Rice Paper Chive Pockets (韭菜盒子)

Rice Paper Chive Pockets (韭菜盒子)

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Asian

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 45

Servings: mini chives pockets

Calories: 41kcal

Author: Marvellina

You can easily make these Chinese chives pockets using rice paper. It is so much faster, so delicious and you want to keep eating this mini chives pocket with the dipping sauce!

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US Customary - Metric

Ingredients

For wrapping:

8 pieces rice paper I use 8.5 inches rice paper

Filling:

227 g ground pork with fat
300 g garlic chives
56 g dried bean thread noodles
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
1 Tbsp chicken powder
¼ tsp ground white pepper

For pan frying:

2 Tbsp Oil or more as needed

Dipping sauce:

3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp chili oil
¼ tsp sugar
1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds

Instructions

Prepare the dipping sauce:

Put all ingredients for the sauce in a small pan, except for the sesame seeds. Bring it to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Off the heat. Let it cool down completely. Transfer to a jar with a lid and this can be kept in the fridge for about 1 week

Prepare the filling: (can be done the day before)

Chope the chives into fine pieces
Soak the bean thread noodles/mung bean noodles in warm water until softened.
Drain off water and then use a kitchen shears to cut into short pieces, about 1-2 inches long
In a large mixing bowl, add the pork, chives, noodles, and the rest of the ingredients for the filling. Use a pair of chopsticks or a wooden spatula to stir in one direction until you get a sticky paste-like texture
To taste it, you can microwave a tiny portion of the filling until cook through, probably only take couple seconds, and see if you are happy with the seasoning department! If not, adjust to your preference
Cover with a cling wrap and let it marinade for at least 15 minutes or put it in the fridge if you plan to marinade it overnight

Wrapping:

I use round rice paper with a diameter of 8.5 inches. Use a kitchen shears to cut into 4 pieces. This makes 32 mini chives pockets. If you prefer larger size, simply cut into half and you get 16 chives pockets instead
Prepare a small bowl of water. Get one pre-cut rice paper and dip in the water until the wrapper is softened somewhat, about 6-7 seconds (this may vary depending on the brand of the rice paper too). Don't oversoak because you still want it to be firm (but soft enough to be bent so it won't tear). The rice paper continues to soften as you do the wrapping
Put this on top of a cutting board. Scoop the filling, about 1 tablespoon on the center.
Fold the softened wrapper over the filling to enclose the filling completely.
Put the dumplings on a lightly oiled plate, seam side down and continue wrapping the rest.
At first, you may feel like the dumplings don't seal well, but you will see that the wrapper continues to soften and the seal sticks better

Pan fry:

Preheat a large non-stick pan or skillet with 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat. When it's hot, place the chives pocket, seam side down on the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes or until the bottom are golden brown, then flip over and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until they are crispy and golden brown. Remove from the pan and put on absorbent paper towel
Continue with the next batch. Add more oil if needed and let it heat up before you start to pan fry again
You can keep them warm in the oven, while cooking the rest. Here's how I usually do it. I set up a cooling rack over a baking pan and put the pan-fried chives pocket on top and keep them warm in the oven using the "keep warm" function

Serving:

Serve them warm with the dipping sauce on the side

Nutrition