Har gow is a Cantonese dim sum made by scalding wheat starch with tapioca or other starch into a thin, translucent skin, wrapping it around fresh shrimp, bamboo shoot and a little pork fat, pleating it and steaming it. It is among the 4 heavenly kings of dim sum. Origin accounts point to Guangzhou teahouses, Shunde and Nanhai: a 2008 newspaper article gives a Shunde origin; in an April 2026 report, the Shuangxi restaurant in Nanhai, founded in 1893, claims a family recipe. Its predecessor, the Wufeng fresh shrimp dumpling, is said to have appeared in the 1920s to 1930s, but no dated original text was found, and this entry does not decide which account is right.
What
Har gow is a Cantonese dim sum with a thin, translucent skin scalded from wheat starch and tapioca or corn starch, filled with whole or chopped fresh shrimp, often with bamboo shoot and a little pork fat, pleated and steamed. It joins siu mai, char siu bao and egg tart as the 4 heavenly kings of dim sum.1,2,9,10,11
When
Its predecessor, the Wufeng fresh shrimp dumpling, is said to have appeared in the 1920s to 1930s. A 2008 newspaper article gives a Shunde origin; a September 2026 report offers early-20th-century Guangzhou. The Shuangxi restaurant in Nanhai, founded in 1893, claims a family recipe. No dated primary text was found, and the restaurant's founding year does not date the dumpling.1,3,4
Where
Guangdong. Origin accounts point to Guangzhou teahouses and Shunde, while the Shuangxi restaurant in Nanhai claims a family recipe. The accounts are unsettled, and this entry does not pick one place.1,2,3,4
How
Boiling water is stirred into wheat starch and tapioca or other starch to make a pliable dough, which is pressed into thin rounds, filled and shaped with at least 7 pleats, about 13 in Guangzhou and 9 to 13 in Hong Kong. In 3 home recipes, the dumplings steam for 5 to 8 minutes, until the skin turns translucent.1,2,9,10,11
Why
Teahouses made the Wufeng fresh shrimp dumpling to draw customers, using plain flour for the early skin before switching to wheat starch. The Xiguan filling used river shrimp, fatty pork and yellow chives.1,3
Impact and influence
Guangzhou's early-tea regulation took effect on May 1, 2026, and in September 2026 the city government published a list of 40 traditional early-tea restaurants, with har gow shown at the launch. On May 21, 2026, Liwan District announced local entries in Guangzhou's 9th batch of municipal intangible cultural heritage items, including the Cantonese dim sum craft, and mentioned the signature large shrimp dumpling; the listed item is the dim sum craft, not har gow alone.5,8
Legend has it that the Yizhen teahouse in Wufeng village, Guangzhou, began selling a shrimp-filled dumpling called the Wufeng fresh shrimp dumpling, the forerunner of har gow. Hong Kong 01 says the teahouses made it to draw customers, and that the early skin used plain flour before the switch to wheat starch.
Told in: An origin account found in English Wikipedia, which relays two Chinese articles from 2020 and 2022, and in a Hong Kong 01 report of September 11, 2026. Hong Kong 01 stresses that it is an account, not a settled fact.
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home: the filling is fresh shrimp and bamboo shoot without pork fat, and I set the dough's water by feel, because the three recipes I read differ quite a bit on water. I start with a little less and add more if the dough is dry. The amounts and timings are my own choices at home, informed by three published recipes.
Ingredients
Wheat starch 90 g
Tapioca starch 30 g
Salt, for the dough a small pinch
Boiling water 115 ml, start with 100 ml and add the rest if the dough is dry
Cooking oil, for the dough 10 ml
Fresh peeled and deveined shrimp 180 g
Cooked bamboo shoot 40 g, in small dice
Cooking oil, for the filling 15 ml
Salt, for the filling 1/2 teaspoon (about 3 g)
Sugar 1/2 teaspoon (about 2 g)
White pepper a pinch
Cornstarch 1 teaspoon (about 3 g)
Sesame oil 1 teaspoon (5 ml)
Steps
Pat the shrimp dry, chop half of it fine and cut the rest into small pieces, and put it in a bowl with the bamboo shoot, salt, sugar, pepper, cornstarch, sesame oil and 15 ml of oil. Stir in one direction until it turns slightly sticky, cover and chill for 20 minutes.
Put the wheat starch, tapioca starch and salt in a bowl, pour in 100 ml of boiling water, stir quickly with chopsticks until it forms clumps, add the 10 ml of oil and knead while hot into a smooth dough, adding a little more boiling water if it is dry.
Cover the dough with a damp cloth for 5 minutes, roll it into a log and cut it into 20 pieces of about 12 g each.
Oil the flat of a knife or the bottom of a plate and press each piece into a thin round 7 to 8 cm across, keeping the rest under the damp cloth so they do not dry out.
Put a small spoonful of filling (about 12 g) in the middle of each round, fold it over, and pleat one edge with your thumb and forefinger, usually seven or eight pleats for me, pressing the seam closed.
Line the steamer with oiled baking paper, set the dumplings in with a little space between them, put them over boiling water and steam over high heat for about 7 minutes, until the skin turns translucent. Cut one open: the shrimp inside should be pink and firm all the way through with nothing translucent left.
Tips
I knead the starch dough while it is hot, because I find the skins crack more once it cools; this is what I have found myself.
I always oil the knife before pressing, so the skin does not stick and lifts off easily.
Picks come from public lists and guides and were checked on the dates shown; places can change, so confirm before you go.
Guangzhou Restaurant, Yueyan Xiguan branch
Guangzhou, Longjin West Road, Liwan District
Order: Suicheng bamboo-shoot shrimp dumpling
A Liwan District release of October 7, 2025 recommends the Suicheng bamboo-shoot shrimp dumpling at Guangzhou Restaurant's Yueyan Xiguan branch. If you want to try har gow at a Cantonese teahouse, this is a place to start.
The same October 7, 2025 release mentions har gow at Panxi's garden morning tea, with a view of the lake. If you would like morning tea in a garden setting, this is one to consider.
A Sing Tao Headline guide to Guangzhou restaurants, dated February 15, 2025, lists the har gow at Taotaoju, which it says was founded in 1880. If you want teahouse dim sum, this is a place to try.
