Chives Pocket
Once again, Julie shared in the South Arm Community Kitchen. Julie made two types of dumplings with chives. The first dumpling is called Chives Pocket, a giant dumpling which is pan fried. I’m not sure if I translated it correctly as it is called ‘Jiu Chai Hert Zi’ in Mandarin which literally means chives in a container.
Chives have a beneficial effect on the circulatory system, in lowering the blood pressure. Chives are also rich in vitamins A, C, and contain trace of sulfur and iron. Chives are also rich in fiber.
Chives are grown for their leaves, which are used for culinary purposes as condiment.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
- 1 bunch of vermicelli
- 2 squares of dried spiced bean curd
- 1 piece of ginger about 1 inch, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon chicken seasoning
- 2 green onions, finely chopped (optional)
- 3 eggs
Ingredients for the dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour (or mixture of 3 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 cup whole wheat flour)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
Julie prepared her dough with a bread machine. Place the ingredients in the bread machine according to the machine instructions. Remove the dough from the machine once the kneading process completed. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes.
 Finely diced the spiced bean curd. This requires some knife skills as you need to first slice the bean curd thinly horizontally. Julie had once cut 10 slices out of the bean curd. Then cut the slices into match sticks and finally, cut the match sticks into small dices. |
 Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pan fry and eggs and chopped them into small pieces. |
 Julie used the big bunch vermicelli instead of the small bunch type. She soaked one end of the vermicelli in a shallow bowl of warm water to soften the vermicelli. |
 Mix the ground pork with the minced ginger, chopped green onions, diced spiced bean curd. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper and chicken powder. |
 Add the chopped chives and sniped the soften vermicelli into the mixture with a pair of scissors.Let the remainder of the vermicelli to dry off and save for next usage. |
 Mix the pork and chives mixtures vigorously in one direction using a pair of chopsticks until the mixtures developed the “stickiness” of a paste. |
 On a floured counter top, divide the dough into golf ball size pieces. Roll the dough out into rounds of 4 inches in diameter with the edges thiner than the middle section.Place a large tablespoon (or more) of filings on one side of of the dough. |
 Flip over the other side of the dough to cover the filing and form a half moon shape pocket. Press the edges together to seal the pocket. Lightly press the pocket so that it’s not too thick so that the filing will cook through more easily. |
 Julie showed us a technique to trim off the excess edges neatly. She used a bowl to do the trimmings. |
 Repeat until all the pockets are formed. |
 In a large frying pan, heat a teaspoon of oil (just enough to oil the pan) on medium heat. Place the Chives Pockets on the frying pan. |
 Cover the frying pan and fry on low heat for five to 7 minutes or until the bottom of the Chives Pockets are golden brown. |
 Flip over the Chives Pockets and repeat the frying process. |
 After both sides of the Chives Pockets are golden brown, stand them up to fry the base too.The Chives Pocket is a very handy meal as you can eat it just as it is. Great for picnic or for kids lunch box. |
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celia | Jun 9, 2007 | Reply
Oh my God! I love chives!!! a recipe to try, problem is that i don´t have a bread machine. :(
Chris | Jun 9, 2007 | Reply
Good lord, you guys rock! Those look incredible!
Karen | Jun 11, 2007 | Reply
I can’t wait to try these!
Celia, I’m sure you can just mix the dough by hand. — I’m pretty sure my grandmother didn’t use a bread machine when making these. :D
I also think it is worth mentioning that “gow choy” (Cantonese) is garlic chives.
rose | Jun 12, 2007 | Reply
any idea on how to make the dough using stand-mixer? i have the dough hook but alas! no bread machine here.thanks for any comments;
Suanne | Jun 13, 2007 | Reply
Hi Rose, I found this site about bread making using a mixer/food processor which might be helpful to you; http://www.fabulousfoods.com/school/cstech/breadmaking.html
Suanne | Jun 13, 2007 | Reply
Hi Celia, if you are looking for how to make a dough by hand, here is the instructions:
1. Pour the flour onto a surface. Make a well in the middle, forming the walls like the lip of a volcano crater. Sprinkle the salt and slowly pour the olive oil (if applicable) and water into the center and begin to incorporate the flour, a little at a time, with your fingers, drawing more flour from the inside wall of the well. Make sure you don’t break through the wall otherwise the water will run. Scrape any dough on your fingers off and knead into the dough
2. Once the flour and water are combined and you can form into a ball knead for 8 to 10 minutes until you can form a smooth ball. Do not add water. As you press down while kneading use the ball to pick up any clumps of dough. If you must add more water, do so by wetting your hands only, as many times as you need too. Continue kneading until a smooth ball is formed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
rose | Jun 16, 2007 | Reply
i have very good luck with your recipe. i followed the instruction carefully. using the stand mixer helped a lot. i don’t think i used up all the liquid. it only took 5 min on the mixer and as soon as it didn’t stick on the bowl, i took it out and kneaded it by hand. my husband said this is definitely worth the effort. the skin is a lot better and has chewy texture owed to the whole wheat combination in the dough.
thank you for sharing it with us.
Chubbypanda | Jul 20, 2007 | Reply
I remember helping my grandmother make these as a child. They’re pretty healthy.