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Dim Sum

Steamed dumplings filled with seasoned ground meat and assorted sauces.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and sesame are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,531 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, wheat, soy, sesame (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Mix meat with eggs, soy sauce, sherry, ginger, sesame oil, and white pepper in a large bowl.

  2. Separate the mixture into four equal parts. For each part, add one of the extra condiments and mix well.

  3. Divide the contents of the bowl into four equal parts and mix in the chili sauce, bean sauce, hosin sauce, and grated orange peel.

Shape and cook

  1. Arrange the dumplings into their shape and stuff with contents.

  2. Steam the dumplings on a rack for approximately 25 minutes.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Ginger + sesametop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Sesame + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,192 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Ginger + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together7,597 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Meat + sesametop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  5. Ginger + white peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together388 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ground meat
Provides the bulk and savoury body of the filling.
Eggs
Bind the filling so it holds together when shaped and steamed.
Cornstarch (in the method)
Absorbs moisture in the filling, helping it stay tender and juicy.
Soy sauce
Adds salty, savoury depth to the meat filling.
Sesame oil
Adds fat and a nutty aroma to the filling.
Water chestnut
Adds a crisp, crunchy texture against the soft meat.

Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, egg, sauce, sherry, ginger, sesame, onion):

  1. Garlicbetter flavor fit
  2. Turmericbetter flavor fit
  3. Corianderbetter flavor fit
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, egg, sauce, sherry, ginger, sesame, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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