Homemade Potato Chicken Siomai
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino street food is an array of sweet or salty treats or a combination of both flavor profiles.
There are the savory or salty types, such as fish balls, squid balls, kikiam, grilled hotdogs, kwek-kwek (deep-fried quail eggs), barbecue, footlong (hotdog sandwich) and the Filipino take on Chinese food siopao and siomai. Then there are the dessert-type offerings, namely, banana cue, turon, camote cue, and maruya, with only the camote made from sweet potato while the three others are banana treats. All of these are washed down with Filipino coolers samalamig, sago’t gulaman, or iskrambol (sweetened shaved ice).
As for siomai, there is the street food version, which is sold by mobile vendors in carts, and there’s the premium version, which makes use of only the finest ingredients and can be found only in hotels and Chinese specialty restaurants.
This version developed by the Potatoes USA is more of the street food type of siomai elevated to homemade and family-approved status. First of all, it is chicken siomai, which is lighter and healthier than the usual pork siomai, and its extenders are not pork fat. Instead, it incorporates squid balls, as well as potatoes (hash-browns and potato granules), into the mixture to give these bite-sized delights both smoothness and texture, enhanced flavor and convenience.
Potato Chicken Siomai
Ingredients:
500 grams chicken thigh fillet, chopped
120 grams squid balls, chopped
50 grams hash-browns, crumbled
1 tbsp. (15 grams) white sugar
1 tsp. (5 grams) salt
1/2 tsp. (3 grams) MSG
1/2 tsp. (3 grams) white pepper
1 egg
1 tbsp. (15 grams) U.S. Dehydrated Potato Granules
Siomai wrappers, square
For the sauce:
Soy sauce
Calamansi
Chili sauce
Procedure:
1. Combine all ingredients for the siomai filling. Store in chiller for 2 hours to marinate all the flavors.
2. Scoop around 15 grams of filling and wrap in siomai wrapper. Repeat until all is consumed.
3. Pre-steam siomai in a bamboo steamer or a steamer lined with fabric for 12 minutes.
4. Cool before storing or serve immediately after steaming.
5. Serve with the sauces.
*Makes 50 pieces.
