Fried Ham Sui Gok - Iconic Deep-Fried Dim Sum Dumplings
Classic Fried Five-Flavor Dumplings
Traditional ham sui gok must have a slightly crispy outer skin with a soft, smooth inner skin. Therefore, a combination of sticky rice flour and glutinous rice flower is used to make the dough for the skin. The filling, meanwhile, is made of fatty pork, prawn, and sausage. After dim sum chefs made improvements to the dish, jicama, different types of mushrooms, carrots, and other healthy ingredients paired with shrimp have been used as fillings. This has made ham sui gok more appealing to today’s health-conscious eaters.
Ingredients
- 1 ⅔ cups (250 grams) sticky rice flour
- 2/3 cup (70 grams) wheat starch
- 1 ounce (30 grams) celery
- 1 ounce (30 grams) jicama
- 1 ounce (30 grams) dried shiitake mushrooms
- 1/3 cup (30 grams) carrots
- 1 ounce (30 grams) dried, shelled shrimps
Seasonings
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) white sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) lard
- salt to taste
- five-spice powder
as desired/needed
- chicken bouillon as desired/needed
- oyster sauce
- light soy sauce
- cooking oil as desired/needed
- water-starch blend as desired/needed
as desired/needed 
Cooking Directions
Preparations
- In advance, soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in fresh water. Remove stems and mince. In advance, soak the shrimp in fresh water. After clean, mince. Separate the carrots and jicama and peel them. Mince after washing clean. Remove leaves from celery, clean and mince.
How to make Ham Sui Gok filling
- Heat the pot and add an appropriate amount of cooking oil. Stir-fry shrimp until aromatic, then add the shiitake mushrooms, carrots, jicama, and celery. Stir-fry, then add an appropriate amount of salt, chicken bouillon, oyster sauce
How to make the dough
- Add 1/3 cup (70 milliliters) fresh water to the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Add white sugar and stir to create syrup. Add the boiling syrup to the wheat starch. Use chopsticks to stir quickly in one direction to create a wheat starch dough with a sleek surface.
- Add 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) 158 ⁰F (70 ⁰C) hot water to the sticky rice flour. Use chopsticks to stir quickly in one direction, then add the wheat starch dough and lard. Stir evenly. Place in refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Tip 1: When mixing the sticky rice dough, it is not best to use boiling water or stir too quickly, or the dough will be too tough.
- Tip 2: By adding lard to the dough, the ham sui gok’s skin will be flaky. Without the lard, it will be crunchy. Add or leave out the lard depending on your personal taste.
How to assemble a Ham Sui Gok
- Separate the dough into portions, each one about the size of a meatball. Pinch them into bowl shapes and add an appropriate amount of filling. Fold the two sides of the dough skin. Seal the opening tightly. These are the dumplings that will be cooked.
Put it all together
- Add an appropriate amount of cooking oil to the pot. Over medium heat, heat the pot to a moderate heat and add the uncooked dumplings. Allow the top half of the dumplings to remain exposed to the air, with the bottom half submerged in the frying oil. This will make them swell.
- After the dumplings swell, reduce the heat to low. Stir-fry the dumplings so both sides turn golden brown. Remove from pot and serve.
Tips from Cantonese Master Chefs
- You must control the temperature of the water and oil in the dough skin. These factors will influence the formation of the pearl bubbles.
- When deciding on the oil temperature, you can put a small piece of dough in the oil. If bubbles form around the dough, that indicates the right temperature for frying ham sui gok.
What does Ham Sui Gok represent?
In Cantonese teahouses, there is a pudgy kind of dim sum that looks like a fried dumpling. This adorable treat is pearl ham sui gok. Ham sui gok’s skin is sweet, crispy, and chewy and its filling is sticky, savory, and juicy. Since its filling includes celery, scallion, garlic, chives, and ginger, people also refer to ham sui gok as “five-flavor dumplings”. Within this, the celery represents industriousness; the scallions represent intelligence; the garlic represents foresight; the chives represent longevity; and the ginger represents progress. In the past, people often offered ham sui gok to their guests during Chinese New Year. Ham sui gok has savory filling with a sweet dough skin and a rich taste. The little bubbles covering its bronze, crispy skin seem like pearls dotting the food’s surface; hence the name pearl ham sui gok.
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