Homemade Kikiam are steamed and fried to crispy perfection for the ultimate street food! These delicious bean curd pork rolls are delicious on their own or added to other dishes, such as noodle stir-fries and soups.
Since we are on the subject of street food, I thought I'd follow up on our recently updated kwek-kwek recipe with this delicious homemade kikiam. Guys, if you're looking for a great make-ahead meal, you need to stock up on que-kiam!
Every weekend or so, I like to roll up a few pieces to store in the freezer for future use. Not only do these Chinese five-spice pork rolls keep well in the freezer, but they're also very versatile. They're delicious on their own as an appetizer with a choice of dipping sauce, served as a meal with steamed rice, and a great addition to soups or pancit stir-fries.
With a couple of these meat rolls neatly stored in resealable bags in the freezer, a tasty and satisfying dinner lasts just minutes. Truly heaven-sent, especially when you're too tired to cook or have unexpected guests.
What is Kikiam
Kikiam or Que-kiam are popular street food in the Philippines, commonly peddled in make-shift wooden carts, fish or seafood balls, and a variety of dipping sauces.
A local adaptation of the Chinese Ngoh hiang, these meat rolls are made of five spice-seasoned ground pork and minced shrimp. The meat mixture is wrapped in bean curd sheets (tawpe), steamed until cooked, and then deep-fried until golden and crispy.
Ingredient notes
The recipe uses ground pork, minced shrimp, chopped water chestnuts, carrots, and green onions, but feel free to add shitake mushrooms, onions, garlic, or Chinese celery (kinchay). You can also swap the pork with ground chicken, beef, or minced raw fish flesh.
Cooking tips
- Trim any hard edges of the bean curd sheets to make rolling easier and cut at the same length as the steamer so the pork rolls will fit nicely.
- Moisten the sheets under running warm water and then squeeze the excess liquid to make them more pliable. They'll cling to filling better and seal at the edges easier when slightly wet. You can also secure the assembled pork rolls with toothpicks if you like.
- To ensure the que-kiam are adequately seasoned according to personal preference, do a taste test! Fry a small amount of the mixture and adjust seasonings as needed before wrapping.
- For best texture, thoroughly cool the steamed rolls before frying.
How to Make Kikiam Sauce
When I am in a pinch, I serve the fried kikiam with banana catsup or sweet chili sauce, but when I am feeling extra industrious, I like to go all out with my special dipping sauce, which is also my go-to for other street food favorites such as fish balls and kwek-kwek. Perfectly sweet and spicy and oh so tasty, you'd want to spoon it on everything!
- In a saucepan, combine 2 cups water, ½ cup soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar, ¼ cup fresh minced garlic, ¼ cup finely chopped shallots, one tablespoon chopped chili pepper, one tablespoon flour, one tablespoon cornstarch, one teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper. Stir well until well blended and free of lumps.
- Over medium heat, bring to a boil, whisking regularly, for about 3 to 5 minutes or until thickened.
- Allow to cool and transfer to an airtight container until ready to use. The sauce will continue to thicken as it cools and will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
How to store Chinese pork rolls
You can store the pork rolls just steamed or already fried. Cool them completely and individually wrap in plastic film or aluminum foil. Place in a resealable bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.
More ground pork recipes
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground pork
- ½ pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and minced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
- ½ cup green onions, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 bean curd sheets, hard edges trimmed and cut into a 10-inch square
- canola oil
Equipment
- Steamer
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine ground pork, minced shrimp, water chestnuts, carrots, green onions, five-spice powder, salt, and pepper.
- In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Stir until smooth and blended. Add cornstarch slurry to pork mixture and stir to fully combine.
- Under warm running water, moisten bean curd sheets and squeeze to rid of excess liquid.
- On a flat working surface, place a bean curd sheet. Spoon ⅓ of the pork mixture and spread across the bottom length of the sheet. leaving about 1-inch space on the sides.
- Roll the sheet tightly around the filling to form a tight log about 2-inch thick. Moisten the end to seal and twist the edges to lock the pork. Repeat with remaining pork mixture.
- Arrange pork rolls on a steamer in a single layer and steam for about 15 to 20 minutes or until set and temperature in the center reads 145 F.
- Gently remove kikiam from the steamer and place on a platter to slightly cool. Refrigerate to cool completely.
- In a wide pan over medium heat, heat about 2-inch deep of oil to 350 F. Carefully place steamed rolls in a single layer and fry, turning on sides as needed, until heated through and golden and crispy on the outside.
- Remove from the pan and let stand for about 5 minutes before slicing into serving portions.
