Chinese Chive Pies (Vegan Recipe)

10 February 2020 Bookmark • 1

These pies job my memory of the pan-fried buns I enjoyed in Taipei but in pie version. it's a really crispy exterior but really chewy dough inside. i actually think freshly made dough makes an enormous DIFFERENCE.

Freshly made wrappers from homemade dough end up such a lot chewier, they also don't easily break apart once you fill them together with your choice of veggies and noodles.

Chinese Chive Pies (Vegan Recipe)

They do take tons of your time to form due to the homemade dough but it's really so worthwhile once you find yourself with 12 pies that you simply can enjoy for the approaching days.

Check out a step-by-step how these pies are made up of the wrappers all the thanks to cooking them!

INGREDIENTS:

For the Dough:

¾ cup + 1 tbsp warm water
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more or dusting
1 tsp canola oil or other neutral oil
½ tsp salt

For the Filling:

100g dry vermicelli noodles, makes 2 cups rehydrated noodles
2 cups (100g) chopped chives
1 medium shredded carrot (makes 1 cup)
1 cup (150g) sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tbsp canola oil or other neutral oil
1 ½ tsp salt, or more to taste
1-2 tbsp soy sauce, or more to taste
1 tbsp sesame seeds
½ tbsp sesame oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the Dough:

Add in 2 cups of flour into a mixing bowl. Create a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the warm water.
Use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix the flour and water. Once the dough starts to come together, add in 1 tsp of oil. Use your hands to mix the bits of dough. Knead together for several minutes. If the dough is a bit dry, add a splash of water.
Shape the dough into a ball, then place it in a bowl. Cover it with a damp towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

For the Filling:

Chop the noodles into small ½ inch pieces. Drain excess water and set aside.
Heat a pan. Add in 1 tbsp canola or other neutral oil. When the oil is hot, add in the chives, carrots, and mushrooms. Cook over medium high heat for 4-5 minutes until the carrots are tender. Add in noodles. Pour in the soy sauce, salt, sesame seeds and oil. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula and cook for another 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Transfer to a strainer to drain excess liquid from the vegetables then set aside to cool while you prepare the wrappers.

Preparing the Wrappers and Pies:

Add some flour on your work surface. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead it a few times.
Slice the dough into 12 pieces. Each piece will be around 35g. Roll or shape each piece of dough into a ball. To make a wrapper, press down on the ball of dough and lightly flatten it over the surface. Sprinkle a little flour on top and lightly coat your rolling pin with some flour as well. While holding both ends of the rolling pin, roll out the dough by moving the pin forward and backward. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat the movement. Continue to roll out the dough until you have a wrapper that’s around 4 ½ inches in diameter. If you can’t make them into a perfectly round shape, that’s okay! Mine weren’t perfect but I was still able to properly fold the pies together. It really takes some time and practice to get a hang of making wrappers.
Place the rolled out wrappers on a tray and cover with a dry towel to prevent them from drying out. Roll out the rest of the dough.
Take a rolled out piece of wrapper and place around ¼-⅓ cup of filling into the center. Fold the dough in half and seal by pressing together. You will end up with a pie shape but you can also use your fingers to pinch small pleats on the sides if you’d like. You can refer to the images for reference. Afterwards, place back the pie on the tray and cover with a dry towel to prevent it from drying out.
Repeat for the rest of the wrappers.

Cooking the Pies:

Heat a pan (similar one with a lid here), add in 1 tbsp of oil (for every 3 pies). When hot, add in the pies and lightly press down. Leave to cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes until it has a golden brown crust. Flip over and leave to cook for another 4-5 until golden brown.
Prepare the lid of your pan. Using the lid as protection, carefully pour 3 tbsp of water into the pan and then immediately cover to prevent it from splashing due to the heat.
Leave to cook in the steam, until the water has evaporated, around 5-6 minutes. Take out the pies and repeat this step for the remaining ones.
Enjoy while hot!