Learn about the Very Veggie Movement
Shumai is a dumpling popular in Chinese & East Asian cuisine and originating from Hohhot in Inner Mongolia. It’s a delicious snack or appetizer with endless ways to fill it – it just requires a steaming tray and ready-made, palm-sized wonton wrappers. Our vegan version is made with sticky rice, tofu, mushrooms, carrots, and is flavored with fragrant ginger and scallion. They’re perfect when dipped in a bit of soy sauce with ginger. Easy, delicious, and as fun to make as they are to eat! Just be sure to get this started in advance; the rice needs some soaking that will make the cooking process faster when you’re closer to the finish line.
Ingredients
1 cup of sticky rice
1 carrot
½ firm tofu
2 garlic cloves
1 ginger
1 scallion
½ lb mushrooms (oyster, shitake, king)
wonton skin
1 tbsp mushroom oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp vegetable broth
soy sauce
olive oil
2 cups of water
Directions
- Add 1 cup of sticky rice to a bowl. Fill it with water so that the water level is 4” above the rice.
- Soak the rice for 6 to 24 hours. The rice will expand when soaking. Drain the water!
- Let’s start with the filling. Chop the mushrooms, scallion, ginger, carrot and garlic.
- Heat the oil in a medium size pan and add the garlic, scallion, ginger and carrot. Stir-fry for a few minutes.
- Toss the mushrooms and keep stirring for 5 minutes.
- Add the soy sauce, sesame oil, mushroom oyster sauce and vegetable broth. Stir together for 3 minutes.
- Crumble the tofu in the mix, you can use your hands, as we have and mix again!
- Add the sticky rice and 2 cups of water, bring to boil. Cover the pan and simmer it for 10 minutes at medium heat.
- Place thin slices of carrot in a bamboo steamer. It will prevent sticking the shumai to the ground of the bamboo steamer.
- You are ready to assemble the shumai. Take a wonton skin and add about 1 ½ teaspoons filling to the center. Squeeze the wrapper around it to form the shape you want. Repeat with remaining wonton skins. Be delicate!
- Space the shumai about 1” apart in the bamboo steamer, each on a slice of carrot.
- Place the bamboo steamer over a pot of simmering water and steam the shumai for 20 minutes.
- Serve your vegan shumai immediately with the dipping sauce of your choice. We like soy sauce with ginger!
- Enjoy the shumai while they’re hot with your favorite chopsticks!
