hairy crab steamed buns

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour 200g
• Water 90-100g
• Pigskin 100-150g
• Water 600g

Steps

1. Thaw the pig skin in the refrigerator overnight and cut it into palm-sized cubes.

2. Put in cold water and bring to boil. Throw away the water.

3. Take it out and pull out the pig hair. This skin has been treated very clean and is basically hairless. If it is bought from a vegetable market, it may still have some fat, and it needs to be trimmed off.

4. About 100g of pig skin is used here. Put the cleaned pig skin, ginger slices, green onion segments, 15ml cooking wine, and 600ml cold water into the pot and cook for half an hour.

5. Take out the pig skin, cut it into 3mm square pieces, then put it back into the pot and continue cooking.

6. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the soup turns white. The whiter, the better. If you have time, you can also cook it for 1 or 2 hours.

7. Strain out the pork skin, onion and ginger, leaving the soup.

8. Refrigerate overnight and it will become skin jelly. It can be used to make steamed buns, pot stickers, and make noodle soup. The skin jelly here is not thick enough, it is best to make it opaque.

9. Put 200g of flour into a basin, prepare 100g of water, pour the water while stirring with chopsticks until the dough clumps together, basically use about 90g of water. Then knead the dough into a ball with your hands, it doesn't matter if it's a little rough, and wrap it with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out.

10. This is half an hour after the dough has rested. After kneading it for a few more times, the dough will turn into a smooth ball. Wrap it in a bag, wet cloth or something, otherwise it will not be good if it dries out. . This dough is best used within 2 hours. Over time, the gluten will be too strong and the skin of the xiaolongbao will be difficult to chew.

11. Steamed 3 hairy crabs, one male and one female were actually used. When steaming, place it with the belly facing up. Less liquid will leak out, and it looks better with the back facing up. After the water is completely boiled, steam over high heat for 15 minutes.

12. Wait until the crab is no longer hot, then remove the crab meat and crab roe. Weigh it. The total weight of the edible parts of my two crabs was about 80g. Taking apart the crabs is the most time-consuming. I finally understand why all the shops sell crab roe steamed buns but not pure crab meat steamed buns.

13. Weigh out the same weight of shrimp as the crab meat. Add a little more chopped green onion and ginger.

14. After grinding, use chopsticks to stir it slightly, it will become more sticky.

15. Add crab meat and crab roe, stir evenly.

16. Add crabs + shrimps with the same weight of skin jelly. Cut the skin jelly into cubes first, then mix in gently. I mixed it directly. Be careful not to over-stir the glue. If the volume is too small, it will become liquid. The salt should be added just before making the buns. Here, the filling is placed in the refrigerator to further solidify.

17. Making the bun skin should be left to the end, because if the dough is stacked together, it will easily stick together over time, and may also dry out and crack easily. Roll the dough into a long strip, then cut into small pieces.Each one is about 8g.

18. Roll it into a round shape, about 8-10cm in diameter. The bottom can be thicker so that it won’t break easily when steamed; the surroundings must be thin, as the pleated dough will not taste good if it is thick.

19. Then wrap the stuffing. Each filling is about 20g. They say you need to make 18 pleats. If you practice more, you can make 20 pleats. If the closing area is too thick, pinch off a little. The technique of making Xiao Long Bao can be referred to the beginning of "Eating and Drinking Man and Woman". Each one is round and there is no gap between the skin and filling! Very powerful!

20. You can make about 16 pieces. Pay attention to the spacing when placing them. They should be at least one xiaolongbao apart. I am a little too close here.

21. After the water is completely boiled, steam over high heat for about 7 minutes. Over time, the skin will age easily and the soup will be absorbed by the meat and become less.

Tips

1. First make the skin jelly one day in advance. Pi jelly is made by dissolving the glue in pig skin and pork bones into water. You can use a pig's trotter to stew it, so that the pork flavor is stronger. It can be used to make pork dumplings. I am making hairy crab dumplings. Bao, the pork flavor should not be too strong, just use pig skin.
3. If it is convenient, you can use gelatine slices and add chicken soup, fish soup, or any stock you like to make jelly. The specific operation is to mix 300g soup with 5-10g gelatine slices. It is better to make it harder.