Kanom Jeeb (Pork and Prawn Dumplings)

ขนมจีบ

Kanom jeeb is the steamed one. Where gyoza is pan-fried with a crisp base and kiao tod is deep-fried, kanom jeeb goes into the steamer — a cup-shaped pleat of thin wonton skin, open at the top so you can see the filling, brushed with fried garlic oil until it glistens.

Thai dim sum carts sell it in bamboo baskets alongside ha-gaw and salapao, and nearly every Thai restaurant in the UK lists it in the starter section. The filling is the point of difference from its Chinese relatives: coriander root, garlic and white pepper pounded into a paste, worked into pork and prawn with starch until the texture turns springy — the quality Thais call คว่าเด้ง, "bounce".

The Recipe (serves 4 · ~1 hr)

Allergens: gluten, shellfish, soy, sesame · Suitable for: dairy-free

For the filling

To assemble

For the dipping sauce

The Method

1. Make the filling. Pound the coriander root, garlic and white pepper into a paste (three friends / sam kler). Mix with the pork, chopped prawns, soy, seasoning sauce, sugar, sesame oil and starch. Knead hard in one direction until the mixture turns dense and slightly springy. Chill for 30 minutes — the bouncy texture depends on cold, worked meat.
2. Fill and pleat. Trim the corners off the wrappers to round them. Holding a wrapper in a loose fist, add a teaspoon of filling. Gather the edges upward and squeeze gently so the top stays open, leaving a little filling visible. Dab a few pieces of carrot on top.
3. Steam. Line a steamer with banana leaf or oiled paper and arrange the dumplings with space between them. Steam over boiling water for 5–10 minutes until the filling is cooked through. Brush with fried garlic oil and steam one minute more.
4. Serve. Serve hot with the dark soy dipping sauce.

The bounce

Cold is the secret. Chill the mince before you work it, knead in one direction until it turns dense and slightly tacky, then rest it in the fridge. Warm or over-handled filling steams up crumbly instead of springy.

The open-top pleat

Kanom jeeb is not sealed shut. You gather the wrapper loosely around the filling so it sits like a cup, leaving the top open — partly for looks, partly so the steam can cook the filling directly. A pinch of diced carrot on top is the traditional garnish.

Serving

• Sauce: Dark soy, sugar syrup, vinegar and pounded chillies stirred together

Cook's Tips

• The 'bounce' (ความเด้ง) of a good kanom jeeb comes from working the mince with starch and keeping everything cold — never warm the filling before steaming.
• If the wrappers dry out while you work, cover them with a damp cloth.
• Kanom jeeb freeze well raw; steam straight from the freezer with three extra minutes.

Variations

• Prawn-first version. The Hong Kong-style recipe uses 800g prawns to 200g pork fat and adds baking soda for extra spring.
• Bird dumpling (kanom jeeb tua nok). A northern sweet version with a steamed rice-flour skin and a palm-sugar and peanut filling.

Sources

This recipe is translated from the following Thai-language sources. Where they disagree, we've said so.