At the start of quarantine I made what many people would consider an impulsive, if not excessive purchase–35lbs. of cooking oil. No, it was not pandemic-induced temporary insanity. I did not accidentally click on the wrong item while grocery shopping online with Instacart. It was a calculated move. You see, I like deep-frying stuff. I know, not the healthiest cooking method–in fact it’s downright indulgent–but damn, it sure makes food taste delicious! I was planning for multiple frying projects because, hell, who knew how long this shelter-in-place order was going to last–so this was really a cost-saving move on my part (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), albeit far from user friendly.

As a short woman working in professional kitchens where commercial equipment weren’t scaled for someone my size (i.e. all counters, prep tables, and cooking surfaces were 6″ too high for me), I had to learn a few hacks over the years to overcome certain handicaps–like how to pour oil out of a 35lbs. case without drenching myself in it. The solution was to hoist said case onto a table or counter, set a more manageable, smaller wide-mouth container on top of a sturdy flat surface, lined with a damp towel, in front of it so that the top of the container was just little below the table or counter, then carefully and slowly tipped the case forward with both hands to pour the oil out into the smaller vessel. Easy peasy!

Anyone who’s well-versed in deep-frying techniques knows you can’t skimp on the oil. If you’re gonna do it, you have to fully commit to the process. Proper deep-frying requires an oil depth of at least 2″ and room for the fry items to circulate in your fry vessel of choice. Otherwise, don’t bother And no, more oil doesn’t necessarily equate to more grease. As a matter of fact, frying with the right amount of oil and at the right temperature guards against excess oil absorption.

Admittedly I’ve been a little fry happy for the past couple of months–not outrageously so mind you (even dutifully straining out and reusing my frying oil a few times). There’ve been several rounds of donuts, both yeast and cake, some tempura, potato croquettes, and chicken wings. But by far my favorite fried foods have been (no surprise) dim sum specialties.

It started with the Chinese crullers or you tiao, those long golden fried sticks of dough, crispy on the outside, slightly chewy on the inside with large honeycomb-like air pockets. Making my own fresh warm soy milk (healthy) was merely an excuse to dip the you tiao (not so healthy) in it. At dim sum places, you’ll frequently find them either cut up into small chunks and served as a topping for rice porridge or jook, or rolled in steamed rice noodle called zhaliang.

Next came the crispy fried favorite of homes and dim sum joints alike–Spring Egg Rolls. I’m not talking about the overstuffed kind with the bubbly surface and heavy, doughy wrapper (I call those Americanized egg rolls), but the slender ones made up of delicately crisp layers wrapped around lightly stir-fried vegetables, and served with worchestershire (not day-glo pink sweet and sour) dipping sauce. Spring roll pastry wrappers (not the ones that look like big sheets of wonton skin) are key to achieving the perfect airy crunch. It’s one of those freezer staples I try to keep on hand–for those times when I want to indulge a spur of the moment spring egg roll craving.

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I would say there aren’t too many real hard and fast rules regarding ingredients for fillings, except that they should be at least par-cooked to draw out any excess moisture (the enemy of crispiness) and cooled completely before use. I like to keep things simple and stick to the classic vegetable combos like julienned carrots, shredded cabbage, scallions, shiitake mushrooms, beansprouts (if I have any hanging out in the frig) or maybe some thinly sliced celery for crunch. Sometimes I throw in tiny bite-size pieces of stir-fried marinated chicken thigh or pork shoulder if I want to make the spring egg rolls into more of a meal.

Again, it’s very important to make sure your filling is not too wet or loose because that moisture will end up steaming the wrapper from the inside as you fry the rolls, causing the fried rolls to get soggy quickly. Conversely though, you do want keep the raw wrappers nice and pliable, so it’s important to keep the unused wrappers covered with a moist towel and the formed rolls covered with plastic wrap until ready to fry to prevent the wrapper from drying out and becoming brittle. As a general rule, I like to fry lighter items like you tiao and spring egg rolls at around 360F degrees.

Stepping out of my comfort zone, I decided to tackle the 2 fried dim sum specialties that have, in the past, alluded and frustrated me–hom suey gok (fried pork turnover) and its sweet counterpart jian due (sweet fried sesame balls). Both employ a similar glutinous rice dough that puffs up like a balloon when fried, creating a generous air pocket between the dough and filling. The perfection rendition has a super light and crispy outer shell, not greasy, and a soft chewy underside that almost stretches like soft taffy when pulled apart.

