Teochew Chai Kueh / Steamed Vegetable Dumpling 菜粿

Growing up in a Teochew household where my grandmother was well-known for her exquisite and delicious Teochew snacks, this type of kueh is very close to my heart. It consists mainly of well-seasoned vegetables wrapped in a slightly chewy translucent skin and is steamed - making it a healthy yet tasty snack.

The texture of this skin is quite different from pan-fried dumplings in previous post, due to different flours being used. Here tapioca flour is added to wheat starch (澄粉) and mixed with hot boiling water. When I first made it, I used equal parts of tapioca flour and wheat starch, but found it a little too sticky and chewy for my liking.
  

Curious to know how each flour is like on its own, I did a little experiment by mixing each type of flour with boiling water and steaming them. Here are the results:

• Tapioca flour (left in picture) = translucent, soft, very sticky chewy, elastic
• Wheat starch (right in picture) = translucent, with firm structure, less elastic

The tapioca flour dough was soft, shapeless, extremely sticky and chewy. Reminds me of the tapioca starch balls used in some sweet desserts. The wheat starch dough felt quite firm and while it can be bent, it was rather inelastic. Adding it makes it easier to handle the dough, and also provides some structure to the dumpling wrapper. So I reduced the amount of tapioca flour in the recipe and the end result was what I wanted. Depending on the texture you prefer, you can also experiment and adjust the ratio of tapioca versus wheat starch accordingly.

For info:

• Har gow wrappers are also made with the same flours but the ratio of wheat starch is much higher than tapioca flour
• Wheat starch is a powder produced by removing the proteins, including gluten, from wheat flour. Wheat starch is used as a thickening agent and stabilizer in processed foods.

TEOCHEW CHAI KUEH RECIPE
Makes 20 pieces
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Ingredients

Fillings
800g (1 medium) jicama / yam bean, shredded
130g (1 medium) carrot, shredded
35g (10 medium) dried shiitake mushrooms, shredded
30g (1/3 cup) dried shrimps, chopped
2 tbsp. cooking oil
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp salt, or to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper

Dumpling skin
120g (1 cup) wheat starch 澄粉
70g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp.) tapioca flour
250g (1 + 1/4 cup) hot boiling water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp. oil

Oil for brushing

Steps:

Preparation of Fillings:
1) Heat up oil in wok over medium heat, add dried shrimps and stir-fry till aromatic. Add mushrooms, carrots and jicama. Cook for about 15 minutes till jicama is cooked (little softened yet still crunchy). Add seasonings and adjust to taste.

I notice some jicamas are juicy and release liquid, but others are dry and don't. If it is too dry, add some water (1/4 cup) to moisten it. You want the jicama to be moist but not soaking in liquid - turn up heat at the end to dry up any excess liquid.

Preparation of Skin:
2) Add wheat starch, tapioca flour and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Add hot boiling water to the flour and mix well with a pair of chopsticks or large spoon. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap for 10 minutes to allow dough to cook.

3) Add oil to the mixture and knead till the dough becomes smooth and pliable.

4) Divide and roll dough into 2 logs. Divide dough into 20 pieces (about 20g each) and roll them into balls. Flatten each ball with your palm and roll into a 4 inch (10 cm) circle. Add a heap (about 1 tbsp.) of fillings to the wrapper and seal by pinching the sides together. (note: If the dough has a tendency to tear, it may help to rest it for 10 minutes.)

5) Generously oil the steamer, or place a piece of parchment paper on steamer. Steam dumplings for 10 minutes.

6) Remove from steamer and brush oil on each dumpling to prevent them from sticking together or drying up. Serve hot or warm with hot sauce and sweet soy sauce.