*Shumai are dumplings (often steamed) popular in both Chinese and Japanese cuisine. Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word “Shumai”—it has a cute ring to it, doesn’t it?Mami’s shumai is like the cute, juicy, lively sound of the word itself captured in a wrapper. She uses kudzu powder (a traditional Japanese starch made from kudzu root, often used as a thickener), a treasure of Japan. And plenty of vegetables. Or rather, it’s basically all vegetables. So that makes it a little more tender than regular shumai. But the flavor itself is pure shumai. It is well-seasoned, so it is fine as is, but dipping it into soy sauce is good too. Serve some rice into a small rice bowl, put a shumai on the top, and let it sit neatly right in the middle. Pour just a tiny bit of soy sauce on top (you don’t have to, though). Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and slowly exhale. At the end of the exhale—open your eyes! Heroically bring the rice bowl up, and with your chopsticks, bolt down the rice into your mouth. The satisfying sound of clink, clink. My chopsticks hitting the rice bowl. Now this is real music (??). The filling, the umami of the wrapper and the sweetness of the rice blending together in my mouth is pure ecstasy. How can I describe it . . . the ultimate gentle deliciousness? Dear shumai, please let me use my teeth a little. And how it goes with rice—beyond the K-point. Off the charts. Forgive me for this cliché. Then I realize there is an empty rice bowl in front of my eyes and bits of rice stuck around my mouth. I hardly have any memory of while I was eating (Huh? Even though I talked about it in such detail?). It feels as if I was transported from Earth to Shumai Land some light years away. Both the orthodox steamed version and the pan-fried version each have their own appeal, but now that we can make shumai this delicious without killing animals—no, actually, it’s because there is no meat that shumai can reach this point of deliciousness. How can shumai that contains the suffering of living beings be delicious at all? It can’t. If that’s the case, meat shumai has no place anymore. Actually, there shouldn’t be a place for it. It should not. Because Jesus was the last and ultimate sacrifice. This dish is for shumai lovers around the world. Enjoy every bite. Chinese and Taiwanese friends, give it a try! ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ In response to this excellent piece of writing that invites readers into Masaaki-sama’s heavenly world, we want to cry out, “Please let me go to the meatless Shumai Land too!”—we are deeply, deeply, deeply moved.There are no food comments in this world as fresh and intriguing as Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word. Mami-okusama said that when making these for children, it would be good to reduce the seasoning a little according to their age or omitting the ginger. While offering our gratitude to Mami-okusama for bringing this true shumai recipe to the world and with the belief that the food Masaaki-sama eats is the very food all humanity should eat, let us also make it and eat it, keeping him in our thoughts! Ingredients 🥢 (Makes about 30 shumai with 7cm square wrappers)• Chinese cabbage (minced) … 400g• Onion (minced) … 200g• Ginger (grated) … scant 2 teaspoons• Kudzu powder … 5 tablespoons• Miso … 4 teaspoons• Soy sauce … 3 teaspoons• Sesame oil … 1.5 teaspoons• Salt … as needed• Sesame oil … as needed• Shumai wrappers … 30 sheets For pan-fried shumai (15 pieces):• Sesame oil … 2 teaspoons• Water … 4 tablespoons• Finishing soy sauce … a few drops Instructions 👩🍳① Preparation• Mince the Chinese cabbage and onion. Grate the ginger.• Heat a frying pan (cast iron if available) and add 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Add the onion and salt, and sauté until colored. Turn off the heat, remove and let cool completely.• In a mortar, add the miso and soy sauce, and grind well with a pestle while dissolving. ※The key is to carefully crush until the grainy texture of the miso disappears. ② Making the filling• In a bowl, add the Chinese cabbage, sautéed onion, grated ginger, kudzu powder, soy sauce and miso blend, and 1.5 teaspoons sesame oil.• Knead well by hand for about 3 minutes until everything is well combined and slightly sticky. ※If the filling is too loose, adjust by adding kudzu powder little by little. ※If it's too firm, add just a bit of sesame oil to adjust the softness. ③ ShapingPlace an appropriate amount of filling on a shumai wrapper, holding it down with a spoon or fingers while lightly shaping it into a cylinder. Finish with a flat top. How to make pan-fried shumai (15 pieces)① Heat a frying pan (cast iron if available) and add 2 teaspoons sesame oil. Place the shumai upside down in the pan and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.② Add 4 tablespoons water, immediately cover with a lid and steam over low heat for about 6 minutes.③ Remove the lid and cook over medium heat for about 1 minute to evaporate the moisture.④ Finish by drizzling around a few drops of soy sauce and done! How to make steamed shumai (15 pieces)① When steam is rising from the steamer, arrange shumai and then steam.◎ Guidelines:• Steamer → about 8 minutes• Clay pot with steaming plate → about 13–15 minutes② Turn off the heat and let sit in residual heat for about 1 minute.③ Delicious as is, but add soy sauce to taste if desired. The ultimate gentle deliciousness!Likes, saves and shares are most welcome! ✨