Shumai

Shumai, literally translated as to cook and sell, is a staple of dim sum cuisine consisting of an open-topped dumpling filled with steamed ground pork, and sometimes finely chopped shrimp or Chinese black mushrooms. When it's cooked, shumai is often garnished with a single pea, a fish egg, or a small piece of carrot on top. It originated in tea houses along the Silk Road in Cantonese China, and since then, the dish has spread throughout the world. In China, there are numerous regional variations of this flavorful delicacy, but it is also extremely popular in Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines. In Indonesia, the dish is usually accompanied by tofu, vegetables, and peanut sauce; in the Philippines it is accompanied by rice or various dips; and in China, shumai is often served with har gow, another type of dumpling filled with shrimp, scallions, and bamboo shots.