Chinese Chives Box (韭菜盒)

Ingredients:

Dough

240 ml all purpose flour
80 ml hot boiling water
40 ml cold water

Filling

2 cup diced Chinese chives (about 1 cm length)
1 ½ cup ground pork (not lean)
1/3 cup dried shrimp, soaked and drained
handful of segmented glass vermicelli noodles
1 tbsp shao xing wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
1 tbsp of garlic or shallot flavored olive oil

Method:

To prepare dough:

In a large bowl, add-in flour.

Pour-in hot water and stir with chopstick or fork to form crumbs.

Pour-in cold water and knead to form dough (dough will remain sticky).

Set aside covered to rest for at least 30 minutes.

To prepare chives filling:

In another large mixing bowl, add-in pork and seasoning with wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper.

Stir thoroughly to give sticky texture.

Add-in shrimp, noodles and chives, stir to homogeneously incorporate.

Adjust taste with salt and stir-in the remaining oil thoroughly.

To assembly:

Over a lightly floured smooth surface, knead dough into smooth long log (about 5 cm in diameter).

With floured knife, cut dough into 15 pieces.

Sprinkle-on some flour, flatten each small dough and roll out thin into rough sheet.

Place a spoonful filling onto the center of pastry, fold one side of pastry to the another, press edges firmly to seal and pleat accordingly to shape.

Over a non-stick pan, dry-fry or pan-fry dumplings with little oil over low heat to brown both sides and cooked through.

Best serve warm.