The fourth recipe of our Top 8 CNY Dishes series is a signature dish of home cook Lucinda Lau: Kok Chye/ Peanut puffs 角仔!
Also known as kok chai, these crispy peanut dumplings are a traditional Cantonese must-have and one of the best Chinese New Year goodies. Crisp pastry followed by a burst of sweet, fragrant peanuts and sesame seeds; you can’t stop at one!
Kok Chye (Peanut puffs)
The kok chye also carries an auspicious symbolism of bringing wealth and prosperity as it is shaped after a gold ingot. But we think that its resemblance to the curry puff is what makes it more attractive to both adults and children alike!
The shape of the Kok Chye is auspicious and appetising
Here are the ingredients that you will need: plain flour, cooking oil, water, chopped peanuts, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds.
To begin, start with preparing the dough.
Sieve the flour into a bowl and pour in the cooking oil over it. Using a spatula, mix the flour and cooking oil until you get a breadcrumb-like texture.
Sieve the flour and add cooking oil
Mix with a spatula until you get a crumbly texture
Gradually add in the water while mixing the flour. You can use more or less water if needed.
Add water gradually while mixing at the same time so you can gauge if you need more or less water
Switch to hands to knead until you get a smooth dough as shown in the picture below. Then cover the bowl with a wet cloth and let the dough rest aside for 10 minutes.
Use hands to knead the dough into a smooth ball
Cover the bowl with a wet kitchen towel and set it aside to rest
The next step is prepare the filling for the kok chye and fill the puffs.
In a bowl, add the chopped peanuts, sugar, and toasted sesame seeds. Mix until well combined.
Add chopped peanuts, sugar, and sesame seeds into a bowl
Mix until well combined
Set the filling to one side and bring out the rested dough. Pinch off 5 grams of dough and roll it into a ball. Flatten it with your palms then shape it into a bowl-like shape with your fingers.
Take out the rested kok chye dough
Pinch off 5g of dough and roll into a ball
Flatten the ball into a bowl shape with your thumbs
To fill the puff, make a circle with your index finger and thumb and place the dough on it. Spoon some filling onto the centre of the dough and pinch to seal the edges.
Fill the dough with the kok chye filling
Fold in half and pinch the edges shut to seal it
Then pleat the edges like a curry puff. #Tip: the smaller the pleats, the prettier it will look!
Pleat the edges by pinching and twisting the dough
Lastly, fry the peanut puffs and serve.
Heat up some oil in a pot on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, fry the kok chye in batches but do not overcrowd the pot.
Fry the kok chye in batches, depending on how big your pot is
Fry until golden brown
Let the puffs cool down on a wire rack then serve. You can keep the kok chye in an airtight container, but they taste the best when still fresh!
Serve or store your kok chye!
Get the recipe below!
- 300 g plain flour
- 6 tbsp cooking oil
- 6 tbsp water add or less if needed
- 200 g chopped peanuts
- 100 g sugar
- 40 g fried sesame seeds
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and add in the oil
- Mix until a breadcrumbs texture, then gradually add in the water bit by bit.
- Knead into a smooth dough and let the dough rest for 10 minutes
- In a bowl, mix the sugar and chopped peanuts together until well combined
- Pinch off 5grams of dough and roll into a ball with hands. Flatten dough and shape into a bowl-like shape with thumbs.
- • Spoon in peanut filling and fold the dough in half. Seal and pleat the edges. #Tip: make a circle with index finger and thumb and place the flattened dough on top to make filling the kok chye easier.
- In a pot, heat up some oil on medium heat and fry the puffs until they are golden brown. #Tip: do not overcrowd the pot or the oil will get cold!
- Let the puffs cool on a cooling rack and serve!
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