I Stopped Ordering Breakfast Takeout. These Two Recipes Got Me Through Winter Mornings.

The alarm rings for the third time. The bed has finally reached its best temperature. I check my phone: 6:40. The sky is still gray. The kitchen light is off. The refrigerator hums. I lie there for two minutes and think about takeout. It will take twenty minutes, and the congee will arrive lukewarm. The breakfast stall downstairs makes buns with wrappers so thick it takes three bites to reach the filling. Then I remember the siu mai in the freezer.

I get up, put on slippers, and go to the kitchen. I fill the steamer with water and turn on the heat. I pull out the container. Twelve siu mai are frozen together, with a thin layer of frost on the wrappers. I arrange them in the steamer basket and put the lid on. The water starts to bubble. Steam makes the lid clatter.

While they cook, I take out two eggs, half a sausage, and a small bunch of scallions. I put 100 grams of all-purpose flour in a bowl and add 200 grams of water. The ratio is 1:2. I crack in the eggs and beat them. I stir the flour into a batter. I dice the sausage and chop the scallions. I add both to the bowl. I add a pinch of salt, a little chicken bouillon, and a dash of five-spice powder. A few stirs and the batter is thin enough to coat a spoon.

I set a skillet on the other burner and brush it with oil. I pour in the batter and swirl the pan right away. Bubbles rise on the surface. The edges lift. The color turns from white to translucent. I flip it and cook for another minute. I slide it onto a plate. The smell of scallions and egg fills the kitchen. Before the second pancake is done, steam is pouring from the steamer. The siu mai wrappers are thin enough to show the color of the rice inside.

I turn off the heat and lift the lid. The siu mai are crowded together. The wrappers are soft against the filling. A small crack at the top of each one shows a bit of golden yolk. I put one in a bowl and bite into it. The wrapper is so thin it almost disappears. The rice is soft and sticky, with diced shiitake and pork mixed through. The sauce hits first. Then the yolk, sandy and dense, melts on my tongue. It is hot, but I do not want to spit it out.

I roll up the pancake and take a bite. I taste scallion, sausage, and the chewy tenderness of the bread. A cup of black coffee cuts through the richness.

Last week, when I made the siu mai, the counter was covered. The rice had soaked for three hours. I could pinch a grain and it crumbled. I cooked it in the rice cooker with a steamer paper lining the basket. I laid the salted yolks on a baking tray, brushed them with baijiu, and baked them at 150°C for eight minutes. I soaked and diced the shiitake. I diced the pork shoulder. I poured out the corn. I heated oil in a pan and added the shiitake first. Once the aroma came out, I added the pork and stir-fried until it was slightly golden. I added the corn and tossed. I added cooking wine, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. I brought it to a boil, then turned the heat low for two minutes. I turned off the heat, added the cooked rice, scattered in scallions, and folded everything with a spatula. The grains turned brown and clung together.

For wrapping, I rolled each dumpling wrapper into a round that was thinner at the edges and thicker in the middle. I divided the filling into twelve portions, about 75 grams each. I put a wrapper in my palm, added the filling, pressed the yolk into the center, and gathered the edges with the web between my thumb and index finger. I pinched once around. I lined the siu mai in the steamer and covered them with a damp cloth so the wrappers would not dry out. I steamed one basket to eat right away. The rest went into the freezer. Once frozen, they went into a container. In the morning, they can go straight into the steamer.

That day, my hands were sticky with rice. I washed them, sat at the table, and ate one. I thought about the next morning. I would not have to get up early.

This morning, after eating, half a pancake was still on the plate. The coffee was gone, with a dark brown ring at the bottom of the cup. The remaining siu mai had cooled. I put them back in the container and returned them to the freezer. While I washed the cup, the sky outside had brightened. Someone on the balcony across the way was hanging laundry.

I put on my shoes and left. The stairwell smelled of someone else’s noodles. In the elevator I checked my phone: 7:20. Ten minutes earlier than on mornings when I order takeout.

Salted Egg Yolk Siu Mai

Ingredients: 300g glutinous rice, 150g pork shoulder, 12 salted egg yolks, 30g dried shiitake, 30g corn kernels, 12 dumpling wrappers.

Seasoning: 20g light soy sauce, 10g oyster sauce, 15g dark soy sauce, 10g cooking wine, 8g sugar.

Steps: Soak the rice for 3 hours. Steam it. Brush the yolks with baijiu and bake at 150°C for 8 minutes. Stir-fry shiitake, pork, and corn. Add the seasoning and simmer for 2 minutes. Mix in the rice and scallions. Roll the wrappers. Fill each with about 75g of rice and one yolk. Gather and pinch the edges. Steam for 12 minutes. Eat hot. Cover the wrappers with a damp cloth while wrapping.

Scallion Sausage Egg Pancake

Ingredients: 100g all-purpose flour, 200g water, 2 eggs, sausage, scallions.

Seasoning: salt, chicken bouillon, five-spice powder.

Steps: Dice the sausage and chop the scallions. Beat the eggs with the flour. Add the sausage and scallions. Add the water and seasoning. Stir. Brush a skillet with oil. Pour in the batter and swirl immediately. Cook until set and bubbly at the edges. Flip and cook for 1 minute. Keep the heat medium-low. Each pancake takes about 2 minutes.

I left the rest for tomorrow. The kitchen light was still on.