First, I'd replace the puff pastry with phyllo (fully enclosing the mixture with that flag-folding method. To make the mixture less dense, I'd add a cup or so of finely-chopped Napa cabbage. To punch up the flavor I'd ditch the chili-garlic sauce and add some minced garlic, and perhaps some Worstershire sauce.

I thought perhaps using the open-faced shu mai type presentation might work, but what appealed to me was the use of dough and the fact it is baked so I ditched that idea.

It had a recipe for a dipping sauce but I just made the old stand by of equal parts soy, water and seasoned rice vinegar with some minced garlic and chopped scallions. Now it is entirely possible that it needed the dipping sauce to be great, but i called for plum jam which I didn't have.

Wish I had a picture, as it is what drew me to the recipe.

Here's the recipe without my suggested modifications:
Rolls-
1/3 C. chopped scallions (about 3)
6 T. chopped fresh cilantro, divided (I used all of it since I wasn't making the dipping sauce)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 egg - separated
1/2 C. canned water chestnuts, chopped
1 sheet puff pastry
1 tsp. each white and black sesame seeds (I used poppy and white sesame)

Sauce-
1/2 C, plum jam
2 T. lime juice
2 T water
1 T. ketchup
1.4 tsp. each salt and red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mince scallions, add 3 T. cilanto, and ginger in a food processor. Add chicken, soy sauce, chili sauce, and egg white; pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and fold in water chestnuts.

Roll pastry on a floured surface to 14-inch square, then halve lengthwise. Divide chicken mixture between portions of dough , spreading along bottom edge of each piece of pastry. Roll to enclose filling and transfer to prepared baking sheet, seam side down.

Beat yolk with one T water, bruch onto logs, then sprinkle with sesame sees.

Bake until golden, 20-25 minutes, let cool slightly, then slice each log into 1-inch pieces.

Simmer all sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat for 5 minutes. let cool and add remaining cilantro.

Sue

I really would rather use the puff pastry though because I'm also making my Spanikopita and want a different "look" and texture. Was it not great with the puff pastry? Will definitely add the cabbage etc.

I did like them and maybe the sauce makes a difference, but they did seem awfully dense. Maybe you want to do a dry run with the original recipe and see what you think.

I loved the idea of puff pastry, but because these get sliced, the puff starts unraveling and I thought it just wasn't quite right. I am not married to phyllo dough because I am not sure that's the right medium either. Curious to see what you think.

You and are on the same wavelength with the holidays. I like to try new hors and get very excited when there's something interesting to try.

Sue

Thanks!

Hey Woodie, nice to see you too. I'm curious to see what folks think about that recipe. I love to try them because as much as we like the tried and true, it's nice to mix it up with some new ones.

Sue

This recipe sounds delicious & I love your additions. However, phyllo has always intimidated me so I've never used it. Since I want to try this recipe and use phyllo, how many sheets should I use? Do you prepare it just as the original recipe describes laying out the puff pastry? Do you cut yours before baking (or just make shallow cuts)? Sorry for all the questions :) Ann

I would say maybe 2-3 sheets of phyllo as you'll be rolling it up and it will be result in many layers.

However, if you aren't that keen on using phyllo, try it with the puff pastry first and see what you think.

To answer your question about whether to cut them before baking...when using puff pastry, you keep it as one long log, then cut after removing and slightly cooling.

For phyllo, I envisioned making individual pieces using strips of phyllo and folding flag style to make a triangle (see link for instructions (with pictures) on how to do this.

Hope this helps. Sue