Name: VEGAN HAR GOW (Crystal Shrimp Dumplings)
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients: 1 bag of vegan shrimp (there should be approximately 30 shrimp in 1 bag); 3 tsp of oil + 4 tbsp water; 2 small finely diced carrot (OR 2tbsp minced water chestnut & 3tbsp minced bamboo shoots); 1 tsp grated ginger; 1 tsp grated garlic; 1 tsp brown sugar; 2 tbsp stir fry mushroom sauce; 2 tbsp sesame oil; ¼ tsp white pepper; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp potato starch / corn starch; 150g wheat starch; 80g potato starch / tapioca starch / cornstarch; pinch of salt; 265g boiling water; 2 tsp vegetable oil; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 1 tsp dark vinegar; 2 tsp spicy chili oil; 1 large carrot (cut into thin discs)

As you might know by now we LOVE dumplings and therefore it was only a matter of time before we went about to figure out a vegan version of the beloved and absolutely beautiful crystal shrimp dumplings. They are commonly known as “xia jiao” or “har gow” (虾饺). Har Gow are a classic Cantonese dish and a favorite in any dim sum spot. With their translucent skin they stand out against all the other dumplings in Chinese cuisine and an intriguing recipce to recreate. These dumplings aren’t just an absolute treat to the eye with their shiny, almost see through dumpling skin and the beautiful pleating but they are also insanely delicious.

Anyways enough babbling about the stunning aesthetics and taste of these dumplings how about we finally show you how to make your own Har Gow dumplings at home.

This recipe is essentially pretty simple because all you need is the filling and the dumpling wrappers. Let’s start off with the filling. Normally it’s made out of fresh shrimps but since we want to make the dumplings vegan, we are going to use a vegan shrimp substitute we found in the frozen food section in our local Asian market. You can of course also use tofu instead of the shrimp substitute if you don’t like to use such products, however keep in mind that the taste and consistency of the filling and the final dumplings will wary as this recipe is thought out to be prepared with said shrimp substitute.

In a first step you want to defrost your vegan shrimp. Either you take them out of the freezer and put them in the fridge to defrost over night or you put them in a bowl with warm water to defrost the day you’re preparing your dumplings. Either way once your shrimp are defrosted you want to set approximately 10 shrimp aside and purée the remaining shrimp together with some water and oil into a paste. Next you would normally add finely chopped water chestnuts and bamboo shoots to give your filling a crunchy texture but we weren’t able to get those 2 ingredients and substituted them with carrots instead. So as usual we ask you to keep in mind that this recipe is our interpretation of the traditional dish and not a 1:1 copy.

Alright, next you want to chop the 10 whole vegan shrimp into bite-size pieces and add to the shrimp-paste together with the chopped carrots. To season the filling and help it stick together you’ll need:

Grated ginger
Grated garlic
Brown sugar
Stir fry mushroom sauce (e.g. Lee Kum Kee Mushroom Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce)
Sesame oil
Soy sauce
White pepper
Starch (potato/corn)

Combine all the ingredients for the filling until well mixed. You are free to season the filling to your liking with more soy sauce and sesame oil.

Now let us tackle the other key component of this recipe: the dumpling wrappers. For our Har Gow dumplings to have their signature shiny and translucent skin you’ll need a dough made of starch. This dough isn’t necessarily difficult to prepare, however there are a few crucial points to keep in mind while preparing the dough:

Make sure to use the exact amount of ingredients as stated in the recipe. No eyeballing, you’ll need to get your kitchen scale out for this one.
Make sure to use boiling water. Not hot water. Not lukewarm water. BOILING WATER. I’m talking straight from the cooker boiling.
Make sure to use the dough immediately. No preparing it ahead of time and setting it aside for later. That won’t work the dough will dry out and make you very unhappy.

As long as you keep to these points you should be able to achieve a great dough for your wrappers.

So, let’s give it a go. In a bowl combine the wheat starch (which was tricky for us to find in Austria so we used this Italian brand from back home) and the potato starch together. In this recipe we use potato starch however you can use corn starch or tapioca just as well. Add the salt and stir everything together. Now you want to boil the water and add it to the starch-mix while it’s still boiling.

Mix everything together with chopsticks for 1 minute until the mixture is crumbly. Cover the bowl and let sit for 2 minutes.

Now add the oil and knead the dough for a couple of minutes, until it turns into a smooth dough ball.

