Originated in China, siomai or pork dumplings is a traditional Chinese dish served in dim sum. It is spelled differently but pronounced almost similar in different Asian countries like China – shaomai, Japan – shuumai, Indonesia – siomay, Philippines – siomai.
The main ingredient in this appetizing food is ground pork, beef, fish or even crab meat added with extenders like peas or carrots then wrapped in wanton wrapper. It is either steamed or fried to crispy texture and best served with toyo-mansi (calamansi-soy sauce misture). Others add spicy oil and roasted garlic for more flavor.
I made several recipes in making siomai using different main ingredients like ground pork, minced fish. I haven’t tried using crab meat since it is a bit expensive but I already tried canned sardines with squash.
Yes, sardinas at kalabasa (as extender)! It tastes similar to normal siomai but differs in color (yellowish). I made minimal mistake this resulting to slightly salty. To counteract, I just recommend to use calamansi without adding soy sauce as dip.
 |
| mixture with grated kalabasa |
 |
| the act of grating |
 |
| before steaming |
 |
| steamed sardines and kalabasa siomai |
