Hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re adding to our series on foods inspired by TV and film with some shumai, inspired by the dumpling scene from New Girl. I thought I’d use this as an opportunity to explore a dumpling that MANYYY folks have been requesting (basically since I started this series), which is a shumai. For those not familiar, shumai is classic dim sum dumpling most typically made of ground pork, shrimp, and veggies, then placed inside of a thin wonton wrapper and gently steamed in a bamboo basket. Its signature open face makes it one of the easiest dumplings to make since there are no intricate pleats or fold involved at all, and it’s basically just a ball of filling pressed into a wrapper. 

I also thought this would be a great opportunity to explore the uses of MSG a bit more, which is my favorite part about this New Girl scene, cause that stuff is in literally all chinese food, even if a restaurant says they don’t cook with MSG, causeee they’re lying. Hope you try it. 

Freshen up on the recipe here (out September 10th!), bookmark the stream here, and pick up the ingredients below if you want to follow along and cook dinner with me.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

• 2 green onions

• 16 oz Shanghainese round noodles

• 1 medium zucchini

• 2 medium carrots

• 1/2 medium sweet white onion

• 8-10 dried Tian Jin peppers

• 2 medium chicken thighs

• 1/4 cup chicken stock (or water)

• peanut oil

• ice

INGREDIENTS (noodle marinade)

• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

INGREDIENTS (chicken marinade)

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1/2 tsp corn starch

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 tbsp doubanjiang

• 2 tbsp lao gan ma

• pinch kosher salt