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Woo Kok (Fried Taro Puff)

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Woo kok is a classic Cantonese dim sum dish that is favorited by many. Mashed Taro is formed into ovals and stuffed with meat and veggies and deep-fried and formed that spider web crust layer on the outside.

I ’ megabyte not a person who likes to go to crowded places, not anymore ! They say things continue to change as you grow honest-to-god. I found that ’ sulfur true. Your taste changes, your vogue changes, your sight changes. But, going to dim sum is one of my favored things. specially when the blind total places still serving food in pushcarts. The constant chatter noises from the crowd as they are pouring tea and enjoying their food and pushcarts everywhere with stacks of the metallic steamer with delightful food inside. I love this atmosphere !

Reading: Woo Kok (Fried Taro Puff)

anyhow, I ’ meter sharing with you one of my kids ’ favorites ( our favorites excessively ! ). Taro puff or known as woo kok in yue terminology, It is one of my identical favorite items to order whenever we go for a dimmed total. I ’ ve constantly had soft spots for taro to begin with ( or anything with gamey carbs lol ). Making your own taro puff wasn ’ triiodothyronine equally daunting as I thought it would be. It ’ mho pretty square as a topic of fact .

THE RECIPE RUNDOWN

Taste: It is a savory bite with fair a tip of pleasantness from the filling and the boodle
Texture: It has that amazing layer or crisp crust on the external against the soft savory taro boodle. so adept !
Ease: Intermediate
Pros: The recipe is reasonably straight forward
Cons: Frying woo kok is the most challenge depart and rather boring in the unharmed action. You need to make sure the oil temperature is merely right or the crisp crust that looks like spider webs won ’ thymine form. If you have a french-fry thermometer, use it !

I ’ m happy with the result and even happier when I bite into the crisp outside and the soft and savory occupy. It is to die for ! ! ! I used coconut oil instead of shortening. The result is still amazing but without the shortening!

HOW TO MAKE WOO KOK WITH CRISPY CRUST

1. Prepare the filling
Preheat some oil in a frying pan. Add in the onion and garlic and saute until soft and fragrant

Add the kernel and stimulate fry again until the kernel turns discolor.

Add the mushrooms and mix veggies

Add the five-spice powder, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, faint soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Have a taste and adjust to your liking

Mix cornstarch with water system to make a cornstarch slurry and then pour in the kernel mix. Stir until it thickens

Set aside to cool down and pop into the refrigerator until the following day if you prepare ahead or let it cool down wholly before wrapping if you prepare on the like day
2. Prepare the dough
If you get the taro already peeled, then all you need to do is to cut it into smaller chunks or slender slices

Steam on high heat until you can easily poke them with a branching, about 15 minutes. I pressure cook on high for 3 minutes. Mash the taro while it ’ randomness hot with salt and carbohydrate

Mix wheat starch with seethe water. This will precook the starch.

Stir this into the taro mix followed by shortening/lard/coconut vegetable oil.

Knead into a dough. The dough will hush be slightly sticky and very balmy at this point

Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and glistening

3. Chill and shape the dough
Cover with formative wrap and pop it into the refrigerator and let it rest for about 1 hour. The dough should be balmy and fictile now. Give it a few kneads. Divide it into half and then one-half again until you get about 20 little dough, or more if you want them smaller

ferment with one at a time and keep the lie covering to prevent it from drying. Flatten the boodle with your palm to form a round off shape

Spoon about 1/2-1 Tbsp of filling into the middle

Gather the border and roller into an egg-shaped supreme headquarters allied powers europe. Continue with the respite

4. Chill the shaped dough
Place the shaped woo kok in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before frying. It helps to prevent the boodle from falling apart during frying

5. Deep frying
Preheat about 3 inches of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottom pot. Make sure the vegetable oil is actually hot to start with. then lower to medium-low and wait for about a infinitesimal before starting to fry. Fry one woo kok at a time until the spider web crust forms and then fry until they are crisp and golden brown. Don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate fry on high heat, or the crisp layer will disperse all over the oil. identify on an absorbent material newspaper towel and duplicate with the stay

IMPORTANT TIPS

1. Cook the filling the day before
I like to do this indeed I don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate receive overwhelmed trying to do everything on the same day
2. Use the right kind of wheat starch
The recipe calls for pale yellow starch, which is different than what we called general-purpose flour here in the U.S. Wheat starch has most of its gluten remove and chiefly starch left, where wheat flour silent has gluten that gives you that stretchy pull. Wheat starch can alone be found in asian grocery store store ( deoxyadenosine monophosphate far as I know ! ). Do not replace with all-purpose flour, or tapioca starch, or corn starch, it’s not the same thing.
3. Make sure the filling is cool enough before wrapping.
This will actually make your life easier when you wrap. If the fill is still warm, it will make the dough awkward
4. Chill the dough before and after shaping
This is specially authoritative. If you fry them when they are silent warm, you will lose all the crisp layer. They will disperse in the oil and decrease apart
5. The oil temperature is the most important
If you have a french-fry thermometer, that ’ randomness great ! We want to maintain the oil temperature between 320 – 330 F ( 160 – 170 C ). The petroleum is not excessively hot and allows the crisp spider vane crust to form on the outdoor

