Golden Bags

By cookism

The lunar new year is always a time when everyone pulls their weight and contributes to the dining table in any way possible. Our golden bags, tiny and crispy bundles of mince and mushrooms, hold their own against the usual festive heavyweights like poon choi (basin vegetables) and lo hei. The fried skin shatters upon biting into them before yielding their flavourful, meaty filling.

Ingredients

• For the filling:
• 50 pieces 5x5″ popiah wrappers
• Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
• Thai sweet chili, to serve
• 150 g minced pork
• 150 g prawns, peeled and minced
• 225 g water chestnut, finely chopped
• 2 dried shittake mushroom, rehydrated and finely chopped
• 3 bunches spring onions, finely chopped plus 3 additional bunches for ties
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp coriander roots, minced
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Details

Servings 50
Adapted from cookism.net

Preparation

Step 1

1. Combine pork, prawn. water chestnut, mushroom, spring onion, garlic, coriander roots and corn starch in a mixing bowl. Season with oyster sauce, soya sauce, sugar, white pepper and sesame oil. Mix well.
2. Wash and soak remaining three bunches of spring onions in a bowl of boiling water until soft. Takes only about one to two minutes. Dry thoroughly on paper towels and trim off the roots and tips, reserving the greenest part for ties. Make a small cut at one end of the spring onion and tear it apart. Repeat for the rest of the spring onion. You will need 50 pieces.
3. To make golden bags, take a piece of popiah wrapper and place a generous tablespoon of filling in the middle. Gently pull together into a bag and seal the opening by tying a piece of spring onion twice around. Finish with a knot.
4. In a deep-walled saucepan, heat two inches of oil to 80C. You can also test the oil with a wooden chopstick. If it sizzles, the oil is ready. Lower a few bags into the oil, flipping gently with your tongs to form a better shape. Fry for two to three minutes until crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a cooling rack to drain off excess oil. Serve hot with Thai sweet chili.