Spring rolls for a summer-day lunch

On my way back from the grocery shopping trip, I was hungry like a wolf after a full morning of walking. It's tempting to thrust something into the stomach just to fill it up. But I told myself that I must eat well. So I thought about a doable menu for lunch. A quick baked spring roll dish would be great, and a salad, too. But it'll take 20 minutes to get it done. Meanwhile, to quench my thirst, I'd really appreciate something cool and refreshing. What about a minted mixed drink!

So on my last stop of the grocery trip, I picked up a bottom of Perrier. Perrier is a spring water with a distinctive character. I know many people don't like it. I did not either, when I tried it the first time. But my memory on it was strong, and mixed. Today when I thought of mixing a light minted drink, Perrier came to my mind as a great candidate. I like it because, unlike most soda drinks in US, the bubbles come out very gradually and gently. The taste of minerals give the creme de menthe and lemon some substance.


Recipe: Minted Perrier (1 glass)

Ingredients:
- 0.5 fl oz green creme de menthe
- 1-2 tp lemon juice
- about 1 glass Perrier original
- a few ice cubes

Procedure:
Mix creme de menthe and lemon juice in a glass. Add ice. Then add Perrier slowly and fill to the top. Stir and serve.

Imagine sipping a drink like this while preparing lunch! It's in this experiment that I get to understand fully the benefit of an appetizer. The day is hot, and my stomach is really hungry. I could have allowed myself to mindlessly fill up with junk food. But then, with a glass of mixed drink, the anticipation of a nice lunch makes it so much easier to delay gratification. The spring rolls take 10 minutes to prepare and about 5 minutes to bake. The spring roll wrappers I get are really handy. Once defrosted, they are rather dry, and can be kept in tightly wrapped plastic bag for days in the fridge. They also cook really fast.

Recipe: Baked pork spring rolls (for 1)

Ingredients:
- 3-4 oz cooked pork, shredded or pulled apart
- 1-2 tp broad bean paste
- 1-2 tp hoisin sauce
- 1/2 tp dark soy sauce
- 1 TB sesame oil
- 1/4 cup stock or water
- 3 sheets of spring roll wrappers

Procedure:
1. Mix broad bean paste, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil. Add the mixture and the pork to stock/water in a small sauce pan. Heat on hot and allow to boil until the liquid dries off and the pork has absorbed all the flavor.
2. Place 2-3 TB pork in a sheet of wrapper. Roll up and set on parchment paper.
3. Brush the top of each roll with a little water. Bake at 400F in toaster oven for 1-2 minutes. Then reduce heat to 300F and continue baking until top is lightly brown.
4. Serve hot, with bulgogi sauce, if desired.

While the spring rolls are baking, the 5 minutes are just enough for a salad of artichoke hearts, romaine lettuce, tomato and celery, with a sprinkle of caper and walnuts.

Such is a day well lived!

Baked spring rolls

I like pastry a lot, but they are so oily to me that I just can't bear to eat much. So I turn to spring rolls. I think the spring roll wrappers are the Chinese counterpart of Turkish phyllo dough. Today I want to explore how to bake spring rolls nicely.

Recipe: Baked spring rolls (make 12)

Ingredients:
- 1 pack of frozen spring roll wrappers, defrosted in refrigerator
- 8 oz braised beef, or about 1 medium braised round beef steak
- half a medium onion sliced thinly
- 3 mushrooms washed and sliced
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 2-3 TB sweet flour paste
- about 1/4 cup beef stock
- 2 TB egg white mixed with 1 TB water
- 2-3 TB oil

Procedure:
To cook filling:
1. Shred beef finely.
2. Lightly brown onion and mushrooms in 2 TB oil. Then remove onion and mushrooms. Add shredded beef. Cook with wine until hot. Then mix in the sweet flour paste and allow the paste to dissolve in the liquid. Then add back the onion and mushrooms. Cook until the mixture is almost dry. Stir frequently to prevent burning.
3. Cool filling.
To prepare spring rolls:
1. Open the package of spring roll wrappers. Place a piece of wet towel on the top layer. Allow to rest for 3-5 minutes. Then carefully peel off the top layer of wrapper. Replace the stack with wet towel.
2. Place the wrapper flat on a plate. Scoop a small amount of fillings onto the center of the wrapper. Wrap up and keep the folded side down. Place spring rolls on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Brush the top of the spring rolls with an egg wash made of 2 TB egg white mixed with 1 TB water. Allow the liquid to be fully absorbed into the wrapper.
4. When the surface of the spring rolls are dry, brush the top of the spring rolls with oil.
5. Bake at 375F for about 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden.
6. Serve hot.
7. To keep leftovers, wrap in parchment paper or plastic wrap. Then chill in fridge. Reheat in toaster oven at 200F or above until crispy before serving.

Results:

4:37pm, filling cooked:

4:37pm, peeling wrapper:

4:38pm, peeling about 3-4 wrappers in each batch, so that the peeled wrappers won't dry out before use:

4:38pm, start to do the spring rolls:

4:38pm, preparing to fold:

4:39pm, folded once:

4:39pm, folded twice:

4:39pm, folded the third time:

4:41pm, making the second roll:

4:53pm, all spring rolls folded:

5:00pm, spring rolls brushed with egg wash:

5:03pm, spring rolls brushed with oil, then allowed to sit uncovered until time to bake:

6:02pm, spring rolls to bake at 375F:

6:22pm, spring rolls done:

6:23pm, top and corners of spring rolls:

Observations:
1. Cool! This is my second time doing baked spring rolls. The first important thing I've learnt is to use a small amount of fillings. Truly, a small amount of fillings go a long way!
2. Since the baking time is very short, it is important that the filling is precooked.
3. The filling must be almost dry in order for the rolls to stay in good shape.
4. Applying egg wash and oil helps make the rolls look better.

The moisture of the fillings mostly determines the success of the spring rolls. I try using a sweet potato mush as the filling. As it turns out, the sweet potato is too watery. The spring rolls end up sticking to the foil and does not cook well at all. I have also noticed that parchment paper is a much better medium than foil for this type of baking. When the dough is thin, fragile and moist, foil encourages sticking and spoils the rolls.