Pork Dumpling Soup

Siu Kow

Siu Kow is the Cantonese pronunciation of

dumplings, or shui jiao in
Chinese. In English, it literally translates to water
dumplingswhich in this case, its aptly named
because the dish is commonly served as a soup dish
at Cantonese noodle shops or delis. I love Pork
Dumpling (Siu Kow) Soup and often have it at Sam
Woo Restaurant, which has a few branches in the Los
Angeles Metro Area. Their siu kow is legendary
filled with the perfect ratio of ground pork, shrimp,
water chestnuts, and wood ear mushrooms. Every
bite is savory, luscious, and crunchy. In my research
for this recipe I enjoyed countless servings of the
delicious Siu Kow soup at Sam Woo Restaurant.
Makes 1220 dumplings or serves 46 as part of a
multicourse meal
1 pack store-bought siu kow or wonton wrappers
4 cups (1 liter) water
1 green onion (scallion), trimmed and cut into small
rounds, to garnish
Filling
1 small wood ear mushroom
6 oz (175 g) ground pork
4 oz (100 g) shelled and deveined raw shrimp, cut into
small pieces
2 peeled fresh or canned water chestnuts, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion (scallion)
11/2 teaspoons oil
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or sherry
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
3/4 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

1/ 2

teaspoon salt
3 dashes white pepper
Soup
13/4 cups (425 ml) homemade Chicken Stock (page 31)
or 1 can (14 oz/400 g)
store-bought chicken broth
1 cup (250 ml) water
3 dashes white pepper
Salt, to taste
1 Make the Filling by soaking the wood ear mushroom in
warm water for about 15
minutes. Cut it into thin strips.
2 Combine the wood ear mushroom and all the Filling
ingredients. Chill the Filling in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3 To assemble the dumplings, place a piece of the wrapper
on your palm and spoon about 1 tablespoon of the Filling onto
the wrapper. Do not overfill. Dip your index finger
into a small bowl of water and circle around the outer edges
of the dumpling wrapper.
Fold the dumpling over and finish by pressing the edges with
your thumb and index finger to ensure that the dumpling is
sealed tightly and there is no leakage. Repeat for the
remaining wrappers and Filling.
4 Place the dumplings on a floured surface or baking sheet.
Cover them with a damp kitchen towel to prevent drying.
5 Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Gently transfer the
wrapped dumplings into the boiling water and boil until they
float to the top, about 23 minutes. You may have to boil the
dumplings in more than 1 batch, according to the size of your
pot.
6 Remove the dumplings with a slotted spoon, drain the
excess water, and cover them to prevent drying.
7 Make the soup by bringing the chicken broth and water to a
boil in a pot. Add the white pepper and salt to taste.
8 Transfer 34 dumplings into a soup bowl, add some of the
Soup into the bowl, garnish with some chopped green onion
and serve immediately.

COOK'S NOTE: There are different sizes of siu kow or

wonton wrappers in the market.
Use 1 teaspoon of the Filling if the wrappers are smaller,
which yields more dumplings.