Sticky Rice Shu Mai

Unlike the HK-style shu mai you see at dim sum and yum cha that’s filled with meat and shrimp, Shanghai-style shu mai is stuffed with sticky rice mixed with ground pork, shiitake mushrooms, and dried mushrooms. However, more often than not, I never make it to the shu mai (or there’s like.. 2 shu mai) as I end up eating the sticky rice straight up because it’s just. that. good.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • shu mai wrappers, sub for Shanghai wonton wrappers if you can’t find them
  • 4 large dried shiitake, soaked per instructions, de-stemmed, and minced
  • 1 cup sticky rice, cooked (beware, you’ll need to soak the sticky rice overnight. I soak the rice in a 1:1 ratio with water and steam the rice with residual water in the bowl so that it gets that extra stiicccc)
  • 2 tbsp dried shrimp
  • 1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1/4 tsp sugar

Directions:

  1. Cook dried shrimp, on medium heat for ~3 minutes (no oil needed). Remove from heat and mince.
  2. Add 1 tbsp oil to pan and brown the ground pork over medium heat until fully cooked ~6-8 minutes. Mince the pork with the end of your spatula as it cooks. (Optional: add in 1 tsp shaoxing cooking wine when you’re cooking the pork). Remove.
  3. Cook shiitake for ~3 minutes over medium heat.
  4. Add the minced dried shrimp and ground pork back into the pan with the shiitake along with the soy sauce, cooking wine, and sugar. Stir to incorporate.
  5. Add in the sticky rice and stir until the sauce is mixed evenly into the rice. You’ll want to taste test here as some soy sauces are more/less salty than others. You can stuff your face right now or proceed to step 6.
  6. Let the rice cool and fold into the shu mai wrapper. (shu mai folding tutorial)
  7. Steam shu mai for 10 minutes and enjoy!

*spray the bottom of the shu mai with oil or layer basket/plate with parchment paper to prevent sticking