Therefore to be safe I would not recommend wheat starch for someone who is Celiac or requires a gluten-free diet because it may contain trace amounts of gluten. Wheat starch is the byproduct of making wheat gluten ( seitan), however it’s difficult to completely separate the gluten protein in a grain of wheat.

Wheat Starch: This particular dough is made predominantly with wheat starch.I generally choose to keep my filling strictly pescatarian and leave it out.įinely chopped bamboo shoots provide a bit of texture while minced ginger, the white parts of scallions, Shaoxing rice wine, and sesame oil add a significant amount of flavor to an otherwise simple filling. Pork fat is a traditional addition to the filling, adding a bit of richness, but it's definitely optional. The snowy white wrappers encase an entirely pale colored filling.

Har gow dumplings are basically white on white (or white on pink if you're being technical as shrimp turns pink when it cooks). Some even refer to this style of dumplings as crystal dumplings because the wrappers glisten and are fairly translucent like crystals. You will recognize the white translucent wrapper from many of the dumplings on dim sum carts. Wheat starch dough (which also includes some tapioca starch for suppleness) is stark white in color. They are the quintessential Chinese dumpling, if there ever was one. Classic har gow are the dumplings that many dim sum masters are judged by.

If you've ever gone out for dim sum, then you've undoubtedly seen plump, glistening har gow (蝦餃), or crystal shrimp dumplings, carted around on the trolleys. (This recipe was originally published in August 2012, but was updated with new photos and content in 2021).

Shrimp dim sum dumplings