Dim Sum - Bok Choy Roll

Every year millions of people tell themselves that they will eat more vegetables and take better care of their health for their New Years' resolution.  Well, I have more Dim Sum for the Holidays ... this time Bok Choy Rolls.   These are even a bit healthy!

Spiced, ground chicken wrapped in bok choy (Chinese cabbage, pichay in Tagalog) leaves and steamed.  Low fat, good fiber, decent protein content ... and they taste good, too. 

Yes, these make it easier to follow your resolution to eat better. 
Bok Choy Rolls are also really easy to make.

So, good for you, easy to make, and yummy.  If pizza wasn't already Nature's Most Perfect Food, these might come close. 

Oh, who am I kidding?  Burgers, bacon, lasagna, and many other delicious foods would be higher on the list than this one.  Still, they're good! 

Ingredients

• Bok choy leaves
• Ground chicken breast
  
• Crushed garlic
• Grated ginger
• Salt
• Soy sauce
• Chopped green onion
  

Procedure

I diced up some boneless, skinless chicken breast.

I ground up the chicken breast finely in Big Iron's grinder attachment.

I eyeballed the things to add ... just made it smell good.  Normally I'm very careful about how much I add ... measuring, weighing, writing down notes ... this time I was just playing around.

I wouldn't need the filling for a few days.  So, I put the filling into a zip-top bag for storage in the deep freeze.

I took the bok choy, washed it, and cut off the ends.  I sorted through and picked the best and largest leaves.  Some of them were nearly white and I didn't want that.  I wanted green.  I think our pig enjoyed the white leaves very much.

I blanched the leaves in boiling water to soften them.  About ten minutes in the pot per leaf.

After the hot bath, into cold, cold water to stop the cooking process.

For each roll, I laid out a leaf and put in approximately one tablespoon of my filling.

I folded the end of the leaf over my filling.

Sorry about the fuzzy photo.  Didn't notice again ... my lens was a bit blurry after taking a photo of the leaves in boiling water.  Note to self: camera phones don't like steam.

Anyway, just fold over the end and roll up to seal.

Here are the little rolled beauties waiting on the baking sheet for their final dip into the hot water.

Finally, I steamed the rolls for ten minutes.

Remember: Steam is hot.  Hot hurts.  Just a kitchen tip from me to you.

Seeing all these laid out and done was really great.  I had a definite sense of accomplishment seeing 40 of these ready-to-eat.

Now, the question is ... how were they?


Test Results

Primary Test Group: Delicious! Masarap!


Test Group Rotary: Completely eaten quickly.


Potential Improvements

I'd spice them more next time.  Possibly some oyster sauce or hoisin sauce.

I think next time I'll blanch the leaves longer ... maybe steam them longer.  Make the leaves softer.

Potential Variations

Like anything wrapped, this could have just about anything inside the leaves.  I think that chicken, though, is probably the best.  Its flavor is mild and compliments the bok choy leaves well.

Conclusions

These are good.  And, as I mentioned, healthy too.  Whenever I make Dim Sum, I'll definitely make these along with it.