Make the filling:

1. Place the mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Submerge the mushrooms using a small plate/bowl and soak until soft, about 15-20 minutes.
2. Squeeze out excess water and trim and discard the woody stems. Finely chop the mushrooms and set aside.
3. Peel the shrimp and then chop it into small pieces with a knife. I keep the shrimp roughly chopped so you can taste the shrimp better in the filling.
4. Place the ground pork, salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine, and ground white pepper in a large mixing bowl.
5. Mix the pork vigorously with your hands, slapping it around the bowl, until it becomes sticky, about 2 minutes.
6. Add chopped mushrooms, shrimp, green onions, egg white, and cornstarch. Mix well.

Making Shumai:

1. Have a small dish of water ready if you are using square wrappers.
2. With your left hand (or right hand if you are left-handed), bring your thumb and fingers together to form an “O”
3. Place the wonton wrapper over the “O”
4. Take 1 heaping Tablespoon of filling and gently pack it into the center of the wrapper, pushing into the “O”.
5. Use the back of the spoon or a butter knife to smooth the filling so it’s even with the edge of wonton. If you’re using square wonton sheets, wet the outside of the shumai lightly with water and fold the corners of the square down so it sticks to the side of the shumai.
6. Place the shumai on the counter and use your fingers to shape it into a round cylinder. 
7. Set the shumai on a plastic wrapped tray or large plate and continue making shumai until you have used up all of the filling. (you may have some wrappers leftover. You can re-freeze any leftover wrappers that you don’t use.)
8. Garnish the dumplings by adding a tiny bit of caviar or chopped carrots to the top of the shumai.
9. Set up a double boiler or a bamboo steamer/steamer basket in a wok or large deep skillet with 3-4 cups of water and bring the water to a boil over high heat.
10. Oil the surface of the steamer basket and place as many shumai as can fit into the basket without touching. 
11. Once the water is boiling, place the steamer basket into the steamer and cover with a lid.
12. Steam the shumai for 8-10 minutes until the center is cooked through and a temperature reading is 165. (You can cut into the center of the biggest one to check.)
13. Place the shumai onto a platter and continue to cook any remaining shumai, adding more water to the pot if needed.
14. Serve the shumai right away with soy sauce, white/black vinegar, and chili oil.