Brinjal & Fishcake in Bean Sauce

Superior Soup Yin Choy

One of my Hubby's favourite vegetable is the leafy 'yin choy' or Chinese spinach (I've just looked it up on wiki and it's called Amaranth Green). The rich vegetable mineral taste is absolutely addictive when stirfried or boiled in soup.

You will find this dish quite common in Chinese restaurants as it is not only delicious but good for your health with the combination of 'dang kuei' (angelica sinesis) and 'kei chi' (wolfberry). The richness of anchovy/ chicken broth combined with Chinese herbs gives you that appetizing golden hue you see.

Superior Soup Yin Choy Recipe

A bunch of Yin Choy (wash thoroughly as yin choy tends to hold more sand particles)
1/2 a bowl of anchovies (soaked in water)
1 cup of chicken broth/soup
2 slices of ginger
1 clove of garlic (lightly bruised)
1 tbsp of kei chi
10 gm dang kuei
Deep fried baby silver fish (Ngan Yu Chai)
1/2 cup water

Method:

1. Firstly, heat up a non-stick pan and fry (without oil) the anchovies that have been soaked until you can smell the fragrance. Remove aside.
2. Heat up wok. Add ginger & garlic and fry for a few seconds before adding the chicken broth & early fried anchovies. Bring to boil and add the kei chi & dang kuei. Turn down the heat to allow soup to simmer for 10 min or until you smell and taste the herbal fragrance. Add water if necessary.
3. Bring the soup to a boil again and add in the yin choy. Boil for 2 min before dishing into a soup bowl.
4. Place deep fried baby silver fish on top of the yin choy.

Note:
Some restaurant like to serve this dish with century egg. You do not need to boil the egg with the soup. Just clean and cut the egg into small sections and place them into the soup when serving.

Stirfried Butternut Pumpkin with Pork

Stirfried Butternut Pumpkin with Pork

I imagine that I'll fail horrendously at photo taking class... Look at this picture, this is the most decent one of the lot! LOL, I think my son takes better pictures than me!

Anyway, I made this dish in Perth for my little ones. My princess has had one too many pizza slices and her brothers were not having the healthiest burgers too! We were a large group of 11 (half were kids under 10!) so you could just imagine the nightmare we went through at the restaurant.... which led to a lot of home cooking from day 1 of our holidays!

I made a lot of dishes but unfortunately with 10 other hungry mouths to feed, I lost track and forgot to take most of dishes. I managed to capture this lovely dish only because all the males had not returned from their fishing trip!

Stirfried Butternut Pumpkin with Pork Recipe

Ingredients:
200gm lean pork, sliced thinly
1/2 a butternut pumpkin (butternuts are generally quite smaller and much lighter than their common cousins)
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp tau cheong / salted soy bean paste
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp cornstarch
Pepper to taste

Pork Marinade: (marinade for 15 minutes before cooking)
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
A dash of pepper
1/2 tsp cornflour

Method:

1. First, marinade the pork and put aside. Then, prepare the butternut by removing its rind and seeds. Cut the pumpkin into bite-sized chunks.
2. Heat up the work. Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil. Saute the garlic mince.
3. When fragrant, add the pork with the tau cheong & soy sauce. Sprinkle some water to prevent pork from sticking.
4. Add the pumpkin and water. Sitrfry to mix pork with pumpkin. Pour in the rest of water. Bring down to medium heat, cover with lid for 3 minutes. Continue to braise further if you like your pumpkin really soft.
5. When ready, add pepper and sugar to taste. Then add cornstarch to thicken the sauce. 
6. Ready to serve!

Stirfried Bittergourd with Beansprout

Stirfried Bittergourd with Beansprouts (28 Mar 2012)

Not many places serve this simple yet unusual combination of bittergourd with beansprout. So far, I've only had it at Good Fortune Restaurant, Bandar Puchong Utama. The restaurant is famous for country village food and it claims not to use MSG. The food didn't looked fancy but it tasted home cooked and had good flavours.I decided to cook the dish myself seeing that my parents loved it so much.

All you need is bittergourd, 30 cents worth of beansprout and some minced garlic. The only advice I would give is to soak the bittergourd in salt water to reduce the bitterness. 

