My Yin Yin, my father’s mother, calls out my name in Chinese and I drop what I am doing and run to the kitchen. I know that a fresh batch of homemade Fun Guaw, savory Chinese turnovers, have finished steaming and are waiting for me. My grandmother picks up one with a pair of chopsticks and holds it up in the air. With light coming in from behind her, I can see little bits of pork, mushroom, and water chestnut through the remarkably thin and translucent “skin.” And like a little bird waiting for a mama bird to feed her, I open my mouth. Plop! My grandmother drops a warm Fun Guaw into my mouth, and I gently bite through the tender outer layer to release its delicious contents. Fifty-two years later, I still remember how my grandmother made and fed me these delicacies. So, as an ode to her and a nod to Chinese New Year, I decided to make these wonderful little turnovers with my daughter. When the first batch came out of the steamer, I anxiously tasted one to see if it was as good as I remembered. It wasn’t as good as my Yin Yin’s, but how could it possibly compete with a childhood memory? Like Marcel Proust, though, I reveled in a moment of remembering things past.
Steamed Pork Turnovers (Fun Guaw)
Adapted from Dim Sum by Rhoda Yee
INGREDIENTS
Wheat Starch Dough
1 cup wheat starch
2/3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp oil
1 cup and 2 tbsp boiling water
Pork Filling
1 lb minced fresh pork butt
12 water chestnuts, minced
1 tbsp minced salted turnips (choan choy)
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1 stalk minced green onion
Sauce Mixture
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sherry
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp oil for stir-frying
DIRECTIONS
To Make Dough:
1. Mix together the first 4 ingredients in the order given.
2. Bring water to a rolling boil and stir into dry ingredients with chopsticks until dry ingredients adhere.
3. Cover and let it cool for 15 minutes.
4. Lightly oil kneading surface and knead dough for several minutes, until dough is well mixed and smooth. Now it is ready for wrapping.
5. Dough can be kept at room temperature for 1 day, if you wrap it in plastic wrap.
To Make Filling:
1. Soak dried mushrooms for 1 hour or until soft. Discard stems and mince mushroom caps finely.
2. Mix sauce ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a wok or skillet, heat 2 tsp oil and then stir-fry the pork, water chestnuts, salted turnips and mushrooms for a few minutes. Stir in seasonings (sugar, salt, and white pepper).
4. Add sauce mixture and stir into meat mixture well. (Sauce mixture is very thick.)
5. Add green onions last.
6. Let meat mixture cool before wrapping in dough.
Assembling Turnovers:
1. Divide the dough into 3 parts. Roll each part into 3/4 inch wide rolls.
2. Cut each roll into 3/4 inch wide segments.
3. Roll each segment into 4 inch rounds.
4. Place 1 tbsp of filling in the center of round and bring opposite sides together and pinch to seal. Turnovers will resemble half moons.
Steaming:
1. If using a bamboo steamer or aluminum steamer, fill the bottom layer with water and line the steam rack with a piece of parchment paper (prevents sticking).
2. If you don’t have a bamboo or aluminum steamer, set up a steamer in a large pot by putting water in the bottom and using a steamer stand or inverted heat-safe bowl. Oil a cake or pie pan to prevent turnovers from sticking.
3. Bring the water to a boil.
4. Place the turnovers in a single layer either on their sides or standing with their seam sides up in the steamer. Do not let them touch or they will stick together.
4. Steam for approximately 15 minutes. Skin should be somewhat translucent.
5. Let cool for 2 to 3 minutes before handling.
6. Serve with light soy sauce for dip.
Do Ahead Notes:
These turnovers can be kept for several days in the refrigerator or 2 to 3 weeks in the freezer. In either case, keep them well-wrapped to prevent discoloration. Reheat by steaming, 10 minutes from refrigerator or 20 minutes from freezer.
Yields about 3 dozen
LINNELL’S NOTES
1. Wheat starch, tapioca starch, dried mushrooms, and salted turnip can be purchased at most Asian markets.
2. I prefer rough minced pork over ground pork. That being said, I buy a piece of pork butt and mince it in my food processor.
3. Instead of 12 water chestnuts, I chopped one 8-oz can of water chestnuts.
4. My family thought the filling was a bit too salty, so I cut back on the salt in the filling by about 1/4 tsp.
5. My daughter and I had trouble rolling the balls of dough into 4 inch rounds, as the skin became too thin and difficult to work with. Ours were closer to 3 inches in diameter. Because of the size differential, we used less filling per turnover. Having a tortilla press would have been helpful.
6. My family always served these turnovers with oyster sauce instead of soy sauce.
Enjoy!
