Meat Pies, Tianjin Style

Dim Sum and Other Snack Foods

Meat Pies, Tianjin Style
Ingredients:
3/4 pound finely minced or ground beef
1/4 pound finely minced or ground pork fat
3 Tablespoons peeled water chestnuts, finely minced
1/4 cup finely minced Chinese chives
1/4 cup pickled Tianjin or napa or another pickled cabbage
3 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 Tablespoons thin soy sauce
1 Tablespoon mixed salt and ground pepper
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup vegetable oil
Preparation:
1. Gently mix ground beef, pork fat, minced water chestnuts, Chinese chives, pickled cabbage, rice wine, soy sauce, salt and pepper, sugar, bouillon powder, sesame oil, and the cornstarch just until well-combined, and let this mixture rest for fifteen to twenty minutes.
2. Stir once more, then divide into three-inch patties and press each one flat to a thickness of half an inch.
3. Heat oil in a wok or fry-pan and when oil is hot, add the patties, reduce the heat, and fry until brown, then turn over and fry the other side until brown.
Note: These patties can be put between two rolled sheets of dough kneaded from one pound of flour and one cup of cold water, then sealed on all edges and fried, if preferred.

Flavor and Fortune is a magazine of: