White Radish Crystal Dumplings 水晶蘿蔔餃 (Cantonese: sui jing lo bak gao) is a dim sum dish that is not usually found at restaurants. Such a shame because this dumpling is absolutely delicious! When I make something new, I generally gift some to my friends to see how they like it. These are actual comments from friends: “I’m in heaven”, “Omg soooooooo good!!!”, “the skin is perfect”, “and the inside is so tasty, I don’t need any sauce”. I hope you all get a chance to give this one a try because it really is good!
White Radish Crystal Dumplings 水晶蘿蔔餃 is basically a variation of the 潮洲粉粿 (Cantonese: chiu chow fun guo) which uses jicama instead of white radish. I prefer white radish because it’s sweeter and easier to work with. We stir-fry the filling first before wrapping which gives it extra flavour. The skin is a crystal skin so it’s soft and elastic. I think for anyone who likes har gow 蝦餃 (Crystal Shrimp Dumplings 水晶蝦餃), you’ll also like this one too.
White radish is something that people would try to incorporate in their diets during the winter season. It’s very nutritious, economical and delicious. In China, they refer to it as the commoner’s ginseng because of it’s infinite number of health benefits. According to Chinese herbology, white radish can help with bloating, digestion, oxygenation, constipation, immune boosting, skin ailments, canker sores and much more. White radish is not recommended to be cooked with carrots or acidic vegetables like tomatoes. This is because the acid in tomatoes will inhibit the absorption of white radish nutrients.
In my White Radish Crystal Dumplings 水晶蘿蔔餃 recipe, I’ll show you how to make perfect crystal dumpling skin that is definitely comparable to the ones at restaurants. The crystal skin is my own formulation that can give you good texture and ease of use. You don’t need years of experience making dim sum, but it’ll seem like it! The filling is simple with minimal seasoning and sauces. The result is a taste that’s anything but minimal!
Love my crystal skin? You'll find it in my other recipes too: Silver Needle Noodles 銀針粉, Crystal Scallop Dumplings 水晶帶子餃, and Crystal Shrimp Dumplings 水晶蝦餃.
White Radish Crystal Dumplings 水晶蘿蔔餃
Ingredients
Ingredients for skin:
- 120 g Wheat starch
- 120 g Tapioca starch aka cassava starch
- 60 g Corn starch
- 400 g Boiling water (400ml)
- 4 g Salt
- 2 tsp Oil
Ingredients for filling:
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine for parboiling
- 3 slices Ginger for parboiling
- 200 g Pork , slice into shreds
- 800 g White radish or daikon, grated or julienned
- 75 g Shiitake mushrooms , diced (fresh or dry), approx. 3 large shiitakes
- 2 Chinese sausages , diced
- 3 stalks Green onions , chopped
- 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tsp Oyster sauce
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- 2 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for pork marinade:
- 1 ½ tsp Light soy sauce
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Corn starch
- 1 tsp Oil
Ingredients for shiitake mushroom marinade (optional):
- ½ tsp Light soy sauce
- ½ tsp Sugar
- ½ tsp Corn starch
- ½ tsp Oil
Instructions
- Grate white radish and bring a pot of water to a boil
- Add 3 slices of ginger and 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine to the water
this helps with getting rid of any bitterness in the white radish - Add white radish when water boils. Cook for 3 minutes, drain and let cool. Set aside
- Slice pork, dice shiitake mushrooms, dice Chinese sausages and chop onions
- Marinate pork with 1 ½ tsp light soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar and 1 tsp corn starch. Mix well and add 1 tsp oil to seal the condiments
- Optional: marinate shiitake mushrooms with ½ tsp light soy sauce, ½ tsp sugar and ½ tsp corn starch. Add ½ tsp oil after mixing
- Once the white radish has cooled, use your hands to squeeze out water
- Using a wok or pan, on high heat, add 1 tbsp oil
- Add pork and arrange in single layer. Cook until it’s slight toasted. Will take approx. 1 minute. Flip the pork over and cook for another minute. Stir-fry until pork is completely cooked. Remove from wok
- Add another 1 tbsp oil to the wok. Add Chinese sausage, stir-fry for 30 seconds and push to one side
- Add shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute on its own
- Add green onions and cooked pork. Stir-fry everything together
- Add 2 tsp Shaoxing wine directly onto the wok so that it can trickle down the bottom of the wok.
