Vietnamese fresh spring rolls

I've tried the fried spring rolls, now it's time for the healthier fresh ones! The fun thing about these is you don't necessarily have any cooking to do!

This is a great vegetarian dish or with seafood or chicken.


If you want vegetarian you could use tofu or just a your favourite vegetables.

I've made with prawns and chicken, but in this photo I've used only chicken.

It's a great dish for leftover chicken. I happen to have some cooked chicken from the deli which worked great for a speedy light meal before we went to the cinema. We had 2 each and it actually filled us up quite well. Traditionally, however, this would be a starter.

I didn't measure my ingredients, I judged by eye, so the following measurements are just a guideline.

(Serves 2-4 people)

4 rice wrappers (about 8.5 inch diameter)

75-100g fresh rice vermicelli noodles

100g cooked chicken (torn strips)

12 cooked prawns (peeled, no tails) - I didn't include in the ones in the photo as I didn't have any left on hand

1/2 carrot (thinly sliced strips - I used a peeler)

2 spring onions (chopped)

1/2 a red chili (chopped - seeds removed if you don't want too hot)

2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts

Half handful of fresh cilantro

Half handful mix of fresh basil and mint

1 large lettuce leaf (chopped in large pieces)

Instructions:

- Have large diameter pie dish of warm-hot water ready for your rice wrappers

- Soak a rice wrapper in the warm-hot water for about 10-15 seconds, until it softens enough to work with, but do not over soften or it will rip too easily

- On a dry clean surface very gently place the softened rice wrapper flat in front of you

- Place bits of each ingredients an inch away from the edge (closest to you) of the wrapper. Leave about 2 inches of space from each side of the wrapper

(For nice looking wrap place filling ingredients in this order : lay lettuce first, then herbs, carrot, chili, spring onion, bean sprouts and rice noodles in a neat row over top of the lettuce, running lengthwise across the wrapper; place chicken on top or just in front of the vegetables; on the bottom 1/3 of the wrapper place 3 prawns in a horizontal row

- Start rolling from the side closest to you. Try to keep the rolling as tight as possible without tearing the wrapper. After rolling once pull in the 2 sides and continue rolling straight over the prawns. When finished you should be able to see the prawns nicely displayed through the wrapper

Cut each roll in half at an angle. Serve with peanut dipping sauce (I used satay sauce mixed with a bit of sesame oil and lime juice to loosen it up)

Enjoy the taste of health!

Vegetable Spring Rolls

I can't believe I've waited this long to try making spring rolls. It's so easy! :)
I had a little bbq last weekend but wanted to avoid the typical snacks such as crisps , breads and dips. At the same time I was craving an attempt at making an Asian dish I'd never made before. Not really a bbq type food but who doesn't love spring rolls?! There's no rules eh?! ;)


I live just a few minutes walk from an asian grocery store so why I don't cook asian cuisine more often, I don't know!
For the bbq I also made fresh vietnamese spring rolls. Unfortunately I forgot to take photos so I'll have to make them again soon to show you.
The chinese spring rolls were very popular. One friend even told me they tasted professional and so much better than ones from chinese take-away restaurants! Music to my ears!!


Here is what you'll need:

½ onion (sliced very thin)
½ cup sauerkraut
1 carrot (peeled strips)
3 cups fresh bean sprouts
½ tbsp crushed ginger (or ½ tsp ginger powder)
2 cloves crushed garlic (or ½ tsp garlic powder)
3 tbsp soy sauce
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp celery salt
2 tbsp sesame oil
Small size spring roll wrappers
1 tbsp flower + 2 tbsp water mixed for a sealing paste

Instrictions:
FILLING
- Heat sesame oil in a wok. Fry onions for just under a minute. The wok will be quite hot so onions will start cooking quite fast. Throw in garlic and ginger (if using powdered add later), sauerkraut. Cook for another minute or so then add carrot and bean sprouts. (Add more sesame oil if necessary at this point)
- Pour in the soy sauce and stir. Add celery salt and sugar. (at this point you will also add powdered ginger and garlic)
- Cook all ingredients through until at the softness of your preference (some people prefer softer inside the roll, and some prefer a bit crunchy. Who says there’s a right or wrong eh?)
- Once cooked through transfer filling to a bowl and allow to cool down
- Wipe the wok clean as you will use it to cook the spring rolls (that’s if you don’t have a dep fryer)