Next you want to roll the dough into a long roll and cut into 20 equal pieces, form 20 round disks and put them either into a plastic bag or back into the bowl and cover to prevent the dough from drying out.

In order to form your dumplings, take out one of the disks at a time and roll it out with a rolling pin thinly, this dough isn’t very stretchy so it might be hard to form a pretty, round wrapper, therefore you might want to cut it out with a round cookie cutter (around 6-7 cm).

Now you are ready to assemble your dumplings. Place a spoonful of filling in the middle of the wrapper fold the wrapper in half over the filling and pinch the two sides together to stick and start on one side to make pleads, closing the dumpling (then do the other side). There are many different ways to plead your dumplings I recommend watching some videos on how to do this and just giving it a try. Don’t worry if they don’t look grand in the beginning, practice makes perfect ;)

Once your dumpling is sealed shut put it onto a thin slice of carrot before placing it into your steaming basket.

The carrot prevents it from sticking to your steaming basket. Once you assembled all your dumplings close your steaming basket and carefully add it into a high rimmed pan with boiling water and steam the dumplings on high heat for 5-7 minutes until the wrapper becomes clear.

And that’s it! Your Dim Sum Har Gow are ready to serve. We like to dip them in a sauce made of dark vinega, soy sauce and chili oil however you can always enjoy them as they are.

We would love for you to try this recipe and let us know how you like it. If you have any questions fell free to contact us at any time.

Enjoy!

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dinner, lunch, snack

Asian

Portion: 20

Autor: The Vegan Allrounder

VEGAN HAR GOW (Crystal Shrimp Dumplings)

Zutaten

Ingredients for the filling

1 bag of vegan shrimp (there should be approximately 30 shrimp in 1 bag)
3 tsp of oil + 4 tbsp water
2 small finely diced carrot (OR 2tbsp minced water chestnut & 3tbsp minced bamboo shoots)
1 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp stir fry mushroom sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp potato starch / corn starch

For the wrappers (Makes 20 wrappers)

150g wheat starch
80g potato starch / tapioca starch / cornstarch
pinch of salt
265g boiling water
2 tsp vegetable oil

For the sauce:

1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark vinegar
2 tsp spicy chili oil

Additional ingredients

1 large carrot (cut into thin discs)

Zubereitung

Instructions:

For the filling add 16 vegan shrimp to a bowl together with the oil and the water and purée (with a hand-held blender) into a paste. Next you want to chop 10 vegan shrimp into smaller pieces and add to the bowl with the ‘shrimp-paste’.
Peel and finely cut a carrot into very, very small cubes, add to the bowl. Now add all the remaining ingredients to the bowl and mix well. You might want to add additional soy sauce or sesame oil depending on your own personal taste. Set filling aside for later.
For the wrappers add wheat and potato starch and the pinch of salt into a bowl and stir them together. Next you want to add in the boiling water to the starches and mix with chopsticks for 1 minute until the mixture is crumbly. Cover the bowl and let sit for 2 minutes.
Add in the oil and knead the dough into a non-sticky dough. Next you want to roll the dough into a long roll and cut into 20 equal pieces, form 20 round disks and put them either into a plastic bag or back into the covered (because the dough dries out pretty quickly).
Take out one of the disks at a time and roll it out thinly, this dough isn’t very stretchy so it might be hard to form a pretty, round wrapper, therefore you might want to cut it out with a round cookie cutter (around 6-7 cm).
Add 1 tsp of the filling in the middle of your wrapper, fold the wrapper in half over the filling and pinch the two sides together to stick and start on one side to make pleads, closing the dumpling (then do the other side).
Put the dumpling on top of a thin slice of carrot to prevent your dumpling from sticking to your steaming basket. Now add the dumpling to your steaming basket. Repeat for the remaining dumpling-wrappers. Put a large, high rimmed pan onto your stove and add in water (2-3 cm high). Bring to a boil. Once filled up with all your dumplings carefully add your steaming basket into the pan with boiling water and steam the dumplings on high heat for 5-7 minutes until the wrapper becomes clear.
You can either enjoy these dumplings PUR or with our favorite dumpling dipping sauce made of soy sauce, dark vinegar and most importantly chili oil. Enjoy!

Anmerkungen/Notes

These dumplings freeze perfectly as well. So if you want to make more and freeze half of them just place the dumplings on the carrot slices and carefully arrange them into a container (suitable for freezing), making sure that they don’t stick together. Once you take them out of the freezer just steam them for a couple more minutes in your steaming basket (around 10-11 min.) and you’re ready to enjoy.