Nothing is more impressive than a delicate little dumpling of delicious transparent beauty. Har gow are definitely our favorite part of yum cha. This recipe evolved through trial and error. There are many recipes for this dough (‘skin’) on the internet, but we found most of them result in a thick or overly chewy dough. This isn’t what you want from a fine dumpling. In the end, none of the recipes resulted in a dough that was easy to handle while having a light transparent texture. Our recipe and method is simple, although this task should be approached cautiously because we are handling boiling water. You cannot buy this dough in any supermarket because it simply does not keep for very long after being made. Not many dinner party guests realise this, however, so you will be frequently questioned about where you purchased the ‘wrappers’. You can let them know, proudly, that you made the dough yourself! Keep a little sample of the white dough to show them the beautiful texture. The notes below are significant as they include some great tips for handling the dough and an awesome trick for creating perfect little disc-shaped wrappers.

Cucumber and mint is a refreshing combination. This salad makes for a great picnic food because the cucumbers stay crunchy for longer after being tossed with a little salt to draw out excess water. Don’t be put off by the raw onion—the soak in cold water removes the raw taste and brings out their natural sweetness.

Cucumbers, halved lengthways, deseeded and sliced · Cherry tomatoes, quartered · Avocado, peeled, cut into small cubes · Sweet onion, thinly sliced · Balsamic vinegar · Salt

Tomatoes; diced · Onions, chopped · French green lentils · Cauliflower florets · Broccoli florets · Swiss chard, coarsley chopped · Celery, sliced · Mushrooms, fresh, coarsley chopped · Salt · Garlic powder

Coriander seeds, whole · Pepper, black, whole · Turmeric, ground · Ginger, dried, ground · Chillies, dried · Cinnamon, ground · Fenugreek seeds, whole · Cardamom, seeds only, dried

The ‘DE’ stands for ‘dextrose equivalent’. We haven’t yet worked out a formula for making a glucose syrup with any DE value, but a bit of poking around led us to believe this is a suitable formula for DE42. This syrup is used in ChefSteps recipes and if you can’t find it easily, this may be a workable substitute.