Bánh Gối

Directions

1. Sift the all-purpose flour, rice flour, baking powder turmeric powder into a large bowl. Add salt and mix.

2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add in the oil and egg. With your hand or a spatula, mix until you get a rough crumbly mixture.
3. Pour in the water and continue to mix until the dough sticks together, forming a lump.
4. On a floured surface, gently knead dough for a few minutes until smooth. If the dough seems too wet or too dry, add a bit of flour or water, respectively. Do not over-knead.
5. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover, and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
6. In the meantime, rehydrate wood-ear and shiitake mushrooms in a bowl with boiling water.
7. Soak mung bean noodles in room temperature water.
8. Bring a small pot of water to boil, add the quail eggs, then cook for 6 minutes. Remove the eggs to an ice bath until cool. Peel and set aside.
9. Peel carrots and kohlrabi, then dice into small 1/2cm cubes.
10. Peel and dice onion.
11. Once mushrooms have rehydrated: rinse, drain, then finely chop. I like doing this by cutting them into thin ribbons/strips first, then turning those strips 90° and chop.
12. Cut the sausages into 1/2cm-thick diagonal slices. Set aside.
13. Drain mung bean noodles, then chop into1/2-1cm lengths (or cut with scissors).
14. To a bowl, add the ground pork, mushrooms, carrot, kohlrabi, onion, and noodles, along with fish sauce, bouillon, and ground black pepper.
15. Mix well until everything is fully combined.
16. If you are using carrot and kohlrabi for the dipping sauce: thinly slice them, add to a bowl, sprinkle some salt, mix gently and let sit for 5 minutes.
17. Mince garlic and bird's eye chili (if using).
18. In a bowl, combine the fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, and water. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then add in the garlic u0026 chili.
19. Rinse the carrot and kohlrabi with water, then add to the dipping sauce.
20. Dust your work surface with a little bit of flour.
21. Cut your dough into the number of bánh gối you are making.
22. You can cut the dough block like a pizza, or gently roll it into a long log and cut into sections, cross-wise.
23. Shape each piece of dough into a circle, press down gently with your hand, then use a rolling pin to roll into a circle of ~10cm diameter.
24. As you roll the dough circles, do not stack them as they might stick together. To prevent the rolled-out circles from drying, you can cover them with a kitchen towel.
25. To fill: Place a quail egg in the center. Add about 2 tbsp of filling around the quail egg in the top half of the circle. Place a slice of lap-cheong sausage on top.
26. Dip a finger into water and brush along the edge of the top half of the circle. Fold the bottom half of the circle up so that the edges meet and press the edges together gently to seal. Gently press around to even out the filling if needed.
27. Starting from one folded corner, press down with your thumb, then place your thumb under the flap and fold up to create the first pleat.
28. Press down with your thumb again on the edge of the first pleat, then place your thumb under the flap and fold up to create the second pleat. You can continue all around or until the middle and mirror on the other side until the pleats meet in the middle.
29. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling
30. Heat vegetable oil over medium in a large frying pan or pot with deep sides. The oil is ready when it bubbles around a wooden chopstick and spatula.
31. Add in a few pies at a time, depending on the size of your pan. Fry until golden on both sides.
32. Remove to oil-draining rack.
33. Serve immediately while hot with dipping sauce, lettuce, and herbs.