 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Rapt with flavor
By Times Staff Writer
A bite through tender rice wrapper, the textural pull of fresh bean sprouts and a flash of fiery chili sauce can make cymbals clang on a jaded palate. Spring rolls are a far cry from those frozen egg rolls jostling around a cardboard box in your freezer. The frozen egg roll does not speak well for its kind. One difference between a Chinese egg roll and a spring roll is the wrapper. Wonton wrappers, which are doughy owing to the egg in them, are used for Chinese egg rolls. Unlike the rice paper wrappers used for spring rolls, wonton wrappers must be cooked. Spring rolls can be eaten "raw" or deep-fried. Rice paper wrappers can be found at Asian markets such as Cho Lon Oriental Market, 5944 34th St. N in St. Petersburg, or Philippine Store, 1479 S Belcher Road in Largo. Specialty food markets or grocery stores that stock a large selection of Asian products are also likely to have them. Rice paper wrappers are easy to work with -- once you rip a few. They are board-straight and like plastic right from the package. Set them in warm water, one at a time, for a few minutes and they soften and become pliable. You'll probably tear a few as you roll your first spring rolls. Keep at it; the technique will come to you. After removing a rice paper wrapper from water, lay it on a clean dish towel, making sure it's not wrinkled or bunched. Top with a second dish towel and allow to sit covered for a couple of minutes. You can't leave the wrappers too long and you can't try to work with them too quickly. They need time to rehydrate and become supple; but leave them long and they'll turn crispy again. Actually, handling a rice wrapper is much like dealing with soft contact lenses -- you can even "lose" the wet rice paper on the towel because it becomes clear when wet. Another difference between Chinese egg rolls and spring rolls is the filling. Spring rolls are usually layered with such ingredients as bean sprouts, cilantro leaves, shredded carrots, cooked shrimp and cooked vermicelli or cellophane noodles (also found in Asian stores). Chinese egg rolls are filled with a stir-fried mixture of vegetables, spices and pork or shrimp. Once cooked, the filling is placed on the wrappers by the spoonful. Glenn Terrell, director of the Central Market Cooking School in Forth Worth, Texas, became acquainted with egg rolls as a teenager in Longview, Texas. He's an ideal teacher for a spring roll lesson because he was in Vietnam earlier this year, when preparations for Tet, the weeks-long New Year celebration, were going on. To make spring rolls, Terrell is specific about the shopping list. "The fish sauce -- buy the three-crab brand," he says. "Buy the lighter rice wrappers; they work better." The specificity of his directions eventually makes sense. "Fish sauce is like olive oil," Terrell says. "There are different qualities, and the first 'pressing' is the best -- it's less salty, it's not so fishy -- it's the sauce that should be in the dipping sauce and on the table. Cook with the other stuff. A lot of these little restaurants can't afford to put the better stuff on the table, so people who have had fish sauce once at these places think they hate it." (In Vietnamese markets, a large bottle of the best fish sauce is no more than $4.) Terrell says to buy the thinnest wrappers possible. To determine which is the finest, simply use your hands as a scale. Although the packages will read the same weight, the finer package will feel lighter because there's more air between the sheets. A Hoisin-Peanut Sauce is a wonderful accompaniment to the spring rolls. Sweet and spicy Hoisin sauce is widely used in Chinese cooking. It's a mixture of soybeans, garlic, chili peppers and various spices and is readily available at most supermarkets. Chopped peanuts give crunch to the many textured spring rolls. As hot weather draws near, so does the hunt for cooler dishes, those items that don't require the blazing heat of the oven. These refreshing spring rolls are perfect for a summertime meal or hors d'oeuvres for a party. If you want to deep-fry them, go ahead. After all, a thing of beauty should still be a joy in several variations. -- Information from the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram was used in this report. Rice Paper-Wrapped Salad Rolls
For serving:
Cook shrimp in boiling salted water until just done, about 3 minutes. Shell, devein and cut in half lengthwise. Refresh in cold water, drain and set aside. Combine bean sprouts, mint leaves, cilantro and shredded carrot into a "salad." Just before assembling rolls, set up a salad roll "station." Fill a large mixing bowl with hot water. If necessary, keep some boiling water handy to add to the bowl if the temperature drops below 110 degrees. Choose an open area on the counter and arrange the items in the order used; the rice paper sheets, the hot water, a damp, clean dish towel and a platter holding the drained noodles, the "salad" and the shrimp. Working with one rice paper sheet at a time, dip one sheet, edge first, in the hot water and turn it to wet completely, about 10 seconds. Lay the sheet down on the clean dish towel, making sure it's not wrinkled or bunched. Top with a second towel and allow to sit covered for a couple of minutes. Remove the top dish towel. On the bottom third of the rice sheet, the end closest to you, spread about 2 tablespoons of the cooked noodles. Cover with an equal amount of salad. Roll this stuffing up with only one turn forward. Then, lay 2 or 3 of the shrimp halves, in a line, on the part of the roll closest to the remaining flat rice paper. Tuck in the two sides of the rice paper so you've now got a cylinder. Roll the paper closed. If the roll is uneven, place your hand on the roll as if you were rolling a pencil on a table, and roll it a couple of times to distribute the filling. The finished rolls should be about 11/2 inches wide by 5 inches long. Rolls can be made a few hours in advance and stored at room temperature in an airtight container lined with a damp paper towel. Don't refrigerate, or the rice paper will become tough. To serve, cut each roll into halves or quarters (cutting on the diagonal is the most attractive). Serve with lettuce leaves, which are traditionally eaten cupping the spring roll. Serve with hoisin-peanut sauce topped with chopped peanuts and chili paste. Serves six to eight. -- Source: Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram Hoisin-Peanut Sauce
Combine hoisin sauce and chili sauce and garnish with the peanuts. Makes 2 cups. Source: Adapted from The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking by Mai Pham (Prima, $19.95) Fried Spring Rolls
Soak noodles in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain, then cut into 1-inch lengths. Combine noodles with all the remaining filling ingredients and using your hands, blend together well. Following the instructions in the previous recipe (omitting the shrimp step), assemble all the rolls, making sure that the skins are tight and the rolls are of a relatively uniform size. Heat oil, at a depth of 1 to 11/2 inches, to 325 degrees. Cook a few rolls at a time so the temperature stays constant and there's enough room for the oil to circulate and all sides of the rolls to cook. Cook until crisp. Drain. Keep warm in a low oven while frying remaining rolls. Eat immediately. -- Source: Forth Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times Taste section From the features wire |
