Pan Fried Chive Dumplings....Inspired By Chen's Shanghai Restaurant

So what do you do on a snowy morning?  Over here we think about what are we going to eat for brunch!
Dee and Max did an overnighter because of the snow last night.  After our morning coffees we discussed our next feeding.

BR was quite excited when Chen's was thrown into the discussion.  If you are expecting a restaurant review you are going to be disappointed. When you don't take photos, you can't really blog properly.  Long story....I was a bit off my game this morning.  Camera issues, well actually camera owner issues.  No photographs were taken but we had our fill of yummy dumplings and noodles.
We all left very happy.  That was less than 2 hours ago.

These could be the dumplings we had at Chen's....but they are not.  These were created just moments ago
at A Wok in the Tuscan Kitchen........looks yummy, right?

Anyways, we always enjoy Chen's and this time was no exception. One of these times I will do a review.

Dee chose something that we had never ordered before....Pan Fried Chive Dumplings 3 for $4.95  This was the last item to arrive and we really enjoyed these.  While we were eating, I proclaimed...mmmm......I love dumplings! BR and Dee made some rude comments...I think there was some eyeball rolling too.
There's something about eating dumplings in a restaurant....... I always want to go home and make some of my own.  Today was no exception!

Luckily for me, there is a grocery store in the same plaza as Chen's.
I picked up the supplies for the Pan Fried Chive Dumplings.......and taddah...

I love trying to recreate dishes that I have had in restaurants and according to BR I am freakishly good at it.  I guess being a freak is a good thing.  No recipes, just the memory of the flavors to work from.  I love it when a plan comes together.

Here is my version of Pan Fried Chive Dumplings.........they were absolutely delicious.  The wrapper has a nice bit of chew and the filling leaves a lovely lingering taste of sweet chives.

Pan Fried Chive Dumplings

Dough:
2 cups of flour
1 cup boiling water

I used my KitchenAid stand mixer, but you can also do this by hand.
Add the boiling water to the flour and stir to blend.
Using the dough hook, knead for 5 minutes or knead by hand for 5 minutes until the dough feels soft and a bit elastic.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes.

Filling:
1 pound of Chives, snipped into small pieces
1 small bundle of mung bean vermicelli noodles, soaked
6-10 dried shrimp (optional)
1tsp Sesame oil
1/2 tsp soy
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
chili oil to taste (optional)

Combine everything into the food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped....be careful not to puree the mixture.

Roll out your dough and cut with 2 inch round cutter.

Place 1 tablespoon of filling onto the wrapper:

Fold over and seal the edge completely, try to remove as much air as possible.

Crimp the top edge:

To cook these, use the fry steam method.   Heat a bit of oil in the bottom of your pan. (I used cast iron, non stick is good too).  With the heat on about medium, put the dumplings into the pan.  Splash about 3 tbsp of water into the pan and quickly cover with a lid.  The steam will help cook the dumplings.  I like to flip these and brown both sides.  Once the water is evaporated, flip the dumpling and cook until lightly brown.

OK...go make dumplings. They really are worth the bit of effort.