Handmade shumai

Combine 120 grams of water with an optional tiny scoop of egg yellow food coloring in a saucepan, bring to a boil and kill the heat.

Put 170 grams of flour and 2 grams of salt in a food processor and, with it running, stream in the boiling water; hot water degrades some gluten proteins so the dough rolls out without snapping back, weak enough to stretch at will but strong enough to hold the filling.

Turn out onto a cutting board and knead by hand two minutes, until a firm tug does not tear or shear it.

Move to a bowl, cover and rest 15 minutes so the gluten relaxes.

Top 225 grams of shrimp with an eighth teaspoon of baking soda and let it sit 10 minutes to change the pH.

Mince the shrimp with a knife to a chunky texture and put it in a bowl.

Add the ground pork, chopped pork belly and cooked mushrooms to the shrimp.

Prep the mushrooms: drop them into hot oil in a small saute pan with about 30 grams of water, simmer until the water is gone, then saute one to two minutes until tender and just starting to brown.

Add the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, garlic and ginger pastes, sugar, salt, black pepper and cornstarch.

Mix to combine, then switch to a whipping motion to develop the myosin proteins so the meat sticks together with a firmer, sausage-like texture; a stand mixer paddle for about 30 seconds does the same. The farce should be sticky and heterogeneous.

Divide the rested dough into 20 ten-gram pieces and roll each into a ball.

Flour a ball liberally, press it flat with something flat to a coin about 1.5 inches across, then roll it out with a tapered rolling pin, ten to twelve rolls, turning 90 degrees twice and flattening the edges.

Scoop 30 grams of filling per wrapper on a tared scale.

Set the wrapper in the corner of palm and thumb, tuck and pleat the sides up while pushing the filling up, then choke the top in the palm, pressing the filling down with a thumb and flattening the bottom so there are no air pockets.

They can be frozen and steamed straight from the freezer with two minutes added.

Put a steamer rack in a medium saucepan, add about a quart of water and bring it to a ripping boil.

Spray the tray, load in eight dumplings and steam seven minutes; the internal temp should be at least 150F and the wrappers tender.

Scoop them out and serve right away, while the wrapper is at its textural peak.

Dip in a two-to-one blend of soy sauce and Chinese black vinegar, or serve with chili crisp.