My family loves Ku Chai (Chinese Chives 韭菜）in whichever way it is served, either with fried egg or boiled/fried dumplings. In fact I had shared many recipes using Chinese chives on my blog before and you can search the recipe in the Recipe Index under Dian Xin 点心 (dim sum). Today’s recipe steamed Ku Chai Kueh (韭菜粿) aka Steamed Chive Dumplings is a typical popular Chinese snack amongst the Teochew people. This healthy steamed Dim Sum or snack is usually available at the Teochew restaurants and can also be found at most local snack stalls. To be honest, my recipe is not an authentic one, I just made it based on my own preferences after searching for the recipes online. I’m happy with the finished product. The translucent wrap is soft and chewy after steaming, even eaten cold. The filling is not too salty even though I added fried dried shrimps with garlic. The Ku Chai pairs very well with the dried shrimps and seasoning. Really perfect to serve this dim sum for our tea break with a pot of Chinese tea.
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Ku Chai Kueh
Ingredients
Chive filling
- 400 g Chinese chives
- 30 g dried shrimp - soak in water for about 10 mins and strain
- 3-4 cloves garlic - roughly chopped
- 1.5 tsp chicken powder
- 1 tsp sugar
- dash of pepper
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp corn oil
Dough skin
- 80 g wheat starch
- 80 g tapioca flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp corn oil
- 170 g boiling water
- 1/2 tbsp corn oil - to be added last
Instructions
- Cut Chinese chives into small pieces (leave out the white part) and weigh to about 250 grams
- Combine dried shrimps and garlic in a blender and blend coarsely. Then pour mixture on to chives, together with chicken powder, sugar, pepper and sesame oil. Stir mixture well and add corn oil, mix well again. Cover with cling wrap and set aside for later use.
- In a bowl, add wheat starch, half of tapioca flour, salt (mix well) and add oil. Then slowly pour in boiling water. Stir with a rubber spatula for a while and add in the remaining tapioca flour till mixture to becomes a dough. Add another 1/2 tablespoon of oil and knead well to a warm soft dough. Add more tapioca starch if dough is still sticky. Cover with cling wrap and rest for about 5-10 minutes to cool.
- Cut dough into small pieces, about 25 grams each and roll them into balls. Cover them with cling wrap.
- Brush little oil on counter top, then press flat the dough ball with rolling pin (add a little oil if dough ball is not soft enough, knead well). Then wrap in the chive filling, about 1.5 tablespoons (do not add too much filling as the dough skin will burst easily). Fold it up over, use your fingers to make a small pleat on one side of the wrapper until completely sealed like a crescent shape. Repeat the same until you use up the ingredients.
- Place a clean piece of banana leaf or parchment paper in the steamer and grease with oil. Please the chive dumplings on top, cover lid and steam at high heat for about 10 minutes. The cooked dumplings will turn translucent after removing the lid.
- Brush some garlic oil or sesame oil over chive dumplings and serve immediately.
Notes
- 蒸韭菜粿 Ku Chai Kueh
- 家人非常喜欢吃韭菜。不管怎样煮都不会感觉腻。之前做了很多不同韭菜食谱，这次就试试做了蒸韭菜粿。我做的不算是潮州人传统的蒸韭菜粿，只是凑合做了类似 🙂 成品还算满意。皮软带Q弹，内陷韭菜加了炒过的蒜蓉虾米和少许调味料，还蛮美味的。一下子就吃了好几个！
- 馅料:
- 400克 韭菜，切小段
- 30克 虾米 浸泡10分钟沥干水分
- 3-4粒 蒜头，稍微剁碎
- 1.5茶匙 鸡精粉
- 1茶匙 细糖
- 1茶匙 麻油
- 胡椒粉，适量
- 1汤匙 玉米油
- 饺皮材料: 约28个粿
- 80克 澄面粉
- 80克 木薯粉
- 1/2茶匙 盐
- 1汤匙 玉米油
- 170克 滚水
- 1/2汤匙 玉米油 （最后加）
- 做法：
- 将韭菜白部分去掉然后切成小段，剩约250克。
- 把虾米和蒜头碎放入料理机里搅碎。然后和韭菜，鸡精粉，糖，胡椒粉及麻油混匀。最后放入玉米油再拌匀即可。盖上保鲜膜，备用。
- 将澄面粉，木薯粉（放一半），盐（混匀）和油放入大碗中。冲入滚水，一边加一边搅拌，用橡皮刮刀翻拌几下才加入剩余的木薯粉至成团。然后再加入1/2汤玉米油搓揉成软面团（面团还带一点温度）。觉得面团还有一点粘性的话，可再加一点木薯粉搓匀。然后盖上保鲜膜静置5-10分钟至凉。
- 取一块面团，搓成长条，面团切小（称约25克）搓成小圆球，然后再盖上保鲜膜。
- 在桌面上刷上少许油，将小面团压平 （觉得面团太干的话再加一点油搓软）。放入约1.5汤匙韭菜馅 （不要放太多，因为面皮很容易破），皮对折，将外面的皮打折向左捏，捏成了月牙形状就可以了。
- 蒸笼里铺上一张干净的香蕉叶或油纸，抹上一层油。排上韭菜粿，盖上盖，大火蒸约10分钟左右。当打开盖的时候，韭菜粿开始变透明就表示熟了。
- 最后刷上适量蒜头油 或麻油即可马上享用。
- 如还有没包完的馅料，可以拿来炒鸡蛋。