Turn off the heat (we don’t want to cook the dough; just warm it), then place the bowl of rolled dough in the steamer basket.

Lightly oil your benchtop. Take out one log and cut a 2cm-thick (about ¾ inch) piece of dough from it (you’re aiming for about 6 pieces from each log). Return the log to the steamer. Oil a small rolling pin and the piece of dough you cut, then roll it out into a roughly 5cm (2 inch) round piece of 1mm (less than 1/16 inch) thickness. Use a pastry scraper to help lift the wrapper from the benchtop and place it carefully into the palm of your hand. Place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the centre and then gently place the wrapper back onto the benchtop. Start with folding the edge of the wrapper nearest you over the filling. Just working with the top layer, make small pleats working from the centre outwards. Repeat on the other side. Once that top layer is pleated, press down to seal it and enclose your filling. Use a pair of scissors to cut off the extra top of the dough, then pinch with your fingers to thin out the top of the dumpling edge and add a subtle curve to your har gow. (Watch the video to see all this in action!) Transfer your cute-as dumpling to a clean tray lined with baking paper. Continue with remaining dough and filling. At this point, you can freeze the dumplings if you like, or carry on cooking. 

Steam the dumplings for 5-6 minutes or until just cooked through. Serve with the soy sauce and chilli sauce.

– Find wheat starch online or at your local Asian grocery store.