- Add white radish and mix well.
- Add 2 tsp oyster sauce, 2 tsp light soy sauce and ¼ tsp white pepper powder. Mix well and continue cooking for 3-5 minutes. White radish should look soft and translucent
- Taste test and make adjustments if necessary
- Remove filling from wok and let cool
- Making the skin: combine 120g wheat starch, 120g tapioca starch, and 4g salt in a mixing bowl and mix well
- Boil 400g (400ml) or more water
the more water you boil, the easier it’ll be for it to maintain heat. I like to weigh the water so that the amounts are more precise. Using volume to measure can cause varying results due to inaccuracies with measuring cups - As soon as the water boils, add 400g (or 400ml) boiling water into the starch mixture and stir
the tricky part about this step is that the water needs to be very hot, close to boiling point, so that it can cook the starches. I generally put the mixing bowl on a scale so that I can measure how much water I’m adding. If you’re eyeballing it, you need to add enough water so that most of the starch becomes translucent in colour and the mixture is lumpy. I also use a clay pot to boil the water so that the water keeps hot longer than regular pots. I add water in 2-3 increments with a ladle for even mixing. If it’s runny (like uncooked slurry)or doesn’t change to a translucent colour, your water wasn’t hot enough and you’ll need to redo it…yikes! - Pour in 2 tsp oil and mix with a spoon or chopsticks
*The mixture is hot! Don’t use your hand to mix! The mixture will look lumpy and uneven - Cover with a lid or plate for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, touch the dough. If it’s still too hot for your hands to work with, then cover for another few minutes.
But you shouldn’t wait for it to get too cool, it’ll be difficult to smooth out after it cools. - During your wait time, line a steamer with parchment paper with some small holes cut into it to let the steam through and set aside
You can also use steamer paper that you can purchase at some Asian grocery stores - When the 5 minutes are up and the dough is cool enough to handle, add the 60g cornstarch onto the mixture. Use your hands to incorporate the cornstarch into the dough. When the cornstarch has been incorporated, transfer the dough onto a flat surface
Corn starch will help make the dough easy to work with - Knead the dough until it’s smooth. It should take approx. 2-3 minutes
Dough should still be warm, soft, malleable and not sticky - Form into a ball and cut into 4 portions. Put the other 3 portions back in the covered bowl.
Your dough will be approx. 670g. I used 25g for each dumpling but you can make it into any size and shape you’d like - Roll the portion into a log shape and cut each piece to your desired size. Mine are 25g each
- Press each piece with the palm of your hand and sprinkle with some corn starch
- Roll each piece to your desired thickness and size with a rolling pin. Mine were approx. 9cm in diameter.
These dumplings are typically larger than regular dumplings with a thicker skin. If you’re new at wrapping dumplings, thicker is easier. Sprinkle with corn starch if the dough gets sticky - If you are not a fast wrapper, I suggest you keep the rolled pieces under some plastic wrap to prevent them from drying out
- Place filling onto the wrapper
I used 25g of filling for each dumpling - You can wrap them using any style. I chose to make leaf-style pleats or you can just press the 2 sides together to make a semi-circular dumpling
- To make leaf-style pleats: fold the skin in the middle after you add the filling, pinch one of the ends together and then push forward to create equal pleats on both sides then press the pleats together. Repeat until you get to the end then pinch the end together to make a tapered point to resemble the pointy end of a leaf.
- Place the finished dumpling into the steamer and continue making the dumplings until completion. Dumplings should not touch each other when placed in the steamer
- Bring water to a boil in steamer and then steam on high heat for 10 minutes
- Dumplings may also be stored in the freezer after wrapping (but don’t steam them). Set them in the freezer without touching one another. Once they are frozen solid, they can be repackaged into a zipper bag and stored in the freezer for a couple of weeks without the skin cracking. Steam them from frozen state on high heat for 15 minutes.
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