Pan-fried Chinese chive pockets
Thin dough pockets filled with Chinese chives, glass noodles and dried shrimp, pan-fried slowly until golden on both sides — a northern Chinese street snack.
- 45 min
- Serves 3
- Pan-fry
- Medium
Why it suits you: Blood-stasis types benefit from warming and moving the blood. Chinese chives are pungent and warm, moving qi and dispersing stasis, and are at their best in winter. Slow-fried into pockets and dipped in black vinegar, which also helps the blood move, they make a filling tea-time snack.
Method
Prep 30 min · Cook 15 min- 1Stir the hot water into the flour with chopsticks until shaggy, then knead into a soft, smooth dough. Cover and rest for 20 minutes.
- 2Soak the glass noodles and dried shrimp separately until soft. Snip the noodles short and chop the shrimp. Wash, dry and dice the chives.
- 3Toss the chives with the sesame oil first to seal in the moisture, then mix in the noodles, shrimp, salt and pepper just before filling.
- 4Divide the dough into 6, roll into thin rounds, add the filling, fold into half-moons and pinch the edges firmly closed.
- 5Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and fry over medium-low heat for 4–5 minutes a side until golden, then cover for 1 minute. Serve with black vinegar.
Cautions
- Chives are warming — eat less with mouth ulcers, red eyes or yin-deficiency heat. Leave out the dried shrimp if allergic to shellfish.
Chef's tips
- Dry the chives well and coat them in sesame oil before salting so the filling stays dry and the pastry won't tear.
The TCM view
Chinese chives are pungent and warm, warming the middle, moving qi and dispersing stasis; dried shrimp are sweet and warm, supporting kidney yang; vinegar is sour and warm, dispersing stasis and moving blood; the flour and noodles make it filling. Warming and moving overall, it suits blood-stasis types with cold hands and feet in early winter.
