Chinese Food Culture

Sui Kow Recipe (Dumplings /水饺)

Guest Writer: Food four Tots

I would like to introduce you to a special guest blogger today, Food four Tots, who happens to become my higher schoolmate in Penang. What a little word! Food 4 Tots is an awesome foods blog with recipes meant for toddlers. Every single time I read the webpage, I drool more than the homey and delicious dishes and secretly jealous of her 4-year old and wish that I am eating at her dining table every day. Please welcome Foods 4 Tots to Rasa Malaysia as she shares her sui kow (Chinese dumplings) recipe with us.

Two year ago, when I was just starting to cook for my loved ones, a friend of mine made a strong recommendation that I visit Rasa Malaysia’s meals blog for its recipes and cooking ideas. When I browsed via her webpage, I was quite amazed by her stunning shots and high level of professionalism in food presentation, not to mention her cooking and baking skills. Due to the fact then, I had been following her webpage closely and even referred it as my “online cookbook.” I need to say that her featured recipes are obtaining much more and more interesting and impressive now. There are lots of cooking tips and methods I learnt via reading her posting. Each time I pay a visit to her webpage, I will be drooling and leaving with a hungry stomach. Her Penang-style cooking also makes me very homesick and I just feel like flying home the next day to satisfy my cravings…(get step-by-step sui kow Recipe after the jump)

Right now, I would like to thank Rasa Malaysia for featuring me as her guest writer. I had chosen sui kow (水饺) as my featured recipe mainly because she loves dumplings. Co-incidentally, it really is also my childhood favourite. I had never gotten bored consuming it even until now. Hopefully by sharing this sui kow recipe, you will enjoy sui kow as significantly as I do.

“Sui kow” (水饺) can be a Chinese dumpling which filling is mainly made up of coarsely diced or whole shrimps, minced pork, and other chopped vegetables such water chestnut. Generally, “sui kow” is paired with Chinese wonton noodles. But it can also be served separately in boiled broth.

I first learnt about how to make “sui kow” from my mother-in-law. Considering that then, I constantly love making sui kow for my loved ones. By serving it with some blanched vegetables and Chinese noodles, it makes a wholesome meal for us. My son (a four year-old boy) loves the “sui kow” so a lot that he can easily wallop 5 sui kows in 1 sitting!

When I told my hubby that I will created “sui kow” to be featured on Rasa Malaysia’s weblog, he suggested that I ought to follow his “self-proclaimed” authentic sui kow recipe which he utilized to eat at a Chinese noodle house in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) as a child. This recipe calls for the inclusion of green peas and finely chopped coriander leaves on top from the common fillings. Despite the fact that I had neither seen nor tasted this version of sui kow before, my instinct told me that his suggestion is feasible as the green peas will add extra colour and nutrients for the filling whereas the coriander leaves will give much more flavour on the sui kow. So I decided to give it a try. Guess what will be the verdict? My hubby’s suggestion was proven correct! These two additional ingredients did give the sui kow a new twist in its flavour. The green colour of the pea resembles a hidden jade, created the filling far more appealing on the eyes. I must say that it is the best sui kow I had tried so far. The taste and texture are simply AWESOME! Before I had finished my shooting, 8 “sui kows” had disappeared from the serving plate and gone into our stomach! The temptation is so irresitable! Are you as excited as us, too?

Finally, my hubby said, “If one would be to appreciate the full eating of “sui kow”, the art of consuming it truly is just as essential as the serving itself.” He strongly recommends placing a piece of coriander leave on top from the “sui kow” and dip it into some chili sauce (just a bit will do, so as to prevent the chili taste from over-powering the wholesome taste on the fillings). Appreciate! If you have better way to delight in sui kow, feel free to comment. We really enjoy your feedback.

Now, let me share with you the authentic sui kow recipe (based on my own concortions):

June 26th, 2010 | Chinese, Chinese, Chinese Recipes, Cookbook | 17 Comments

I have a good news to share about my Chinese recipes cookbook!!

The recipes development, cooking, food styling and photography are pretty much done, and I am almost ready for recipes testing involving you—my loyal readers and fans. I will be needing your help and will announce it on Rasa Malaysia in the next few weeks, including a sneak preview of the food photography (they are very different from what you see here and all shot with my professional camera, Canon 5D Mark II)! I am very excited and I hope you are, too.

Anyway, I have been cooking up a storm and working very hard on the cookbook since April. It has been fun, challenging, and a great learning process. As a result of the recipes development, I have accumulated a lot of random ingredients in my refrigerator—leftover items used in the recipes, which I have to get rid of. One of them is a can of red bean paste that had been sitting in the dark corner of my refrigerator for over a month! It kept well so I didn’t want to just toss it away. I decided to clear the space finally and made it into red bean dumplings. I have to say that it was a great way to use up leftover red bean paste, for something sweet and pleasing…

Red bean dumpling (红豆汤圆) is a common dessert in Chinese cuisine (the other is black sesame dumplings). The red bean paste is encased in sticky rice balls, boiled, and then served in ginger syrup. It’s a wonderfully refreshing dessert that anyone can make at home. Traditionally, red bean paste is made from scratch, but the canned version is as good as it gets. You can find it at Chinese, Japanese, or Asian stores. If you like dumplings, do try out this red bean dumplings Recipe!