Saturday, July 19, 2008

韭菜盒子 (Chive Pockets)

Be Brave. Be Very Brave. I saw a Chinese cooking show on making 韭菜盒子 and it inspired me to give it a try. Of course cooking shows always made cooking look easy and led me to believe that I can cook anything. So I did this morning. Mom and Dad were my food critics. I think they rated me 7 out of 10.

Practice makes perfect. This is what I've learned...

#1. When making dough, need to remember it's STICKY. Make sure to dust flour on hands and the counter first. You don't want to know what happened to me.

#2. Don't chop the chives too finely. Need the texture. Need to be able to taste and smell it.

#3. The filling needs less ground pork and more chive. Oh, don't forget the cellophane noodles! The recipe also called for dried shrimps but I skipped it.

#4. Roll out the dough in a way so it's not too thick and not too thin. Also, should crimp the edge nicely. This is the hardest part for me.

#5. When cooking, the easiest way is to cook them like pot stickers so the outside doesn't dry out. Some oil and water will semi-fry and steam at the same time. Clever!

#6. Voila, my finished product. Looks pretty good huh? Still plenty of room for improvement but I'm happy with my first try.

Note to Self: If fail miserably, there are pre-made ones in the store. Never fear!

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