Fried Chinese Chives Dumplings

One of Taiwanese Snacks (台灣小吃) is called Jiu Cai He Zi (韭菜盒子) , literally the meaning is Chinese Leek in a Box  or simply Fried Chinese Leek Dumplings. Today, I did some twist in the ingredients since I don’t eat pork, and instead of putting dried small shrimp, in replace I added chopped shrimp. I added chili powder and soysauce instead of seasoning. In the recipe, I need 500g of all purpose flour but the one I bought is only 400g. I accidentally added 100 glutinous rice powder (well, am not wearing my glasses when I look at the wrapper, chinese characters are really hard to read…), but it came out good because the dumplings turned chewy.

Ingredients for Stuffing:
chinese chives ( I used like 20 sleeks, chopped)
shrimp, chopped (about 10 pieces)
bean curd (tofu- 6 pieces, cubed)
eggs (2 fried and chopped)
mung bean vermicelli (I used 3 small bind, softened and chopped)

For Seasoning:
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon white pepper
1 teaspoon salt
(Optional – seasoning powder, but I didn’t use, I just season it with light soysauce)

For the Dough:
500 g all purpose flour (I used 400g flour and 100g glutinous rice flour)
2 tablespoon soy oil (or any oil)
250 cc boiling water and 100 cc cold water

Procedure:

Whip and fried the egg.Chop the chinese chives, tofu, shrimp, and egg.

Soak vermicelli to soften then cut into small section.

Heat pan with 2 tablespoon of oil, sautee shrimp and tofu.

Add seasoning and sprinkle water, followed by chinese chives,

vermicelli, and egg, cook until transparent. Remove from heat. Set aside.

Sift flour and combine with boiling water and oil, whisk with chopsticks until half done

soft form. Add cold water and knead by hands until the dough is smooth.

Cover with a damp cloth and set aside for 10 – 20 minutes for fermentation.

Divide dough into small pieces, roll each into round and flat.

Put some stuffing into the wrapper and fold in half.

Cut off the edges of the wrapper to become round shape, and pinch together.

Put 2 tablespoon oil in the pan, fry the dumplings

in a low heat until both sides become golden brown.

Serve with sauce of your choice.

I made 12 pieces in all!