Siu mai

Nagi Maehashi’s siu mai are open-topped Chinese steamed dumplings with a pork-and-prawn filling. She places them among the dumplings shared at yum cha, where several small dishes arrive at the table.

Dried shiitake mushrooms soak in boiling water before being squeezed and finely chopped. Fatty pork mince is mixed into a paste with salt, sugar, light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine; the mushrooms, prawns and white scallion slices then join it.

The selected square wonton wrappers are shaped around the filling with the thumb and forefinger. Their extra corners fold down with a little water, leaving the filling exposed above a flattened base.

The dumplings steam above a separate water supply on a lined rack or basket. Selected flying-fish roe adds small coloured dots to the finished tops.

Maehashi serves them immediately, with a dipping combination of soy sauce, selected Chinese black vinegar and chilli paste. Her filling keeps small prawn pieces intact within the juicy pork mixture.