Chive Pocket (韮菜盒子)

This is another delicious treat as part of the Northern Chinese Cuisine.  We used to make it regularly when our kids were younger.  And then we found an excellent source for frozen Chive Pocket that is as good, if not better, than the homemade version.  Recently we came across an occasion that made it necessary to make it at home again, actually at a home away from home that is too far to bring frozen food over.

Ingredients for filling:

Chinese chives    1 big bundle (~1 lb, i.e., 16 oz)
bean curds           1 package (4 pieces)
bean vermicelli    3 small rolls (or 1/3 of a 16 oz package)
eggs                     8
black wood ears   a handful  (6-8 small pieces, optional)

I. Preparing the Chive Filling

1. Wash chives thoroughly, cut off 1/4 inches of the white part at the top.  Then chop them into small pieces.
2. Chop the bean curds by first slicing one square horizontally into 4 or 5 slices, then cut them into strips in one direction and into bits in the other direction (~1/4"or smaller cubes).
3. Beat the eggs, add 1/2 tsp salt, then scramble them.  Chopped the scramble eggs into small pieces.  The piece doesn't need to be as fine as bean curbs or chives (1/4"squares).
4. Soak wood ears for 20 minutes, then chopped them into small pieces.
5. Soak bean vermicelli in cold water till turning soft (10-15 minutes).  Drain the water, then submerge the wood ears in hot water for a minute or so (the water from a thermo, ~195 deg-F, works fine).  Take them out and cut them into 1/4 inch squares.  Note 1- See the right-side picture for product package (use 1/3 of the bag, ~1/3 lb).  The Pagoda Brand (塔牌) shown here seems to work pretty well. 
6. Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl,  Season it with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 3 Tbsp sesame oil (see picture below).

II. Preparing the dough and the flour skin 

This part is almost identical to Part II of this previous post, Beef Xian Bing (牛肉餡餅), with the exception that we do not use veggie oil to make the dough.

1. Place 4 cups of all purpose flour in a large mixing bowl.  Stir in 1.25 cups of hot water (~200-deg-F, hissing but not boiling yet) with a pair of chopsticks, then stir in 0.25-0.5 cup of room temperature water gradually.  While adding water gradually, stir the flour mix with a pair of chopsticks until the flour is mostly bunched together (this is when we stop adding more water).  Knead the dough in the mixing bowl till its surface is smooth.  Cover the dough with plastic wrap, and let sit for 30 minutes.  
2. Place the dough on a flour-dusted kneading board, cut the dough in half.  Work on one half of the dough first, by cutting it into 8 roughly even parts (doses).  Each part needs to be rolled into a round-shaped skin that is 7-8" in diameter.  Note- We need thicker skin to make the chive pocket, thicker than what's used for Beef Xian Bing.  Here is a method of rolling a dough part into a round shaped skin. If we roll the rolling-pin along the edge of the skin with one hand in an up-and-down motion, while turning the dose in counter-clockwise motion with the other hand handling the dough part with the thumb on top and the other 4 fingers underneath, we can roll the dose into a round in 15-20 seconds.  It takes some practice, but quite doable.  This method results in a skin that is thicker in the center.  For Chive Pocket roll the rolling-pin from the center out 3-4 times along different directions to flatten the center.

III. Wrapping the filling inside the skin

1. Set a piece of flour skin flat on the kneading board.  Place a large blob of filling in the center of a flour skin (3-4 table spoons), leaving 1/2" open along the edge of the skin.  
2. Fold the flour skin gently in half and press the edges tightly together between your thumb and forefinger, until the pocket is tightly sealed.  

IV. Cooking the Chive Pockets

1. (Medium Heat) Heat 1/2 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a 10-12" frying pan.  Place 2 pockets in the pan, and let cook for 2 minutes. 
2. Add half a cup of cold water in the frying pan, cover the pan and turn the heat to low-to-medium.  Cook until the water is all vaporized (about 5-7 minutes).  Note- Don't let the pockets cook for too long, because all the ingredients in the filling are cooked already.  
3. Open the pan cover, check the bottom side of the pockets.  If the bottom is not golden brown, turn the heat to medium and let cook for a couple of minutes more, until the bottom is golden brown.  
4. Flip both pockets over and cook for another 2-3 minutes until both sides are golden brown.  Take them out and serve.  Note- The chive pockets can be served with some soy sauce and sesame oil.  Papa likes to add some rice vinegar.  I sometimes add some chili sauce.  It goes well with a bowl of Hot and Sour soup.

Shrimp Fried Rice (蝦仁蛋炒飯)

A Facebook friend asked about this dish, We suggested an online recipe as a start, until we got a chance to try our hands on it.  Albeit a simple dish, the fried rice should be dry (not soggy), and the shrimps taste fresh.  As it turns out, the recipe below is the combination of two previous posts, Cantonese Yang Zhou Fried Rice (揚州炒飯) and Sautéd Crystal Shrimp (水晶蝦仁).

1. Cook your rice with slightly less water.  Or, store your cooked rice in the fridge overnight. Either way your rice will be a bit too dry to consume in any regular fashion, perfect for making fried rice. Set aside 4 cups.
2. Defrost a pound of frozen shrimp (shelled and deveined, medium size, available from almost any market).  Marinate for 2-3 hours with 1 Tbsp of rice cooking wine, 1 Tbsp of corn starch, 1/4 tsp of baking soda, and 1 Tbsp of veggie oil.  Note- Baking soda helps preserve the liquid inside the shrimps, and make the shrimp meat taste slightly crunchy.  Might consider use half of the shrimps here. And half for Sautéd Crystal Shrimp. 
3. Beat 3 eggs and add 1/4 tsp of salt into the egg fluid.
4. Mince 2-3 chunks of scallions.  
5. [Pre-cook shrimps] Add 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable oil into a flat bottom cooking pan.  Turn on high heat for a minute.  Pour in the marinated shrimps and stir till the shrimps are almost cooked, i.e., turning pale pink (but not bright pink), about 1-2 minutes.  Take out and set aside.
6. [Pre-cook scrambled eggs] Add 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable oil into the flat bottom cooking pan.  Turn on medium-to-low heat for a minute.  Pour in the egg fluid.  Turn the pan and let the egg fluid spread across the bottom of the pan as much as possible.  Let cook for 15 seconds.  Turn on high heat.  Stir and scramble the egg for a minute.  Take out and set aside.
7. [Fry the rice] Add 2-3 Tbsp of vegetable oil into a flat bottom cooking pan.  Turn on high heat for a minute.  Pour in half of the minced scallions prepared in Step 4.  Stir till fragrant.  Pour in the rice prepared in Step 1.  Stir and mix for 2-3 minutes.  Pour in the scrambled eggs.  Stir for another 2-3 minutes.  Now season to taste with salt and pepper (add 1/4 tsp of salt a time, and a pinch of black pepper, i.e., 1/8 tsp, a time).  At this point, the fried rice is ready. Note- No need to add any water, or soy sauce.  Keep the rice Dry!
8. Now, pour in the shrimps prepared in Step 5 (still cooking under high heat).  Stir and mix for another 1-2 minutes. Turn off heat. Add the other half of the minced scallions, stir and mix.  Here is a picture of the finished product.  Note- The rice shown here is half brown rice and half short-grained white rice.