Craving Siomai Today

I was watching TFC (The Filipino Channel) the other day and the show I was watching was showing different kinds of Chinese foods. One of my favorite foods when I was still in the Philippines was shown, the siomai. I haven't cooked siomai in a while now. Just couldn't find the time and I am getting lazy these days especially with two kids, lol! But after the show I started craving siomai. I remember way back in the Philippines that I could eat siomai nonstop (though I need to stop because it's expensive, lol, I can't afford to buy more). I'm just so glad that being away from the Philippines made me independent that I was able to try to make siomai by myself here in the US. With research and cooking channels to watch, I was able to experiment on making it and found a way to make my own recipe.

Anyway, after watching that show, I kept dreaming about siomai, but I couldn't make it because I don't have ground pork at home and our shopping day will still be on Tuesday. I was relieved that yesterday my hubby had to pass by Walmart to get some items that I was able to let him get some ground pork, too. Thank goodness! So today, I was able to make siomai and satisfy my cravings. I'll be good for a few months now. I made like 36 pieces today. My hubby likes siomai, too, so I bet we will eat these all up tonight.

If you guys are craving siomai, too, check my other post for the SIOMAI recipe .

SIOMAI OR STEAMED PORK DUMPLINGS

Siomai is a steamed dumpling filled with either ground pork, ground beef, or shrimp and wrapped in wonton wrapper. In the Philippines, it usually dipped in soy sauce with calamansi or calamondin with oily garlicky or ginger flavor.

I love siomai. It is one of my favorite appetizers. I never get tired of eating it. When I came here in the US, this is one of the foods that I missed from the Philippines. So I researched on some recipes and get some ideas how it was made. I vary the ingredients according to my taste.

Most recipes use sesame oil to be mix in the filling, but since I'm not such a fan for sesame oil, I omitted it. But if you like it, you can add it to the ingredients.

Pinsec Frito or Fried Wonton

I remember when I was in high school in the Philippines, that whenever I don't have a class, I stayed at my cousin's boarding house. And sometimes my cousin, Ramel, will treat me and some of his friends to eat pinsec and pizza. The first time I had the pinsec, I already loved the taste especially when you dip it into a sweet and sour sauce. It almost has the same taste as lumpia or egg rolls (if you make the same filling and just wrap it like a lumpia), although the way you wrap the filling is different. Pinsec is wrapped in a small square sized wrapper and will look like a triangle shape after it's done.

So when I came here in the US, I missed eating pinsec, so I tried to look around for some recipes and then vary the ingredients according to my taste. Here is my recipe for pinsec: