Rice Paper Rolls

Rice Paper Rolls is another Summer staple on our table. It can be prepared 100% vegetarian or you can add shrimps, chicken, beef or even pork. The meat I always cook simply in frying pan with my own Teriyaki Sauce that is a bit on sweet side with the use of Mirin and Maple Syrup.

Vegetables for the roll are pretty much standard:

Carrots, lettuce, cucumber and red pepper with rice noodles and peanuts as another standard. I have included shaved asparagus cooked in Teriyaki Sauce and garlicky shrimps.



Wrapping these ingredients in rice paper that was just very quickly dragged through water in large bowl can be quite tricky because the rice paper is very brittle when dry and tears easily when wet, there is no happy middle.

Make small pile of vegies at one end and if using shrimps slice them in half lengthwise and lay them flat at other end so that they will show through just one layer of paper. Make about 2 tight turns, fold the sides over and finish the roll.

For dipping sauce I use a mix of smooth Peanut butter, Hoisin Sauce, Sriracha and Soy Sauce.

Spicy Beef & Broccoli with Rice Noodles

What a nice and relatively easy meal this is. Just marinade the beef and prepare vegetables, soak rice noodles and you are on your way. I can publish detailed recipe if you ask for it. We just love anything that has rice noodles in it. I just wish I had access to fresh rice noodles like I had back in High Park area in Toronto.

Rice vermicelli with vegetables

 

This is another Chinese restaurant and shopping mall food court favorite and now you can even find it in a supermarket deli counter. And no wonder. It is fairly healthy, depending on amount of oil used, and quick and easy to prepare. As with most Chinese dishes the hardest and most tedious part is julienning all the vegetables. If you want a decent looking dish it just has to be done by hand. If you don’t care what the dish looks like a grater does a decent job. I use my trusty super sharp 40 year old Chinese clever and have it chopped in no time. Again, use any vegetable you have on hand but every version should have carrots, green and cooking onions, ginger, garlic and scrambled eggs.

Ingredients in today’s version:

Chopped: Ginger, garlic, coriander

Sliced: Cooking onion, green onions, Napa cabbage leafs

Julienned: Carrot

Egg, sesame oil, peanut oil, Hoi sin sauce, soy sauce, stock (few tablespoons) sugar, hot sauce (optional)

Rice vermicelli

Method:

Soak vermicelli in very hot salty water for 15 minutes, drain, separate strands and sprinkle with sesame oil and toss to coat.

In a hot wok or non-stick frying pan heat 1 tsp of peanut and few drops of sesame oil. Pour in egg beaten with little salt and scramble. When egg is still moist remove to large preheated bowl and reserve.

Add another scant tsp. of oil into wok and stir fry carrots for 2 minutes then add cabbage or bean sprouts, cooking onions, half of coriander and half of green onions. Add Tbs. of Hoi Sin sauce, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 Tbs. soy sauce and 1 Tbs. stock or water.

When hot, add vermicelli and combine all ingredients. Stir fry till vermicelli are soft but still with a lot of bite. Add stock or water as required. Remove to bowl with egg and combine.

Serve and sprinkle with remaining coriander and green onions.

Singapore Noodles

Singapore Noodles are without doubt one of the most popular dishes in Chinese restaurants, take-outs or food courts and they vary widely in quality and taste. Most of them are oily, some taste powdery, some are totally bland…

Same can be said about home versions as well. Been there, done that. I have no problem with taste, heat or oiliness, my problem is the vermicelli. It took some serious Googling and testing to come up with technique that works and that is repeatable. The secret is the soaking time in hot water. Less then 10 minutes and vermicelli will fragment into little pieces, longer then 15 and they will be mushy. Overcooking is another no-no. One can’t forget that food keeps cooking even when removed from heat.

Ingredients are as varied as there are cooks that prepare it. Besides vermicelli, curry and oil there are only 2 other ingredients that appear in all recipes: egg and garlic. Everything else is optional be it vegetarian or with meat and/or seafood. Give it a try.

6 oz rice vermicelli

12 shrimps peeled

6 oz pork, shredded (chicken will do as well)

1 fl oz rice wine

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp fish sauce

1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp corn starch

2 fl oz vegetable oil

1/2 onion sliced

1 small carrot, shredded

1 handful bean sprouts or shredded Napa cabbage

1/2 red pepper sliced

1 spring onion sliced

2 cloves garlic minced

1 tsp grated ginger

2 eggs whisked

1 1/2 tbsp Madras curry powder

salt and white pepper

Optional:

Shitake mushrooms, soaked and julienned, sliced water chestnuts, shredded celery and few sprigs of coriander for garnish

§         Soak vermicelli in hot water for 15 minutes prior to cooking. Drain, separate strands, sprinkle with sesame oil, toss and set aside.

§         Combine the pork and shrimp in the same bowl and add the soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine, and the corn starch. Mix together thoroughly and let it marinade for at least 10 minutes.

§         Add little vegetable oil to the already hot wok. Add the pork and shrimp with as little of the marinade as possible and cook for a minute or two. When everything is more or less cooked, add the marinade, continue to cook for a few seconds more and then remove the pork and shrimp from the wok. Remove to bowl and wipe the wok clean.

§         Add a little bit more oil to the wok and drop in the onions, cooking them for a half minute or so. Next, add the red pepper, garlic, ginger, spring onions, bean sprouts or Napa cabbage and any other vegetable you are using, and stir. Stir fry together briefly and remove from the heat. Remove vegetables to the bowl with pork and shrimps and keep warm.

§         Separate the strands of vermicelli once more. Again, add a smidge of oil to the hot wok. Add the eggs, let them set and stir briskly to scramble them. Add the noodles and stir. Next, combine the curry powder, sugar and season with salt and pepper and combine with eggs and vermicelli. Toss till well combined.

§         Finally, add the vegetables, the shrimps and pork to the wok. Toss everything together, cooking just enough to blend the flavors and heat everything through. If vermicelli are still hard add a little bit of stock or water and toss.

§         Place on individual preheated plates, garnish and serve.

Phở

If there is one completely addictive soup for all seasons it has to be Pho.

I used to simmer the stock for 5 hours till I came across this great recipe on Steamy Kitchen blog. There is no point for me to re-type it here, just click on highlighted links.
In my case I have serve His & Hers version. I love spicy condiments and lot of tripe and tendons in my Pho. Marjo prefers a more western style with meat and meat balls. This time I had to do without mint, basil and tendon that are so important with the soup. Tillsonburg is not Toronto when it comes to Asian herbs, spices and ingredients availability. Still, both versions of Pho were great, as usual J.

Hers.

His.

What a great soup!

Rice noodle stir fry

Last night I made chicken and veggie stir fry with rice noodles. I did it in a sort of Vietnamese style with chicken tenders, garlic, ginger, soaked wood ear mushrooms, green onions, red pepper and coriander with fish sauce, sake, sesame oil, rock sugar, buckwheat honey and sriracha hot sauce. Soy sauce is a good substitute for fish sauce. Incredibly light and so much flavor. Definite repeat but since I never measure and never follow or use recipes it will never be the same.