Do you long for a large portion of soft and steamy dumplings? We have the perfect recipe for you: vegan Shumai dumplings with juicy aubergine filling. They are packed with healthy veggies and delicious chinese ingredients. Let us show you how to make them!
We started with classic Cantonese siumaai Recipe (AKA Shumai or Siomai) but swapped pork and shrimp for sautéed eggplant. Eggplants are meaty and flavorful – perfect for replacing meat. Then we kept all the other classification ingredients like mushrooms, scallions, ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil; We only added bamboo shoots for extra flavor and texture. And instead of the traditional red fish eggs (fish roe), we used carrots. Smart right?
The traditional filling also includes Chinese rice wine, called Shaoxing rice wine. You should be able to find it at your local Asian grocery store or in the Asian section of your supermarket. But if you can’t get it, swap it out for Rice Vinegar or Mirin, which should be more readily available.
As for the siomai packaging, the best choice is to use store-bought gyoza packaging. Made from a simple dough of water and flour, they come fresh or frozen, already cut into circles. Using ready-made gyoza wrappers will save you time, but you can also follow our instructions on how to make dumpling dough from scratch if you can’t find them. Some recipe variations, particularly in the Philippines and Indonesia, use wonton dough to topping dumplings, but it’s not vegan since it contains eggs, so it’s a no-go for our plant-based recipe.
Preparing shumai is very simple as you just need to cook the filling, shape the dumplings and steam them in a bamboo basket. We’ll show you how to do it all step-by-step picturesso you get the same beautiful dumplings you see in Chinese restaurants.
Once ready, enjoy these eggplant siumaai piping hot and dip them in your favorite dumpling sauce. They’re small but big in flavor, perfectly served with other small bites of dim sum and a cup of tea. That sounds delicious? Get your chopsticks out and let’s dive into the recipe!