Notes
- Trim any hard edges of the bean curd sheets to make rolling easier and cut at the same length as the steamer so the pork rolls will fit nicely.
- Moisten the sheets under running warm water and then squeeze the excess liquid to make them more pliable. They'll cling to filling better and seal at the edges easier when slightly wet. You can also secure the assembled pork rolls with toothpicks if you like.
- To ensure the que-kiam are adequately seasoned according to personal preference, do a taste test! Fry a small amount of the mixture and adjust seasonings as needed before wrapping.
- For best texture, thoroughly cool the steamed rolls before frying.
Video
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Teddy Regio says
where do i buy bean curd wrappers / sheets?
Lalaine Manalo says
I buy it from a 99 Ranch market here in the U.S.
dith gerolaga says
Can you use Pork caul fat in place of Bean curd sheets?
Fe says
What’s a 5 spice Chinese powder ? Where can I get that ? Does it really says 5 spice ?
Ray Miranda says
Where do you buy bean curd sheets appropriate for this ? I bought a tofu sheets but is thick it does not hold when you roll it
Lalaine Manalo says
I bought mine from 99 Ranch Market, it's a popular Asian chain store here in the U.S. It's in the freezer section.
leticia c floresca says
where can i buy bean curd(tawpe)
Lalaine Manalo says
If you're in the U.S., can find them at the freezer aisle of most Asian supermarkets. In the Philippines, I believe you can order them from Shopee.
Dolores Mapili says
Made some. Lucky to find bean curd in one of the few asian stores we have here in our little city.
cecilia isturis says
Hi! where can I buy beand curd sheets. Thank you.
Tess Flynn says
What can you substitute the bean curd wrapper with? I don't think we have that in our Asian markets. Will the limping wrapper work?
andres jolejole says
where can i buy beancurd sheets.
Leila says
hi, where can i find the dipping sauce to match with this kikiam recipe? I dont want to use sweet and sour sauce though. THank you.
Lerma says
If I can’t find the bean curd to wrap it, can I wrap in foil and cook like embutido? Thank you!
Lerma
Wilma Santos says
Hi Lalaine,
I am so happy to stumbled in your website accidentally
I loved Kikiam. If we have a chance to visit home to the Philippines, I always request kikiam. I live in Minnesota for 40 years now and have only one Filipino store and one big Oriental store. But we just bought/ built a house in the suburbs of Sacramento, California to escape the Winter season of Minnesota. My late mother in law was an excellent cook and she always make Kikiam during the holidays! I wish I took the time to learn
from her cooking knowledge but during my time ( I am 70 years old) we have lots of maids doing the cooking and they are the ones learning all my mother in law’s recipes. I will visit our Oriental Stores in downtown Minneapolis-St. Paul and try my luck finding the Kikiam wrapper! We will be in Sacramento from November to May fo escape Minnesota’s Winter and I am determined to learn how to make Kikiam .
Thank you for your time sharing your knowledge of cooking our country’s delicious Foods.
Lalaine Manalo says
Hello, Wilma,
I am glad you found me 🙂 I hope you enjoy the recipes here and find them useful.
Yvonne says
Thank You for the delicious recipes, my family really enjoyd them. I,m lookig forward to more of them.Thank You again. greetings from Yvonne.
Lalaine Manalo says
Glad your family enjoyed it.
Cherie Aquino Findlay says
Where would I get the bean curd wrapper? Is this a common ingredient available in Filipino stores? Hope you enjoyed your visit to Tarlac. My home town is San Fernando, Pampanga. I enjoy your recipes a lot. Thanks.
Lalaine Manalo says
Thank you; yes, I enjoyed my vacation very much! Welcome to the blog, kabalen 🙂
These wrappers or what I call tawpe is a staple ingredient in Chinese cooking but Filipino food has a lot of Chinese influences that's why we use it too. Your best bet of finding them is at Chinese supermarkets. The Filipino grocery store I used to go to in Southern California didn't have them but I was able to buy here in Texas at an Asian supermarket. I think this store has branches all over the U.S., 99 Ranch, so if you're near one, you can check their refrigerator aisle or freezer section. Hope you find them because this kikiam is sooo good 🙂
irene rivers says
Thank you for sharing your recipe I cook some and my family loves it I know its a lot of hard work but its worthed because they like it so much we cut back of going in the restaurant and I save some money hopefully you keep on sharing your recipe every party I go not to worried no more of what i bring just to look at your recipe and I made and they love it so much once again thank you
Irene Rivers in Florida .
Lalaine Manalo says
Thank you so much, Irene, for the feedback. I am glad the family enjoyed these pork rolls. Yes, they require a few steps to make but soo delicious 🙂