Ha Gow

Photo: flickr user Max P Vanderheyden

Ingredients

Wheat starch for dusting

pound Raw shrimp, peeled and chopped

pound Precooked salad shrimp, chopped

2 ounces Pork fat, chopped fine

cup Bamboo shoots, chopped

teaspoon Ground white pepper

teaspoon Grated fresh ginger

teaspoon Salt

teaspoon Sesame oil

1 tablespoon Chopped green onion

1 Egg white

1 tablespoon Dry sherry

1 tablespoon Cornstarch

2 tablespoons Potato starch

1 cup Wheat starch

teaspoon Salt

cup Boiling water, plus

3 tablespoons Boiling water

1 teaspoon Lard

Preparation

Place all filling ingredients in a bowl and mix well, by hand until the ingredients form a smooth and rather firm stuffing. This will take about 2 minutes. Dough: Measure both starches and salt into a small mixing bowl.

Quickly pour the boiling water into the starches while stirring with chopsticks until you get a partially cooked dough. Do not overwork the dough. Quickly add the lard in little pinches and then knead until smooth.

When the dough is smooth, after about 2 minutes' kneading, cover it with the mixing bowl and allow it to rest for 15 minutes before shaping. To shape the dumplings, pull just a bit more than 1 tsp of dough from the ball. Keep the remainder of the dough covered with the bowl. Roll the small amount into a ball and place onto a floured marble board. Roll out into a circle about 3 inches in diameter. Place 1 t of the shrimp filling in the center of the circle of dough and fold over into a half-moon. Use a tiny bit of water for sealing the edges. Be sure to gently press out all the air. If you wish, you can form little pleats in the d