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The Novice Gardener

~ Food & Garden

The Novice Gardener

Tag Archives: Chinese cuisine

Fiesta Friday #1

31 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Angie | Fiesta Friday in Fiesta Friday

≈ 79 Comments

Tags

Bruno Mars, Chinatown, Chinese cuisine, Chinese New Year, Fiesta Friday, Fiesta Friday #1, Super Bowl

In case you didn’t know, today happens to be Chinese New Year. And you know what else is happening on Sunday, right? Mr. Bruno Mars in the house! Well, in the Super Bowl, really. Looks like Fiesta Friday is off to an auspicious start. I’m sure you are all planning something exciting, either in anticipation of Chinese New Year or the Super Bowl. Or, you’re just excited it’s Friday. Either way, tell us about it.

Hubby and I will be taking the kids to Chinatown to celebrate Chinese New Year tonight, and maybe again tomorrow. No way am I going to cook and make a mess in my kitchen between now and the big day on Sunday. In case you didn’t know, I’m a huge fan of Bruno Mars, and I’m planning a mini party for myself. What, you never throw a party for yourself? I think you’re missing out.

Hopefully, we’ll find a parking spot. Philadelphia Chinatown is notorious for its lack of parking spaces, unless you are willing to pay premium parking fee of $10/hour or $30/day. Which I think is so ridiculous. 

If Motel 6 charges you $30/night and it gives you a bed and a bathroom, then a car spot can’t possibly charge as much without the b & b. Actually, I don’t know how much Motel 6 charges, but I’m assuming its rates are reasonable. And $30/night is reasonable IMO. Especially if you have to cohabit with cockroaches. That was just a joke, okay? Please, I don’t need Motel 6 to serve me with a lawsuit. 

So, when we go to Chinatown, our restaurant of choice is Sang Kee Noodle and Roast Duck. And our food of choice is Sang Kee’s Noodle and Roast Duck, ha!

noodle and dumplings soup

roast duck

Being that it’s Chinese New Year, however, we’ll probably be feasting on a lot more than that. We’ll probably be having Peking Spare Ribs,

peking spare ribs

Stir-fried veggies,

stir fried pea shoots
Greens are a symbol of “luck” since that’s the color of money.

Spring rolls,

spring rolls
‘Cause who knows, maybe it’ll bring Spring that much closer to us. It’s been freezing for far too long!

Maybe we’ll even eat fish, supposedly a symbol of luck, too, due to their scales resembling coins.

Now you know it doesn’t take much to convince me to tuck in. Any excuse will do. Chinese New Year, the Super Bowl, St. Patrick’s Day, Fat Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo, Fourth of July, just being alive. All are perfectly legitimate reasons to feast. Why discriminate?

Besides, it’s Fiesta Friday! One heck of a reason to celebrate! So, what are YOU doing for Fiesta Friday?

***

To find out how you can join the party, read the Fiesta Friday Blog Party Guidelines.

Clicking the image above will bring you to the party!

Look at who have joined the party! Mix and mingle, people! Visit each other’s site and leave a nice comment. I want my buddies to know and interact with each other.

Mr Fitz

Pizza Friday

Chickpea Fritters

Banana Pancakes

Cocas

Chili Chicken

Favorite Farmer’s Market

Stuffed Grape Leaves

Orecchiette with Kale

Chicken Burrito Bowl

Chocolate Cream Cups

Chinese Almond Cookies


Maple Taffy

Fiesta Friday!

Eliopita

Treats from outer space

I survived Snowpocalypse

Sweet potato and tahini cakes

Super Bowl XLVIII Sliders

Big JetBlue Plane

Super Bowl Treats


Flaming skirts, fiestas &
little bit of oooh la la!

Catbird Quilt Studio
post #100

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Spring Rolls or Summer Rolls?

13 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by Angie | Fiesta Friday in Cooking, Gardening

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

Asian food, Chinese cuisine, fresh summer rolls, herbs, recipes, spring rolls, summer rolls, Vietnamese cuisine

All three of them opted for the spring rolls, outvoting me. But I’m the cook, and I was craving summer rolls, so I made both.

spring rolls1
summer rolls1
spring roll
summer roll

Spring Rolls and Summer Rolls

First the summer rolls (sometimes also called fresh spring rolls), since they’re the cook’s favorite. How could anybody not like these? They’re the perfect healthy finger food for warm summer days.

I eat a lot of these, but I hardly ever make them myself at home. I think I had trouble rolling these before, into what I considered perfect cylinders, like the ones served in restaurants. So, I abandoned the idea of homemade summer rolls altogether.

But I’m a more confident cook these days, and after consulting a couple of cookbooks and online recipes, I gave it another go. Besides, I already had most of the basic ingredients on hand. Leftover rice papers from a previous attempt (good to know they last a long time, those papers), rice noodles, and all these herbs from the garden.

Herbs

These rolls can be filled with anything you like, really. The ones you get from the Vietnamese restaurants are usually filled with pork and shrimp. But to me, the best part of the filling is the fresh vegetables and herbs. And the rice noodles; they help give the rolls some body and are the perfect vehicle to soak up the sauce.