Stirfried Bittergourd & Beansprouts Recipe

Ingredients:

1 medium bittergourd

50gm beansprouts

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1/2 tsp chicken stock granule (optional)

1 1/2 tsp soy sauce

A dash of pepper

2 tbsp water

Method:

1.  Cut bitter gourd into half length-wised. Use a metal spoon to scoop and remove the centre pulp and seeds. Slice bittergourd thinly then soak in salt water for a while.
2. Wash and drain the beansprouts. Remove the black husk and roots if any.
3. Heat up wok. Add a tablespoon of cooking oil. Saute garlic until fragrant.
4. Add the bittergourd and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add chicken stock granule and water. Cover with lid for 30 seconds.
5. Add in the beansprouts, soy sauce and pepper. Stirfry for another 1 minute.
6. Ready to serve!

Claypot Brinjal with Minced Meat

Claypot Brinjal with Minced Meat (18 Mar 2012)

Another one of my favourite vegetable is brinjal or eggplant. I like all variations of it simply because of its rich complex flavour after cooking. Brinjals can be steamed, deepfried, curried, grilled, braised, etc. Brinjals are also a good source of folic acid and potassium. So ladies, if you are planning to conceive, I recommend heaps of brinjals!

Every restaurant has a different version of this yummy claypot dish. Some prepares it spicy ala Sze Chuan style while others add salted fish to enhance the flavours of the dish. My version was created at the very last minute, about 1/2 hour before lunch to be exact! 

There were three things I took note of :-

1. I didn't want it spicy, to suite my toddler's palate

2. I didn't have Mui Heong salted fish (the top notch one of the kind salted fish...it's Mui Heong or nothing).

3. My hubby doesn't take dried shrimps. (unless it's so little that he doesn't notice it!)

With all that thought in mind, I had to improvise. To compensate the saltiness, I used some whole salted turnip (Choy Bou) which I minced and deepfried. Without dried shrimps, I used small red onions instead to give the dish a distinct taste.

Claypot Brinjal with Minced Meat Recipe

Ingredients:

2 brinjal (should give you a large soup bowl full once cut into thick chunky strips)

200gm minced pork

1 small red onion,chopped finely

1 clove of garlic,chopped finely

1 piece of Choy Bou, minced

Pork Marinade: (marinade pork 15 minutes before cooking)

1 tbsp of cornflour

1 tsp of soy sauce

A dash of pepper

Seasoning:

1 tbsp of Tau Cheong (fermented salted beans)

1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1 tsp of oyster sauce

1 tbsp Shao Hsing wine

1/2 tsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of chili oil (optional)

Method:

1. First, deep fry the brinjal strips for 3 minutes or until slightly brown on the outside. Remember to fry on high heat so that the brinjals are not oily. Drain and pat with kitchen towel if necessary.
2. Deep fry the minced Choy Bou until crispy. Take care not to burnt it. I suggest you transfer some oil from deep fryer to small pan. It's easier to control the heat.
3. Heat up claypot and put 1 tablespoon of cooking oil. (You could fry in pan or wok)
4. Saute garlic & small onion. Add pork and stir fry for a few minutes until almost cooked.
5. Add brinjal and all seasoning. Add 2 tablespoons of water (more if too dry)
6. Cover claypot for 1 minute.Garnish with Choy Bou and some chopped shallot. Ready to serve!

Another version which I prepare with dried shrimps & chili, the way it is served at a restaurant. (21 Mar 2012)

Stirfried Pork Strips with Preserved Szechuan Vegetables

I don't like using preserved vegetables at home. With so many fresh ingredients to choose from the local markets, it's hardly ever my first choice to add preserved food into my dishes. So, I'll usually only have preserved vegetables at the local Teochew porridge stall or at La Mien shops. Preserved szechuan vegetable is really quite appetizing especially when served with plain rice porridge or noodles. 

I got the pre-cut szechuan vegetable strips sold in packs this time. You could always get the whole mustard and divide it into portions for later use. Try using it for soup. It gives a mild saltiness to the soup, very appetizing.