Inspired to try my hand at recreating these all-time faves after watching a cooking show on the Food Network, my initial foray (pre-quarantine) was an epic fail. The show host’s recipe had an inordinate amount of sugar, which made the dough unmanageably sticky and wet. No matter how much extra rice flour I worked into the dough it wouldn’t hold together, which made filling and forming the balls challenging. Frying was a whole different nightmare. Since it was nearly impossible to get the dough thin enough yet still able to contain the filling without cracking or exploding, each one felt like a lead ball which immediately sunk to the bottom of the wok and took forever to rise to the top. Worse, the end product was not only heavy and doughy, but couldn’t retain its initial crispiness for more than a couple of minutes.

This time around, I did more research, watch a bunch of videos (all from Asia), consulted one of my more reliable dim sum cookbooks, and came up with a recipe that incorporates the best ideas from various sources. What I learned was 1) that other recipe definitely had way much too sugar 2) baking powder is your friend 3) and so is a little wheat starch.

I did make 2 separate batches of glutinous rice dough for the savory and sweet applications–the former containing about a 1/4 t. sea salt and the latter only a tiny pinch. For the hom suey gok filling, I went with a basic combination of ground pork, finely diced shiitake mushrooms, chopped dried shrimp and scallion, omitting the salted preserved turnip which I couldn’t find at the Asian market (and still observe the 6′ rule down the narrow aisles).

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Same went for the sweet red bean paste (traditional filling for sesame balls), which I also could not seem to locate. Instead, I created a tasty alternative, processing black sesame powder–which I bought to make black sesame rolls (a future project)–along with almond flour, rehydrated pitted dates, sweet shredded coconut, pinch of sea salt, dark brown sugar and Lyle’s golden syrup. The mixture probably could’ve used a tad more moisture but it was a good consistency to form into little balls

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The process of making, rolling, filling and shaping the dough was pretty much the same for both varieties.

The savory ones were rolled and pinched together to sort of resemble a football, while the sweet ones were perfectly round balls that I lightly spritzed with water to moisten the outside so the raw sesame seeds would stick. Most of the recipes tell you to dip the balls into a bowl of water and shake off the excess, but since I had a spray bottle of water handy (from bread baking), I used that instead–which turned out to work better since I could control the amount of water.

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Some of the sesame seeds will fall off during frying, so It’s best to fry the savory ones first if you are making both varieties. I began frying the hom suey gok at 360F degrees, keeping in mind the temperature would drop as I lowered more into the fryer. This time around I used a deep cast iron Dutch oven, which retains heat better than a wok, so I kept the flame on a medium low setting once I got the frying temperature back up to around 350F degrees, gently agitating the pieces with my long chopsticks to keep them from sticking to one another. All in all it took around 7 mins. to fry each batch to a golden brown.

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I took a slightly different approach with the sesame balls, first frying all of them (in 2 batches) at around 335F degrees for about 6 mins., transferring them to a rack, then skimming off the loose sesame seeds from the oil, raising the temperature to 360F degrees and frying them again to golden brown. If you fry at too high a temperature in the beginning, you run the risk of scorching the sesame seeds before crisping up the outer shell.

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My mother, who is the barometer for all things Chinese, gave me two huge thumbs up and immediately tried to finagle more samples to give to our neighbor Mrs. Ma. That’s good enough for me!

Hom Suey Gok (aka Fried Pork Turnovers)

Yield: 14-16 pieces

Filling:

• 1 t. light soy sauce
• 1 t. rice wine or dry sherry
• 1/4 t. sugar
• 1 t. grated fresh peeled ginger
• 1 t. oyster sauce
• pinch of ground white pepper
• 4 oz. ground pork
• 1 T. neutral cooking oil
• 4 fresh or rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, finely diced
• 1 T. dried shrimp, rinsed, drained, chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 1 1/2 t. cornstarch mixed in 1T. water or chicken broth

1. Combine the first 7 ingredients in the bowl and marinate the pork for about 15 mins.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet or wok on medium high heat, add the pork and brown.
3. Add the mushroom and shrimp, stir-fry for about 1 min., then toss in scallions.
4. Add the cornstarch slurry and cook for another 30 secs. to thicken everything up.
5. Cool the filling to room temperature before using.

