Name: Tofu Skin Rolls with Pork Recipe {Fu Pi Juan 腐皮卷}
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 1 lb ground pork, home-ground pork preferred; 1 package of fresh tofu skin, cut into 6-inch x 6-inch squares as wrappers; 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine; 1 tbsp light soy sauce; 2 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce; 1 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar; 1 egg; 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour; 1/4 tsp cane sugar; 1/4 tsp ginger powder; 2 stalks of green onion, finely chopped; 1/4 lb celery stems, finely chopped; 1/4 lb carrots, finely chopped

Table of Contents

Jump to Recipe

Tofu skin rolls {Fu Pi Juan 腐皮卷} is a traditional Cantonese Dim Sum. They look like mini burritos wrapped in tofu skin, also known as beancurd sheets. Dubbed Fu Pi {腐皮} in Chinese, tofu skin is paper-thin pressed tofu beancurd.

During the cooking, they absorb all the yumminess from the seasoning liquid and filling. The layered tofu skin naturally shrinks and clings to the filling. So naturally yummy, satisfying, and healthy. Minced pork is a popular filling. Nevertheless, you can certainly use all kinds of vegan fillings as well.

What are Tofu Skin Rolls?

There are two types of Tofu Skin food ingredients that are made out of Soybean Curd. Fu Pi {腐皮} is a flattened paper-thin layer of tofu skin, Another Soybean Curd food ingredient is Fu Zhu {腐竹}. They are bean curd bunched together and dried into a bundle that looks like bamboo. Before cooking, we need to soak Fu Zhu in plenty of water to re-hydrated.

Fu Pi {腐皮}, on the other hand, is pressed into paper-thin and organized into a sheet that can use as a wrapper. They are also not as dried as Fu Zhi. To cook Fu Pi, we can simply use them as a wrapper directly. During the cooking, the liquid will saturate and cook the Fu Pi nicely.

Tofu skin rolls with pork recipe ingredients

How to cook Tofu Skin Rolls?

Traditional Cantonese Dim Sum Fu Pi Juan is usually steamed using a bamboo steamer. However, when I make this a main course and cook bigger rolls, I adopt a quick & easy braising method.

Just add a thin layer of water to the bottom of the hard anodized frying pan and then place the freshly rolled Fu Pi Juan down. You don’t have to tie the Tofu Skin Rolls, the tiny bit of water is just enough to wet the tofu skin to make it shrink and cling nicely around the filling.

freshly wrapped tofu skin rolls in the frying pan

Once you’ve placed all 8 tofu rolls into the frying pan, add 1/2 cup of water around the edge of the pan, and splash 1 tbsp light soy sauce on top of the rolls. Turn the heat to medium-high, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for 3 minutes, or until the water is vaporized.

Then flip all the rolls in the pan, turn the heat to simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Following that, flip the skin roll and cook for additional 5 minutes.

How to make a pork filling for Tofu Skin Pork Rolls?

The first thing first is to use quality minced pork

I highly recommend grinding your minced pork at home. This is the foundation for a tasty and juicy pork filling. Read here on how to grind your own pork at home.

Home Ground Pork for juicy delicious dumpling fillings, meatballs and more

Tip No.2 is to marinate the pork properly

This is the key to a tasty pork filling. Traditional Chinese condiments Shaoxing wine and soy sauce do a wonderful job. By the way, I use a combination of naturally brewed soy sauce {or dark soy sauce} and light soy sauce to achieve the desired taste and color. A tiny bit of Zhenjiang vinegar helps tenderizes and enhance the flavor. Add one egg and 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour to further tenderizes the meat.

As for the herbs and seasoning, fresh green onion, ginger powder, and a little bit of cane sugar are all you need.

Last but not least is to add some refreshingly crunchy and colorful vegetables

Use a mini food processor to chop the vegetables into small bits. Do not over-process them, you will need the small bits for the texture and flavor.

chop celery and carrots in mini food processor for pork filling

Tofu Skin Rolls with Pork Recipe {Fu Pi Juan 腐皮卷}

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Tofu Skin Rolls {Fu Pi Juan 腐皮卷} look like mini pork burritos wrapped in tofu skin. So naturally yummy, satisfying, and healthy.

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork, home-ground pork preferred
1 package of fresh tofu skin, cut into 6-inch x 6-inch squares as wrappers
2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce, or dark soy sauce
1 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar
1 egg
1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour
1/4 tsp cane sugar
1/4 tsp ginger powder
2 stalks of green onion, finely chopped
1/4 lb celery stems, finely chopped
1/4 lb carrots, finely chopped

Instructions

Homeground Pork:

See here if you'd like to mine pork at home.

Make the Pork Filling:

Add ground pork, 1 egg, 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 1 tbsp naturally aged soy sauce (or dark soy sauce), 1 tsp Zhenjiang vinegar, 1/4 tsp cane sugar, 1/4 tsp ginger powder and 1/2 tbsp arrowroot flour to a mixing bowl.
Use a bamboo spatula to firstly break down the meat, then loosely fold the seasonings into the pork. Last but not least is to stir the meat in one direction, and continue to churn until the whole thing turns into a meat paste.
Wash and rinse the celery and carrots well and air dry. Trim the ends and peel the carrots. Cut the celery and carrots into bite-size chunks and then use a mini food processor to finely chop them into small pieces. Do not over-process them.
Add the finely chopped celery and carrots to the mixing bowl and fold into the meat.
Set the pork filling aside.

Fold Tofu Skin Rolls:

Unfold the tofu skin from the package and cut it into 6-inch (~15.25 cm) x 6-inch squares. This recipe makes 8 rolls this size. The tofu skin is usually double-layered in the package, leave it that way and just cut into squares for wrappers.
Folding tofu skin rolls are the same as Bai Ye Wrapped Pork. No need to tie the rolls.
Add a splash of water to a 12-inch hard anodized frying pan to wet the base of the pan. Place the freshly wrapped tofu skin rolls down in the hard anodized frying pan.
Repeat until you've done all 8 rolls.

Cook Tofu Skin Rolls:

Add 1/2 cup of water around the edge of the tofu skin rolls, splash 1 tbsp light soy sauce over the rolls, turn the heat to medium-high, cover the frying pan with a lid, and cook for about 3-4 minutes, or till the water is about to evaporate completely.
Turn the heat to low, flip the rolls in the pan, cover the pan with the lid, and cook for 15 minutes.
Flip the skin rolls again, cover the lid and cook for the last 5 minutes.
All done! Enjoy naturally yummy, satisfying and nutritious tofu skin rolls.

Notes

This recipe makes 8 tofu skin rolls when you cut tofu skin into 6-inch (~15.25 cm) x 6-inch squares. They are bigger than the typical dim sum size.
Bai Ye Wrapped Pork {Bai Ye Bao Rou} is another traditional tofu pork dish in China's Yangtze River Delta area.