Preserved vegetable soaked in water

Stirfried Pork Strips with Preserved Szechuan Vegetables Recipe

Ingredients:

200gm lean pork, cut into strips 
80gm Szechuan preserved vegetable
5 thin slices of ginger
1tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp of water
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp of Shao Hsing wine
 A dash of salt & pepper

Method:

1. First cut pork into strips and mix well with cornflour, and a dash of salt & pepper
2. Soak  & wash preserved vegetable thoroughly for at least 2 times before using. It is salty even after my 3rd wash.
3. Heat up a tbsp of oil in wok. Saute ginger slices before adding the pork strips. Strifry for 2 minutes on high heat.
4. Add preserved vegetables & water to wok and fry for another 1 minute. Add soy sauce and water.
5. Just before serving, add the wine and give a good toss! Ready to serve.

Braised Pork with Long Beans

Braised Pork with Long Bean (11 March 2012)

I can easily finish a bowl of rice with a generous helping of this dish and a big spoonful of that yummy bean sauce. Being a big fan of long beans or snake bean in some countries, I'll seize any opportunity to sneak my favourite legume into the curry, fried omelette or my sambal. Long beans may be eaten raw or overcooked and will absorb just about any flavour you add to them.

Braised Pork with Long Beans Recipe

Ingredient:

300gm lean pork

5-6 strings of long beans

2 tbsp garlic, minced

2 tbsp Tau Cheong (Salted Bean Paste)

1/2 tsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup of water (I like it saucy)

Pork Marinate:

1 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp Shao Hsing wine

A dash of salt & pepper

Method:

1. First, slice the pork thinly and marinate. Leave for 15 minutes
2. Wash & cut the long beans into 1 1/2 inch long.
3. Put the 2 tablespoons of Tau Cheong into a small bowl and try to mash the beans into a paste.
4. Heat up wok. Add 1 tbsp of oil. Saute the minced garlic for 1 minute before adding the bean paste.
5. Put pork & long beans into the wok and stir fry for 3 minutes.
6. Add water, dark sauce & sugar to the wok. Let it boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
7. Once the long beans have softened, the dish is ready to serve.

Steamed Lady's Fingers

Steamed Lady's fingers (11 Mar 2012)

Lady's finger or okra, may not be on the top of your favourite vegetable list, but it sure packs a whole lot of goodness! Consuming lady's fingers may help stabilize your blood sugar & cholesterol level. It also helps you slim down... hah, caught your attention, eh?  All that goo & slime in its pods helps with your digestion, thus helping you detox your system. 

In Malaysia, lady's finger is frequently used in dishes that are strong in flavour. Indians uses it to soak up the flavours of its fish curry,  whereas the Chinese stirfry it with belachan (shrimp paste) or stuff it with fish paste. Today, I've decided to do cook lady's fingers my Mummy's way! The best thing is it only takes 15 minutes to prepare & serve.

Steamed Lady's Fingers  (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

8 pieces of lady's fingers, cut of the top

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp of cooking oil

1 tbsp of soy sauce

Method:

1. Get a steamer ready. Steam lady's finger for 10 minutes on high fire.
2. While waiting, heat up cooking oil and saute garlic mince until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside
3. Remove lady's fingers from steamer onto a plate. Pour away any excess liquid.
4. Sprinkle the soy sauce on the lady's fingers. Then add the fried garlic mince and a tbsp of the cooked oil. Ready to serve!

Stir Fry Watercress

Young watercress before & after stirfry

 I have been eating watercress since I could take solids. Granny used to make us (my brother & I) drink watercress soup when it was rainy season, then she made us drink even more when we started wearing glasses. At that time, all Granny said was "Drink up, it's good for you!"  To sum it up, watercress has enough vitamins and minerals to ensure that my eyes are sparkly and clear & my organs are working well. Now that I know what it is good for, I need to thank Granny & Mum for all the kilos of watercress I'd consumed over the years!

Most of the time, you'd be able to get the watercress that is suitable for boiling in soup. However, if you look around sometimes you'd be able to find young watercress/watercress shoots which you could stirfry. Really fresh and young vegetables do not need much but some garlic and salt to stirfry it in. Which is exactly what I did today! 

Yam Ring with Salted Egg Chicken

Yam Ring - first attempt (4 March 2012

I found the yam ring recipe by Amy Beh from Kuali. As this is my first time making it, I followed the recipe to the dot. My yam dough was a little softer than I would like it to be... probably because of that last teaspoon of water I added right at the end (Itchy hands!). So don't add anything unnecessary!

