Spinach pockets 菠菜盒子

【Spinach pockets】
by MaomaoMom

My son Maomao doesn’t like spinach very much. I have made these spinach pockets for dinner; to my surprise he enjoyed them. Maybe the trick is that spinach was cut into small pieces and he didn’t notice.

Meal type: Appetizer
Prepare time: 1 hour
Cook time: 3×8 minutes
Level: Medium
Serves: 10 servings

Ingredients:
Wrappers:
1) 2 cups unsifted all purpose flour (320g);
2) 3/4 boiling water (180g), 1/4 cup cold water (60g);
3) 1 tsp olive oil or other vegetable oil;

Filling:
4) 600g spinach washed and drained;
5) 3 tbsp small dried shrimps, 2 tsp olive oil, 4-5 tbsp freshly chopped green onion, 1.5 tsp minced ginger;
6) 2 extra large eggs+1/4 tsp salt+1 tbsp water mix well, 2 tsp olive oil;
7) 2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp salt, 1/6 tsp white pepper powder, 1/4 tsp chicken broth mix, 1 tbsp corn starch;
8) 3×2 tsp vegetable oil;

Directions:

1: A few hours ahead, soak dried shrimps in cold water (Picture 1) until soft, drain and set aside. Submerge spinach in a large pot of boiling water for 30 seconds (Picture 2). Remove and rinse under cold water.

2: Dough: Measure out flour into a medium sized bowl. Slowly stir in boiling water and continue to stir with chopsticks until it is well combined (Picture 3). Add ¼ cup cold water and knead to form dough. Add 1 tsp olive or corn oil and continue kneading until the dough is smooth, about a minute (Picture 4). Cover with a damp cloth and let it stand for 20 minutes.

Spinach filling:
3: In a nonstick sauté pan add 2 tsp oil over medium-high heat, add beaten eggs (Picture 5), gently stir until egg starts to solidify. Remove from heat and let cool; then finely chop the cooked egg. Same sauté pan, on medium-high heat, added soaked and drained shrimps, chopped green onion and minced ginger (Picture 6) sauté for 60 seconds. Remove from the pan and set aside.

4: Dice the precooked spinach and wrap in cheesecloth. Squeeze the cheesecloth to remove excess liquid. Then place in a bowl, stir in 2 tbsp sesame oil and mix to combine. Add the rest ingredients of Ingredient 7) (Picture 7), mix well. Then added diced eggs, and sauted shrimps green onion and ginger mixture (Picture 8), stir well to combine.

5: Wrappers: On a floured working surface, shape the rested dough into a log about 2 inch diameter. Cut into 20 equal sized portions. Press with your palm to flatten them. Roll out each disc into a 14 cm circle.

6: Pockets: Place 2.5 tablespoon filling on the wrapper (Picture 9). Press to seal the edges (Picture 10). Then make decorative edges (Pictures 11-12).Refer to this video on how to make decorative edges and repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

7: Cooking: In a nonstick sauté pan, heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat. Place 6-7 spinach pockets in the pan (Picture 13). Cook one side for about 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Turn over and cook the other side to golden brown and crispy (Picture 14).

8: Serve warm. Yummy!!

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