WOO KOK CAN BE MADE AHEAD AND FREEZE

Here’s how to freeze uncooked woo kok:
Once you have filled and shaped the dough into egg-shaped, place them on a bake sheet lined with parchment composition. Pop in the deep-freeze and let them chill until they are solid, about 1 hour or so. After that, transfer them to freezer bag and they will not stick to each other anymore
Here’s how to cook them after freezing:
Thaw them in the electric refrigerator overnight. Preheat oil for french-fry. Once the oil is hot enough, lower the heat to medium and then fry the frozen woo kok in small batches, I suggest one at a time to start with until you get the hang of it .

Common problem: Why my woo kok doesn’t have a crispy crust layer?

I have made this then many times during the experiment and it ’ s all boiled down to the vegetable oil temperature. Most likely your oil is either excessively hot or not hot adequate ( yeah..I know ! ). It worths getting a french-fry thermometer and maintain the fry temperature between 320-330 F ( 160-170 C ). Try to fry one to two at a time so you don ’ thymine lower the oil temperature besides much .

Did you make this woo kok recipe?

I love it when you guys snap a photograph and tag to show me what you ’ ve made ???? Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I ’ ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real number !

Woo Kok (Fried Taro Puff)

Prep Time

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Cook Time

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Total Time

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Servings

large pieces

4.8

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Ingredients

For the dough:

700 gr taro ( already peeled system of weights ) approximately 1 1/2 pound
1 Tbsp carbohydrate
½

Read more: Spicy Korean Dipping Sauce Recipe

tsp salt
130 gr Wheat starch about 1 cup 1 Tbsp. merely available at asian grocery memory
130 milliliter hot boiling water 4.3 oz
200 gr shortening or lard, about 1 cup. I used coconut anoint

Filling:

2 dried shiitake mushrooms soaked, cut off stems and finely diced
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 small onion diced
1 cleave garlic finely minced
180 gr pork barrel or wimp ground or finely chopped, preferably with some fat
½ tsp five-spice powder
1 tsp boodle
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water

Others:

oil for deep electrocute

Instructions

Prepare the filling a day before if possible:

Preheat some oil in a skillet. Add in the onion and saute until soft and fragrant. Add the pork and mushrooms and stir fry again until the meat turns color. Add the five-spice powder, sesame oil, sugar, soy sauce, light soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Have a taste and adjust to your liking. Mix cornstarch with water to make a cornstarch slurry and then pour in the meat mixture. Stir until it thickens. Set aside to cool down and pop into the refrigerator until the next day if you prepare ahead or let it cool down completely before wrapping if you prepare on the same day

Preparing the dough:

If you get the taro already peeled, then all you need to do is to cut it into smaller chunks or thin slices and steam on high heat until you can easily poke them with a fork, about 15 minutes. I pressure cook on high for 3 minutes. Mash the taro while it’s hot with salt and sugar
Mix wheat starch with boiling water. This will precook the starch. Stir this into the taro mixture followed by shortening. Knead into a dough. The dough will still be somewhat sticky and very soft at this point. Continue to knead until the dough is smooth and shiny

Chill and shape the dough:

Cover with plastic wrap and pop it into the refrigerator and let it rest for about 1 hour
The dough should be soft and pliable now. Give it a few kneads. Divide it into half and then half again until you get about 20 small dough, or more if you want them smaller. Work with one at a time and keep the rest cover to prevent it from drying. Flatten the dough with your palm to form a round shape. Spoon about 1/2-1 Tbsp of filling into the middle and then gather the edge and roll into an oval shape. Continue with the rest

Chill the shaped woo kok before frying:

Place the shaped woo kok in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before frying. It helps to prevent the dough from falling apart during frying

Deep frying:

The oil temperature is the most important part (and challenging) in frying woo kok. You want the oil to be hot before frying and lower the heat to medium-low or even low when you first fry the woo kok. This is the point where the crust forms
Preheat about 3 inches of oil in a heavy-bottom pot. Make sure the oil is really hot to start with. Then lower to medium-low and wait for about a minute before starting to fry. It is best if you can maintain the temperature between 320 – 330 F (160 – 170 C) when you start frying and fry one woo kok at a time until the spider web crust forms and then fry until they are crispy and golden brown. Don’t fry on high heat, or the crispy layer will disperse all over the oil. Place on an absorbent paper towel and repeat with the rest