Dough:

• 1 1/2 c. glutinous rice flour
• 1 T. wheat starch (plus a little more for dusting)
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. sea salt
• 4 T. sugar
• 2/3 c. boiled hot water
• 2 T. vegetable oil

1. Place 3/4 c. rice flour, wheat starch and salt in a mixing bowl, create a well in the center.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the hot water, add oil, then pour into the center of the well and mix with a fork or pair of chopsticks.
3. Stir together the remaining 3/4 c. rice flour and baking powder, then add into the wet flour mixture and stir to form a shaggy dough.
4. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together in a mass, sprinkling in a teaspoon of water if the dough seems too dry.
5. Tip onto a surface very lightly dusted with wheat starch and knead some more until the dough is smooth and pliable.
6. Roll the dough out into a long rope and divide evenly into 14-16 portions (depending on how big you want your turnovers).
7. Roll each piece into a ball and keep them covered while forming each turnover.
8. To form, flatten each ball between your palms, rotating and gently pressing the edges between your fingers, thinning out the edges a bit, keeping the center thicker.
9. Place a spoonful of filling slightly off center, lightly dab the upper edge with water to moisten, then fold over the filling, pinch and seal completely.
10. Transfer each formed turnover onto a parchment or wax paper lined sheet, keeping them covered with plastic wrap until ready to fry.
11. Heat 2″ deep of frying oil to 360F degrees. Carefully lower the turnovers in small batches. Adjust the heat to maintain a frying temperature of 350F degrees and fry turnovers to an even golden brown on all sides (about 7 mins.), moving them around with long chopsticks, slotted metal spoon or spider to prevent them from sticking to each other.
12. Transfer each fried turnover onto a rack to drain off oil.

Fried Double Sesame Ball

Yield: 16-18 pieces

Filling:

• 1/2 c. black sesame powder or toasted black sesame seeds finely ground
• 1/4 c. almond meal
• 1/4 c. sweet shredded coconut
• 5-6 pitted dates, chopped & rehydrated
• 2 T. dark brown sugar
• pinch of sea salt
• 2 T. Lyle’s golden syrup or honey
• powdered sugar

1. Combine everything in a food processor or small chopper attachment and process into a smooth soft dough. *Add a teaspoon of warm water as needed.
2. Divide the mixture equally into 16-18 portions and roll them lightly in powdered sugar into balls. Keep them covered under plastic wrap until ready to use.

Dough:

• 1 1/2 c. glutinous rice flour
• 1 T. wheat starch
• 2 t. baking powder
• pinch of sea salt
• 4 T. sugar
• 2/3 c. boiled hot water
• 2 T. vegetable oil
• raw sesame seeds

1. Place 3/4 c. rice flour, wheat starch and salt in a mixing bowl, create a well in the center.
2. Dissolve the sugar in hot water, add oil, then pour into the center of well and mix with a fork or pair of chopsticks.
3. Stir together the remaining 3/4 c. rice flour and baking powder, then stir that into the wet flour mixture to form a shaggy dough.
4. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together in a mass, sprinkling in a teaspoon of water if the dough seems too dry.
5. Tip onto a surface very lightly dusted with wheat starch and knead some more until the dough is smooth and pliable.
6. Roll the dough out into a long rope and divide evenly into 16-18 portions (depending on how big you want your sesame balls).
7. Roll each piece into a ball and keep them covered while forming each turnover.
8. To form, flatten each ball between your palms, rotating and gently pressing the edges between your fingers, thinning out the edges a bit, keeping the center thicker.
9. Place a black sesame ball in the center, then pinch the edges together to enclose it and roll the dough between your palms to shape it into a perfectly enclosed sphere.
10. Transfer each formed ball onto a parchment or wax paper lined sheet pan, keeping them covered under plastic wrap.
11. To coat the balls, lightly dip each one in a bowl of water, shaking off the excess (or spritz with spray bottle), then place in a shallow bowl of raw sesame seeds and completely coat.
12. Heat 2″ deep of frying oil to 345F degrees. Carefully lower the balls in small batches. Adjust the heat to maintain a frying temperature of around 335F degrees and fry for about 6 mins., moving them around with long chopsticks, slotted metal spoon or spider to prevent them from sticking to each other, transferring the fried balls onto a rack.
13. Skim off any loose sesame seeds from the oil. Increase frying temperature to 360F degrees and return the balls in batches to finish frying until golden throughout.