You can make a few of these rings ahead and keep them in the freezer for later use. Great for sprucing up your stirfries. I've prepared salted egg chicken for my centre filling (Please check out my next post for the recipe!). Traditionally, you'd have the Kung Pao Chicken or Lor Hon Chai (Mixed Vegetables).

 

Yam Ring Recipe ( Adapted from Amy Beh in KUALI)

Ingredients:
500g yam, cubed
Enough oil for deep-frying
75g tang mein fun (wheat starch)
Just enough boiling hot water

Seasoning:
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp concentrated chicken stock
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder
75g shortening

Method

1. Steam yam until soft and tender. 

2. Mash while still hot then mix in tang mein fun and just enough boiling water. Mix well into a dough. 

3. Add ingredients (A) and combine. Leave refridgerated for 1 hour.

4. Form the dough into a ring shape. Make a hole in a round disposable aluminium pie dish and place the ring in the dish. the dish will help you lift up the ring without breaking it.

5. Heat oil in deep fryer. Lower the dish into the oil and deep-fry until crispy and golden brown. 

6. Remove and drain well.

Vegetarian Wrap

My mum's yoga class is coming to have lunch at our house. Since the yoga teacher is a vegetarian, I thought that it would be a good time to try out this vegetarian wrap. This is one of my favourite dim sum when I was in Brisbane. Back then I worked as a dim sum girl at a Chinese restaurant in Sunnybank. I would pray that no one ordered this basket while pushing the dim sum cart around the restaurant as any leftovers from the steamer carts would end up being lunch for the staff.

Vegetarian Wrap Recipe

Ingredients:
1 sheet of dried beancurd skin, soak in water
1/4 inch old ginger, julienne

Filling:
2 inch of carrot, shredded
1/2 stalk of celery, cut into 2 inch strips
A handful of dried lily bulb, soaked in water
5 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked & sliced thinly
1 piece of dried black fungus, soaked and sliced thinly

Seasoning:
1 tsp of vegetarian oyster sauce
1/2 piece of fermented beancurd
A dash of salt and pepper

Method:

1. First, heat up a little oil in wok. Saute 1/2 the ginger you have julienned.
2. Then add the mushrooms, dried lily bulbs and black fungus. Stir fry for 3 minutes to soften them. Add a sprinkle of water if necessary.
3. Then add carrots and celery. Pour in seasoning. Stir fry for another 3 minutes. Remove to cool.
4. Use a kitchen towel or clean cloth to dry the soaked beancurd skin. Cut the skin into 6-7" squares.
5. Here is the tricky part. Place 2 tablespoon of filling in the middle of the skin. Wrap it by folding the bottom part of skin upwards. Then fold in the sides of skin. Finally flip the roll towards the other end of the skin. Careful as the whole thing might fall apart when you flip.
6. Use a large spatula to gently lift the roll and place it in a heated non-stick pan. You should have a little oil in the pan.
7. Fry the roll on one side until it is crispy before turning it over to the other side. Pan fry until the roll becomes golden brown.
8.  Serve hot with chinese red /black vinegar and the balance julienne ginger.

Stir fry Roast Pork with Leek

What do you do with overnight roast pork?

Chinese are very creative with their leftovers. We don't just freeze and reheat the same food for another meal. We usually turn it into a totally different dish altogether. For instance, we could put all the leftover meat from different dishes into one pot, add chili, tamarind and vegetable and turn it into a hot & sour stew. It even has its own name! I'll be making this comfort food in April when my sisters in law come back to visit!

 

But today, I only have a small piece of leftover roast pork in my fridge and one of the best ways to serve it is to stirfry with leek. Even if you don't take leek (the taste is simliar to having onions!), once you combine these two ingredients together with a good dark soy sauce, I guarantee you'll be asking for another bowl of rice to go with the dish! 

Stirfry Roast Pork with Leek Recipe

Ingredients:

300g roast pork, cut into bite size

2 stalks of leek, sliced into 1 inch thick

1 tbsp of garlic

1 tsp of dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp of soy sauce

1/2 tsp cooking wine

Method:

1. Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil in wok.
2. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add roast pork and seasoning. 
3. Lastly add leek and stir fry for 3 min. Ready to serve!

