How to Cook Kanom Guay Chai (Thai Chive Dumplings)

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients needed to make Kanom Guay Chai (Thai Chive Dumplings):

For the dumpling:

• 3 ½ oz rice flour
• ¼ oz sticky rice flour
• 1 oz tapioca flour
• ¼ oz arrowroot flour
• 9 ½ oz bottled water
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• Sea salt to taste

For the filling:

• 3 ½ oz Chinese green chives, chopped
• Pinch of caster sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the dumpling sauce:

• 1 tsp Chinese rice vinegar
• 4 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 1’’ fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• ½ large red chili, chopped

For the garnishing:

• 1 ¾ pint + 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 8 sweet basil leaves
• Pinch of black sesame seeds
• Salt to taste

Cooking instructions for Kanom Guay Chai (Thai Chive Dumplings):

• To make the dumpling, stir the flours together in a large mixing bowl, along with a dash of salt and drizzle oil into it, followed by water.
• Stir them all together into a soft dough and place it on a heavy-bottomed skillet.
• Cook the dough over slow flame, while stirring regularly, until it turns lucid and somewhat gummy.
• Turn off the heat and allow it to cool for several minutes.
• Transfer it to a working surface lightly sprinkled with tapioca flour and massage it into a smooth, pliable dough.
• Split it into four equal parts and shape each of them into a 1 ½’’ wide ball.
• Wrap them up with a moist kitchen towel and set aside for 10 minutes to rest.
• To make its filling, drizzle oil in a pan to heat it over moderate flame and stir fry the chives for a minute or until they are just cooked through.
• Stir in sugar and sprinkle a dash of salt to season before turning off the heat; set aside to cool and drain off the cooking liquid.
• Unwrap the dough balls and roll each of them into flat, ½’’ circles, making them a tad thinner around the sides.
• Place a tbsp of the filling at the centre of each circle and fold one side over the filling and pinch the open ends together to seal.
• Make rest of the dumplings in a similar fashion and arrange them in a bamboo steamer.
• Steam the dumplings for about 20-22 minutes; turn off the heat and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• To cook the sauce, throw in all its ingredients into a small saucepan and whisk them well together to mix.
• Heat the mixture until it starts boiling and reduce it to a simmer until it thickens to form a sticky syrup; turn of the heat and set aside.
• Pour 1 ¾ pint of oil into a deep-fryer and heat it to 170 degrees F.
• Dip the basil leaves into the hot oil and deep-fry for a minute or until they turn crispy.
• Drain them out using a slotted spoon into a bowl, lined with paper towels to soak away excess grease.
• Toss them well with a large pinch of salt and set aside.
• Pour rest of the vegetable oil in a skillet and place the steamed dumplings in it once it heats up.
• Shallow fry them, in batches, for about 3-4 minutes per side or until they turn crispy golden.
• Drain them out and place them on serving plates.
• Drizzle the sauce over the dumplings and top it up with the fried basil leaves and black sesame seeds.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Last Updated on February 7, 2013 by