Chinese Chives Pocket

These chewy and crispy pockets are favorite Chinese snack here in the US. It is filled with ground meat, eggs and garlicky chives. They do sell frozen ones here but I like making these pockets myself as I can add whatever I like into the filling. You can always modify the filling according to your preference like adding tofu, mushrooms to it or omit the meat for vegetarian version. You can also add as much chives as you wish to it too. I even freeze some uncooked ones so I can have it anytime I wanted to. By the way, I will be away from my blog. My sister and I will be visiting Yellowstones , Salt Lake City , Mount Rushmore and Las Vegas . I won't be able to reply to all your comments as I am not taking my laptop with me. If there is anything urgent you can always email me as I will check it daily.

Ingredients for the filling:

4 oz ground meat – can be pork, chicken, turkey or beef
3 eggs - beaten
1 cup finely chopped chives
2 cloves garlic

Seasonings:

1 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chicken seasoning
Pepper to taste

1. Heat up frying pan, add a bit of oil and make the scrambled eggs. Remove and set it aside.
2. Heat about 1 tbsp oil, sauté the garlic until lightly brown and fragrant. Add in the ground meat, use the spatula and loose up the meat. When the meat is cooked add in the chives and all the seasonings. Continue to stir-fry for a minute. Turn off the heat and add in the scramble eggs. Mix well and check the seasonings to see if it needs more salt.
3. Remove and set it aside to cool down.

Pastry:

3 cups flour
1 cup warm water
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. In a big bowl combine flour and salt. Add in the oil and gradually add in the warm water while stirring it until it forms into dough (you might not need all the water) Knead dough until soft and smooth. Cover and let it rest for half an hour.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 18 equal portions (depend on how big you want your pockets). Cover the dough that you’re not working on to avoid drying out.
3. Roll each of the dough into rounds with edges thinner than the middle section. Place a large tablespoon (or more) of filings on one side of the dough.
4. Fold over the dough to cover the filing and form a half moon shape pocket. Press the edges together to seal the pocket. Lightly press the pocket so that it’s not too thick so that the filing will cook through more easily.
5. Repeat the same to the rest of the dough until all the pockets are form. At this stage you can freeze them up for future use.
6. To cook, in a non-stick frying pan, heat a teaspoon of oil (just enough to oil the pan) on medium heat. Place the chives pocket on the pan. Add in about 3 tbsp of water into it. Cover the frying pan and fry on low heat for five to 7 minutes or until the bottom of the chives pocket are golden brown.
7. Flip over the chives pocket and repeat the frying process on the other side. Remove from pan and serve warm.