 

Stirfry Sea Asparagus with Mixed Vegetable

Stirfry Sea Asparagus & Mixed Vegetable (Feb 2012)

What do you do when you have to whip up a presentable dish in 1/2 hour during Chinese New Year? Well, it's during the festive seasons that you'd probably have a can or two of sea clams lying around. What better way to raise the standard of a plain old stirfry than to add seafood?

I love to add different textures to my stirfry and celery is always my first choice. Somehow, celery is always a good sidekick for any meat dish. Its strong flavour never outshines the main ingredients but instead brings out the best flavours of the dish!

Recipe
Ingredients:
1 can of sea asparagus, rinsed but retain juices in can
2 stalk of celery
1/2 carrot
1/2 cup of black fungus, soaked in water
5 dried mushrooms, soaked in water
6 slices of ginger

Seasoning:
3 tbsp of sea asparagus juice from can
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice wine
1 tbsp cornstarch (1 tsp cornflour mixed with water)

Method:

1. Heat up wok till smoky. Add ginger slices. When fragrant, add carrots, black fungus and mushrooms.
2. Gradually pour in seasoning. Then add in celery and sea asparagus. Stirfry for another 2 minutes.
3. Pour in cornstarch and give it a good toss before serving.

Stirfry Vegetarian Chicken with Shitake Mushrooms & Snowpea

Stirfy Vege Chicken with Shitake Mushrooms & Snowpeas (Feb 2012)

My mum-in-law's sister, whose a vegetarian, came to visit during Chinese New Year. When she stayed over for lunch, I did a major crash course online on the subject of vegetarianism. I found out as well that aunt-in-law took eggs but no garlic or onions. By the way, did I mentioned that she's a very good cook?

I've never liked fried gluten which most Chinese vegetarian restaurants would use to substitute meat in their dishes. Since I don't stock vegetarian ingredients at home, the best way was to serve vegetables only.I had fresh shiitake mushrooms with rather broad stems. The stem felt a bit like a tough piece of cooked chicken breast meat! So I decided to make the "chicken" meat out of it! It was all very experimental this time around as I had only an hour to prepare lunch. Luckily, the dish turned out well and was acceptable

Recipe

Ingredients:

6 slices of ginger

200g fresh mushrooms

A packet of snowpea

1 piece of black fungus soaked

Thinly sliced red chilli, for garnishing

1/2 cup of cornflour

1 tsp salt

A pinch of 5 spice powder

1 small egg

Seasoning:

1 tbsp of Vegetarian Oyster Sauce

1/2 tsp of dark soy sauce

1 tsp of rice wine

Method:

1. First, remove the mushroom stems and soak in water for 15 min. Add 1 tsp of salt into water. Squeeze out excess water from stems.
2. Break and beat 1 egg in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the cornflour and 5 spice powder. Dip stems in egg then in cornflour mixture before deep frying the stems till golden brown. Drain stems and leave aside
3. While soaking the mushroom stems, slice the mushrooms into bite size pieces. Remove the tough string along the sides of snowpea. Cut black fungus into smaller pieces.
4. Heat a tsp of oil in a wok and fry the ginger till fragrant. Add all the vegetables and seasoning, turn down heat to simmer for 3 min.
5. Bring the heat back up and add earlier fried stems to the vegetables. Give a quick stir before serving.

Cabbage Roll with Fish Paste

Chinese cabbage can be quite versatile. Some like it stirfried with dried prawns or as a garnishing for noodles, others like the sweetness it brings to clear chicken soup. I had a head of chinese cabbage which was a little wilted. Instead of throwing it away, I used it as a wrapper to roll a box of fish paste I bought from the wet market. I will blog about homemade fish paste shortly!

