Saturday, June 26, 2010

韭菜鸡蛋饺子 Chive and Egg Dumplings

I love the flavor of garlic chives. Mix them with moist and fluffy egg and you have a delicious dumpling filling. My favorite way to eat chive and egg dumplings is pan fried but you can also boil or steam them. It is an interesting change up from the common pork dumpling or the delicious beef and leek dumpling.
Sadly I have not seen garlic chives being sold in western supermarkets. I need to make a 2.5 hour drive to Calgary to find garlic chives (T&T supermarket). They have a pungent smell that stinks up my vehicle and my refrigerator,  so be forewarned, but it is so worth it. Delicious!

I have asked Chinese people that live in Lethbridge where they find Garlic Chives. They all tell me that they grow them in their yard. I was pleasantly surprised to find seeds for Garlic Chives sold at Walmart. I am currently working on growing some in my garden. Wonderful solution that eliminates the 2.5 hour drive, stinky vehicle and fridge. Yay!


Chive and Egg Dumplings
Makes 48 dumplings

48 dumpling wrappers (round ones, not square wonton wrappers)

Filling:
500 g garlic chives plants (can sub. green onion)
4 eggs
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 Tbsp. water
pinch salt

To make your own Dumpling Wrappers 
Homemade Dumpling Wrapper Recipe

To Make Chive and Egg Filling

If the garlic chive you bought have flower buds, cut off the buds. Chop the chives and mince the garlic. 
Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat. Stir-fry the eggs, stirring quickly to make small curds. Remove and set aside. Heat a little oil in the pan and add garlic, when it become fragrant add the chives and cook until wilted. Add salt, chicken bouillon, water and egg. Mix until uniform and cook until all the liquid has evaporated. Let cool.

Rolling and Wrapping the Dumplings

The following applies if you are making your own skin:

Divide the dumpling skin dough into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a thin log. Divide each log into 12 equal size pieces the size of gum balls. Roll into balls, toss with a little flour to prevent them from sticking together. Cover and let rest rest 1 minute.

Rolling and Folding Video Tutorial


Instructions for Pan-Fried Dumplings

For Pan-fried dumplings pre-heat a frying pan over medium heat. Spray the pan with non-stick spray then add 1 Tbsp. of oil and swirl around the pan. Place dumplings in the pan.
 Cook until dumplings are golden brown on the bottom. Meanwhile mix together 100 ml water and 1/2 Tbsp. starch or flour.
 Once the dumplings are golden brown on the bottoms pour in the water/starch mixture.
 Cover with a lid and steam for 3 minutes.
Remove the lid and drizzle with a little rice vinegar or sesame oil (optional). Adds additional flavor and is suppose to make them crispier but I have not noticed a difference without without.
Cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the bottom of the pan is golden brown. Remove the dumplings from the pan.
Place upside down on a plate to cool for 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile prepare a dipping sauce. Most simple is just some Chinese black rice vinegar which you can dress up with ginger, garlic, sesame oil, chili oil (one that is thick with chili pulp and seeds) or dried chili flakes if desired.
Enjoy these delicious dumplings hot.

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