Cantonese dim sum classic — translucent wheat-starch dumplings hiding a pink shrimp filling, pleated into 8-fold purses.
Har gow are the crown jewel of Cantonese dim sum — fingertip-sized dumplings with skins so thin they reveal the bright-pink shrimp filling through translucent wheat-starch wrappers. The skill of a dim sum chef is measured by their har gow: the wrapper must be paper-thin yet hold together when steamed, the filling must be plump and juicy with snap-popping shrimp, and the pleats must number exactly 8 to 12 (Cantonese tradition). Origins are traced to a 1920s Guangzhou teahouse called Wu Cun, which was the first to serve dumplings with the now-iconic clear skin made from tang fen (wheat starch). The original at-home version is laborious but rewarding — and once you can fold them, you can fold anything.
Serves 4
Whisk wheat starch, tapioca starch, and salt in a heatproof bowl. Pour over the boiling water all at once. Stir vigorously with chopsticks until the dough comes together. Add the lard. Knead on the counter for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Wrap and rest 15 minutes — the dough must stay warm and pliable.
Cut shrimp into 3 chunks each (keep some texture). In a chilled bowl, mix the shrimp with pork fatback, bamboo shoots, salt, sugar, white pepper, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and cornflour. Mix in one direction for 2 minutes until the filling looks bouncy. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
Divide dough into 20 walnut-sized balls. Working one at a time (keep the rest covered), press each ball into a thin 7 cm disc using the flat blade of an oiled cleaver, or by pressing between oiled parchment with a flat-bottomed plate. The wrapper should be paper-thin but not break.
Place 1 heaped teaspoon of filling in the center of each wrapper.
Hold the wrapper in your non-dominant palm. With your dominant hand, fold one edge to make the first pleat. Continue around the dumpling, creating 8-12 small overlapping pleats that fan around one side of the dumpling while the back stays smooth. Press the pleats together to seal the top into a small ridge.
Line a bamboo steamer with parchment or napa cabbage leaves. Arrange the dumplings with 2 cm between each. Steam over rapidly boiling water for 6-8 minutes — the wrapper turns translucent and the shrimp pink.
Bring the bamboo steamer to the table. Eat the dumplings with chopsticks, dipped lightly in Chinese red vinegar with shredded ginger. They are at their best within 5 minutes of leaving the steam.
Wheat starch (tang fen) is non-negotiable for the translucent skin — Asian groceries or online.
The dough must stay warm — work fast, keep extras covered with a damp cloth.
8-12 pleats is the Cantonese standard. Fewer = visibly amateur.
Crab har gow: replace half the shrimp with picked crab meat. Luxurious.
Truffle har gow: add 1/2 tsp truffle paste to the filling — modern Hong Kong dim sum favorite.
Vegetarian: replace shrimp with chopped king oyster mushrooms and water chestnuts.
Best within 5 minutes of steaming. Freeze raw on trays then bag up to 1 month; steam from frozen with 2 extra minutes. Cooked leftovers harden — re-steam to refresh.
Har gow was invented in the 1920s at Wu Cun teahouse in the Wushancun district of Guangzhou — the first teahouse to use clear wheat-starch wrappers. By the 1930s every Cantonese dim sum hall offered them. Today they're the litmus test for any Cantonese restaurant: if the har gow is right, the kitchen is serious.
The dough got too cool, or you rolled it too thin in spots. Work fast, keep dough covered with a damp towel, and aim for 1.5 mm uniform thickness.
Asian butchers and Korean groceries. It adds the silky, juicy mouthfeel that defines proper dim sum filling. If unavailable, replace with extra shrimp.
Per serving (180g) · 4 servings total
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