 

Cabbage Roll with Fish Paste Recipe
Ingredients:
1 head of chinese cabbage/ napa cabbage
250g fish paste (spanish mackerel)
1 tbsp of carrots, diced finely
1 tbsp of water chestnuts, diced finely
Spring onion, washed & cut into 15 cm long
Salt & pepper to taste
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 small egg, beaten

Method:

1. Cut out 10 cabbage leaves from its root. Wash & steam on a plate for 5 minutes. The leaves would have softened and turned slightly translucent. Let it cool before using.
2. While waitng remove fish paste from container and onto a chopping board. Prepare a small bowl of cold water on the side. Wet your hand with cold water and roll fish paste into a ball before smacking it back on the chopping board. Do this a few times while constantly wetting your hands. The fish paste will feel slightly "springy" after you've given it a good smacking. 
3. While smacking, gradually add the carrot and water chestnuts into the paste.
4. Take a cabbage leave and place it on a flat surface. Take a tablespoonful of fish paste and spread it on on the surface of the leave. Then start rolling the cabbage leave from its rootbase upwards. 
5. To hold the roll together, tie with a knot with a piece of spring onion.
6. Place all cabbage rolls on a plate. Steam for 10 minutes. You should see some liquid over on the plate.
7. Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil in a wok. Fry the garlic till fragrant, add oyster sauce and left over liquid from steaming plate. Take wok off heat and slowly stir in beaten egg.
8. Arrange cabbage roll on a serving plate and pour egg sauce over. 

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup

My sister, Charmaine has been living a pretty healthy lifestyle considering her hectic work schedule. Sometimes she'd sent me an image of her many dinners and this soup was one of them. Naturally, I was eager to try the recipe out besides adding some international flare into my Asian diet.

The recipe is adapted from taste.com.au. It has a little Middle Eastern feel to it so I've changed some of the ingredients to suit the family palate. (or rather the kids!)

Pumpkin & Sweet Potato Soup Recipe

Ingredients:
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
1 tbs finely grated fresh ginger
1kg Butternut pumpkin, peeled, deseeded, coarsely chopped
500g sweet potato (kumara), peeled, coarsely chopped
1 tbs ground cumin
1L (4 cups) vegetable stock
125ml (1/2 cup) water

Method:

1. Heat half the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add half the ginger and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add the pumpkin, sweet potato and half the cumin and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until aromatic.
2. Increase heat to high. Add the stock and water. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the pumpkin and sweet potato are very tender. Set aside to cool slightly. Transfer to the jug of a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Vietnamese Fresh Salad Roll

Gui Cuon or Vietnamese Fresh Salad Roll (Jan 2012)

I LOVE Vietnamese food! Simple & refreshing yet dense & vibrant at the same time! How do you beat that food that taste like that?

I learned to make Goi Cuon, as the Salad Roll is called, from my Vietnamese housemate, Marissa, in Brisbane. At her quaint little wooden house in an eclectic West End, Marissa took me under her wings and taught me the essentials of Vietnamese street cuisine. Not far away, her parents' house smelled like basil & mint and there's always a large pot of beef stock simmering away in the kitchen! Anyone can have pho bo (beef noodle soup) no matter what time it was! See how my thoughts roam when it comes to food? Can you focus on the spring rolls first, dear brain?

Gui Cuon with Prawn

Goi Cuon is great if you've had too much oily food and want to cleanse your body (Well, it feels like it anyway!) The key to a good Gui Cuon is not the roll itself. Everyone can make the roll but it is the dipping sauce! Usually, the rolls are served with peanut sauce dipping but I just love Nuoc Cham, the fish sauce dipping. I've provided both recipes for you to enjoy!

Salad Roll Recipe:

Ingredients:

Rice Paper (I prefer to use the "Rose" brand")

Thin Rice Noodle (Mee Hoon)

Lettuce Leaf

Chives

Mint leaves

Beansprout

Carrots, shredded

Peanuts (roasted lightly and crushed)

Additional ingredients:

Thinly sliced cooked pork belly

Blanched prawns, shelled

Nuoc Cham Sauce: (for a rice bowl serving)

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bird's eye chili (cili padi), chopped finely

Lime Juice

Peanut Dipping Sauce:

Hoisin Sauce

Crushed Peanut

A lil warm water ( to thin sauce)

Method:

1. Soak & blanch mee hoon.
2. Clean & dry vegetables.
3. First, soak rice paper into hot water until it softens. Place it on a dry surface
4. Place ingredients in the centre of the rice paper in this order for nice presentation: Meat/prawn, lettuce leaf, mint, noodle, peanut, carrot, chives.
5. Roll it as you would with any other spring roll.

Mmm... I just realised that it's hard to describe the process without showing you! Do look out in the near future as I shall make an effort to provide you with step by step pictures!