ROLLING
- You will need a flat dry surface to roll your spring rolls
- Place a sheet on the dry surface with a corner towards you (so looking down the sheet is a diamond). Place a tbsp amount of the filling at the corner of the sheet towards you. Wrap the corner of the sheet overtop of the filling and start rolling it quite tight. Once you’ve rolled about halfway pull in both side corners and continue rolling. Seal the closing corner with your paste
- Continue rolling until you’ve used up all your filling. As you’re rolling Make sure to keep your pile of spring roll pastry sheets covered with a slightly damp cloth to stop them from drying out
COOKING
- As I don’t have a deep fryer I used my wok. Heat about 1 inch deep of vegetable oil in the wok. Make sure it gets very hot so that the rolls fry immediately as it hits the pan
- You’ll probably be able to cook about 8 rolls at a time as you don’t want them overcrowding in the wok.
- Keep a close eye on them, they will only need frying for about a minute or two on each side. Since they are on direct contact with the wok they can burn quickly so make sure to turn them at the right time and remove as soon as they are done.
- As you remove them from the wok place them on a paper towelled plate

These really did turn out wonderful! So crispy and tasty. Quite proud of myself really :))

Serve with a sweet chilli sauce for dipping

'In a flash' Singapore Noodles

I know I'm always saying what a huge pasta lover I am but perhaps I'm just an all around noodle lover? Yup, I think so ;) Asian food has tones of different noodle dishes and I can get just as excited about these as I can Italian pastas.

I was watching another of my cooking shows (I'm obsessed! but hey, that's where us cooks get our inspirations from right?), the dish of focus was Singapore noodles. I fell in love with how quick and easy it was so had to try! The ingredients are quite basic and so simple to play with. I didn't write down all the ingredients that the TV show had mentioned, I just got the gist of the main stuff and then made up my own. So easy!

This is my entry to Presto Pasta Night, hosted this week by Marye of Baking Delights. Don't miss out as every week has so many delicious and innovative recipes!


(Feeds 2-3 people)
300g fresh rice noodles (although this time I used fine egg noodles as I had some on hand)
3 tbsp sesame oil
1 cup cooked prawns
1 cup cooked chicken breasts (shredded in large pieces)
3 spring onions
2 tsp lemon grass (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp ginger (finely chopped)
2 lrg handfuls of fresh beansprouts (about 200g)
1 carrot (finely sliced, julienne)
3 hot chilies (red or green. I had jarred green ones in my fridge)
½ red pepper (finely sliced, julienne)
2 small heads bok choi (chopped in large pieces)
1 ½ tbsp madras curry paste
¼ cup soy sauce


Instructions:
- In a hot wok with sesame oil throw in the ginger, lemon grass, garlic, onion, carrots, red pepper and chilies. Cook for about 5 minute, tossing every minute or so. Add bean sprouts, bok choi and soy sauce. Cook for a few more minutes until sprouts begin to soften, then add curry paste, chicken and prawns (if you don't have curry paste or would prefer, you can simply use dry spices such as 1 tsp tumeric, 1 tsp cumin or 1 tsp curry powder, but in this case I would add a couple tbsp of stock to the wok).
- Once all the above is combined toss in the noodles and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.
There you go! A tasty meal done in 20 minutes
Serve and enjoy!

Note: If your chicken is not already cooked (I had some deli bought cooked chicken breasts) simply cooked your chicken for about 3 minutes in the wok before your start adding the rest of the ingredients. Same goes for the prawns, although they take very little time to cook, so raw prawns would simply be added at the same time as the bean sprouts and bok choi (they must all be pink before eating)

Chicken Coconut Curry

I really don't know why I don't make curry more often. We love it! One of the things I love so much about curries is being able to make it as mild or hot as you want and still so many other flavours to enjoy. Also it's really easy to make up any combination of meats, seafood and/or veggies you want. Sometimes I'll use tofu, delicious!

This time I've used chicken. I also added lentils which I don't normally do but it really worked well, adding lots of volume and richness.

(Feeds 4 people)
500g skinless & boneless chicken breast or thighs (cut into bite size pieces) (I find thighs much more tender)
2 tbsp olive oil
3 stalks celery (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (crushed)
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1 large potato (diced) - optional
75g green lentils (uncooked)
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp celery salt
sprinkle of nutmeg
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 1/2 tbsp madras curry paste
1 can coconut milk (400ml)
75ml chicken stock

Instructions:
- Begin cooking lentils as per intructions. In the meantime start your curry....
- Blanch potato in salted boiling water, set aside
- In a large pan or wok cook onions and celery in olive oil until the just start to soften, then add garlic and chicken. Cook for about 5 minutes, until chicken is seared.
- Add flour and stir to coat everything. Slowly pour in chicken stock, stir in curry paste and allow sauce to thicken.
- Pour in the coconut milk, add potato and lentils. Add cumin seeds, celery salt and nutmeg. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes to allow sauce to thicken again and all the flavours to mix.

I served my curry with brown rice (although I normally use basmati but ran out) and a slice of herbed naan bread