JiJu Inspiration - Leek Pocket (Inspired by Taiwanese street food -Chive Pocket 韭菜盒子)

December 17, 2013

JiJu Inspiration - Leek Pocket (Inspired by Taiwanese street food -Chive Pocket 韭菜盒子)

You really have to make friends with unfamiliar ingredients when you are living abroad for a while.

Remember I made a terribly hilarious mistake on leek when I did exchange program in Lyon 2008. That was my first time I stayed in foreign country more than 3 months and I was missing everything in Taiwan so much. One day I went to supermarket and found a veggie which is washed and wrapped nicely. From the package, it looked just like as much as " edible grass stem (筊白筍)", one of my favorite summer veggies in Taiwan. I was way to excited and bought it home to share with my lovely french friends. When I unwrapped the package, all the excitement has blew away!! It was a leek white part with oozy texture just like scallion white. The nightmare veggie during my childhood. It made me goose bump imagining the sticky thing slide down in my throat. And now what, a giant scallion white starring in front of me reminds all the bad experience with its horrible texture. I turned to my friends and asked them to extinguish it from my sights. It officially became "No entry" veggie in my kitchen.

Leek

Edible Grass Stem 筊白筍

I did not build intimacy with leek until moved to Netherlands. I don't know what are the exactly reasons triggering me to give it another chance, maybe because I am a grown woman who is mature enough trying to accept things I don't like or maybe because it is common ingredient packed with other veggies for making soup here. I bought one, chopped it randomly and stir fry with mushroom and some other veggies left in the fridge. It turned out AMAZING!!!! It didn't taste oozy goozy at all, instead, it is a bit crunchy and chewy come along with sweetness. This brand new pleasant experience gave me solid confidence on leek and bring it to my regular recipe.

This is one of my inspiration recipes I am proud of - Leek Pocket. It is inspired by Taiwanese street food, "Chive Pocket (韭菜盒子)" which I adore. The chive is not very accessible (only in some Asia markets) and it is more expensive in terms of its quality compare the fresh beautiful leek you can get in open market. The filling is different from chive pocket which is combination with chives, scrambled eggs, dried shrimp and green bean noodles. After several tries, I came out a comforting filling substitutes with western ingredients, including typical winter veggie celery roots, and seasoning which will blow your mind and fall in love with leeks ever since.

Chive Pockets

Ingredients for Chive Pocket

Now is leek season, besides making it a soup, do not hesitate to bring those beauty home next time when you see them in the market! It is definitely a worthy try!

JiJu Inspiration - Leek Pockets

Ingredients:(Serving 6 pockets)

Dough:
1. 150g all purpose flour
2. 10g olive oil
3. 80cc hot water
4. 20g cold water
5. Pinch of salt

Fillings:
1. 1 shallot, finely chopped
2. 6 mushroom, diced
3. 1/2 leek, chopped
4. 1/4 celery root, diced
5. 1 Tsp mustard
6. 1 Tsp balsamico
7. Salt and black pepper for taste

Instructions:

1. Mix dry ingredient in a big bowl, add hot water and whisk well. Add cold water gradually to mix into a dough. Remove from the bowel, start kneading for 8-10 mins until it form a smooth dough. Lid on to prof for 40-50 mins

2. Heat oil pan, add shallot and fry till golden brown. Mix with mushroom and celery root, give a good stir and add seasonings.

3. Stir in leek and toss the pan couple times to combine all the ingredients well. Remove from the heat before leek turns brown. Do not overcook. Set aside for cooling down

4. Divide the dough into 6 equivalent pieces. Dust some flour on the working table, roll out the dough to a big circle. Place 2-3 Tsp filling on the half of dough and fold the dough to become a half round. Seal the dough by pinching with fingers.