So, fill away. As long as you have the noodles and the fresh vegetables and herbs in them, I’d say you’ve made summer rolls.

I filled mine with rice noodles, julienned carrots, bean sprouts, cucumber sticks, grilled chicken strips, lettuce, and different kinds of herbs. I liked the ones with mints the most. And if you’re a vegetarian or vegan, you can omit the chicken, and will still enjoy an incredible meal.

But just in case you wanted chicken in yours, here’s the marinade recipe for it:

2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, minced finely or crushed into paste
1 tbsp minced lemon grass

Marinate chicken pieces (from 2 breasts) for at least 30 minutes, prior to grilling.

To make the rolls, assemble your ingredients first (mise en place is the fancy term for it) around either a chopping block or a large flat plate. I like using my glass chopping block for this.

summer roll filling mise en place

First, dip your rice paper in a shallow bowl filled with hot tap water. Not boiling hot, but hotter than warm. Don’t soak for too long; that was my initial mistake. It would render the paper too soft and thus tear easily. Around 5 seconds is all it needs. Don’t worry if the paper still feels rigid in some parts when you take it out of the water. It will continue to absorb the water as it lies on the chopping block or plate. Then, it’ll get all sticky. That’s what you want to happen. It’s now ready for filling.

Stack your filling ingredients into a neat rectangular pile on the bottom 1/3 of the paper. I started with a half lettuce leaf, then noodles, then chicken and other veggies and herbs. Then while pressing down on the filling with one hand, I folded up the bottom of the paper with my other hand. You can fold the sides at this point, if you like, and continue rolling up, tucking in the filling as you go. I found out they were easier to roll with the sides unfolded. And they looked prettier that way.

summer roll filling

After a few ugly rolls (too thin, too fat, torn wrappers), I was able to make pretty ones for the camera. Practice, practice, that’s all I can say, which means more rolls to eat!

summer rolls

Besides the fresh vegetables and herbs, the sauce also plays an important part in what makes summer rolls so yummy. I like peanut hoisin sauce best for my dipping sauce.

peanut hoisin sauce

Peanut Hoisin Sauce
This is taken directly from Mai Pham’s “The Best of Vietnamese & Thai Cooking.”

1 cup Hoisin sauce
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup puréed or finely minced yellow onion
1 tbsp ground chili paste, or to taste
1 tbsp chopped roasted peanuts for garnish

Put first four ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add a little water if too thick. Set aside to cool. Transfer mixture to a sauce dish and garnish with chili paste and chopped peanuts.

Now, onto the spring rolls. This is a recipe I’ve developed based on my family’s taste preference, but you can use any meat or vegetables you like.

The most important step of all is to place the filling is a colander lined with a bowl or plate once it is cooked, to make sure that any liquid in it drains away. Filling must be dry to achieve crispy spring rolls. Soggy spring rolls are the worst!

spring rolls

Spring Rolls
2 chicken breast, cup up into small cubes (TG can’t stand ground meat, that’s why. Otherwise, you can use ground chicken, pork, or even turkey.)
2 cups shredded carrots
6 cups shredded cabbage (You can add other vegetables. I’ve added kale, broccoli, even green beans. But cabbage is the norm.)
1 big onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped scallions
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
Salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp crunchy fried shallots (optional, but it adds a lot of flavor)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 package spring roll wrappers (about 25 pieces)

1. Marinate chicken in soy sauce, sugar, and pepper.
2. Sauté onion and garlic in oil, until onion starts to sweat.
3. Add chicken, sauté until chicken is just cooked.
4. Add carrots, stir until carrots are wilted, but not totally cooked.
5. Add cabbage and scallions, stir until cabbage are wilted, but not totally cooked. (This is quite an important step. Overcooked vegetables will turn mushy when spring rolls are deep-fried later.) Add salt & pepper as needed.
6. The most important step. Place the filling mixture in a colander to cool, so that all liquid drains away.
7. Once filling is cool, add the fried shallots, and mix thoroughly. Now you can start assembling the rolls.
8. Use about 1 1/2 tbsp filling for each wrapper.
9. Seal rolls with either egg white lightly beaten or a thick paste made of flour and water. I use the paste.
10. Deep fry rolls until golden brown.

Depending on how much filling you put in the rolls, you might end up with leftover filling. No problem, add beaten eggs and turn it into Egg Foo Young!

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Fiesta Friday #363

Fiesta Friday #363

While shocking images coming out of DC were being broadcast all over cable networks, I was quietly busy in the kitchen trying out recipes from our Fiesta Friday friends. And for that, I was immensely thankful. Nothing eases my mind quite like baking. The Sweet Potato Scones above were inspired by Jess’s Sweet Potato Biscuits. […]

Fiesta Friday #362

Fiesta Friday #362

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Fiesta Friday #361

Fiesta Friday #361

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Fiesta Friday #360

Fiesta Friday #360

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Fiesta Friday #359

Fiesta Friday #359

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