Crispy Garlic Chive Dumplings (Gui Chai Tod)

Don’t let the amount of vegetables in this popular street food throw you off. I didn’t love vegetables as a kid and I would devour these every time. Garlic chives become so tender they almost melt in your mouth, and with the soft & chewy dough that is crispy on the outside…and the sweet & sour dipping sauce…oh man…these are a MUST try.

What is Kanom Gui Chai?

There are two types of kanom guichai ขนมกุ๊ยช่าย in Thailand. The classic version is the stuffed version, which is much harder because you have to make a dough and wrap the garlic chives inside. These are the ones I grew up eating, but after watching my grandmothers (both of them!) painstakingly make the dough (which is not easy) and wrap each dumpling (even more not-easy)…I had zero desire to go through the same ordeal, lol.

Then there are these fried ones, which I only discovered later in life and fell in love with them immediately. They are a thousand times easier, but deliver the same flavours that I love in the classic ones. Instead of stuffing, the chives are mixed right into the batter, so no fiddly wrapping required! And IMO they’re just as delicious if not more because they are crispy! Oh yeah, and it happens to be gluten-free and vegan and all that good stuff 🙂

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients and important notes about them. Amounts and full instructions are in the recipe card below!

Dumplings

• Garlic chives, also known as Chinese chives or nira (in Japanese), are available at most Asian grocery stores. Some garlic chives can harbour a lot of dirt at the bottom of the plant where the leaves are joined, so you need to cut off about 1.5 inch off the bottom and then shake them in a bowl of cold water to remove the dirt before using. IMPORTANT: After washing dry off the chives as best you can! If there is a lot of water left in the chives it will make the dough too soft. I shake off the water as much as possible, then lay them on a tea towel, cover them with another, and roll them gently between the two towels.
• Sugar
• Soy sauce
• Salt
• Baking soda (optional). Baking soda is added to maintain a more vibrant green colour.
• Neutral oil
• Garlic, finely grated or minced, or you can substitute with garlic powder. If you have some garlic oil handy you can use garlic oil instead of the neutral oil and omit the garlic altogether.
• White pepper
• Rice flour. If you’re buying rice flour from Thailand, be sure to get the one in the red bag which is regular rice flour. DO NOT GET glutinous rice flour in the green bag.
• Tapioca starch. While rice flour provide tenderness, tapioca starch will add a bit of bounce and chew.
• Water

Dipping sauce

• Sugar
• Water
• White vinegar, or rice vinegar
• Sweet soy sauce, I use ABC kecap manis or Thai Healthy Boy Brand sweet soy sauce. You can also substitute dark brown sugar.
• Soy sauce
• Sambal oelek or minced Thai chilies. Can be omitted if you want to make this not spicy

How to Make Crispy Garlic Chives Dumplings

Here’s a bird’s eye view of the process. If this is your first time I recommend watching the video tutorial, especially so you can see the texture of the dough. Full instructions are in the recipe card below!

1. Place the chives in a mixing bowl, and add salt, sugar, soy sauce, baking soda, oil, white pepper and garlic, and mix until combined. Let sit for at least 20 minutes until the chives are wilted.
2. Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce by combining all ingredients and stirring until sugar is dissolved. This sauce will keep in the fridge for weeks!
3. Make the batter: Combine water, rice flour and tapioca starch in a pot and stir until there are no more lumps. Turn the heat on LOW and stir the mixture constantly with a spatula.
4. As the flour starts to cook and congeal into lumps, pull the pot off heat occasionally to smush any flour lumps against the sides to break them up. Continue stirring CONSTANTLY just until the mixture is thick enough that the chives can be evenly suspended in the batter (it can be thinner than in the pic). Remove from heat and continue stirring to break up any lumps of flour to make sure the consistency of the batter is even throughout.

1. Off heat, add the garlic chives into the batter until well combined.
2. Grease a 7-inch round cake pan with oil (or use any heatproof container). Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth off the top.
3. Preheat a steamer with boiling water. If you’re not using a bamboo steamer lid, wrap a towel around the lid of the steamer to prevent water from dripping onto the surface of the dumplings. Alternatively cover the dumplings with foil. Steam the dumplings for 15 – 20 minutes if using a 7-inch round pan, but this can be longer if you’re using a smaller container (and therefore the batter is thicker). If you have an instant-read thermometer, the internal temperature of the middle should reach 190°F.
4. Let the dumpling cool completely then you can keep them in the fridge for up to a week until ready to eat.

1. When ready to eat, use an oiled knife to cut the dumplings into bite-sized cubes. If there is a lot of dough sticking to the blade between cuts, wipe it off and re-oil the blade.
2. To fry: In a non-stick pan, add just enough oil so it comes up just below half the height of the dumplings. Heat until hot and fry them until well browned and crispy, making sure to not let them touch while in the pan or they will stick together.
3. Flip and fry them on the other side until well browned.
4. Drain excess oil on a paper towel-lined plate and serve while they’re hot and crispy with the dipping sauce!