Chinese New Year Spring Rolls

Chinese New Year eve is the most important day of the big celebration. The whole family may spend hours making the feast and it is only a private meal, for family only. Homes are scrubbed clean entirely, debts are repaid, new clothing laid out and children are washed head to toes, so everyone is ready for the new year.

At home, we always spend hours making spring rolls 'Chun juan'. I make it in the morning and serve it all day long. It mark the start of the spring season. chun means 'spring' which is why these rolls are good to eat at Chinese new year eve.

Again, I only serve vegetarian food during the first 3 days of the new year for good karma. I made these fabulous spring rolls recipe to be fabulous. A variety are such as cabbage, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, shiitake mushroom,s, leeks, spring onions or shredded carrots.

Servings: 50 egg rolls
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 fresh shiitake mushroom or dried shiitake (soak in boiling water until soft), julienned
• 1pkt  500g pack glass noodles (Buy it from here: http://www.noodlesonly.com/
• 1/2 small cabbage (about 3 cups), shredded (napa or regular cabbage)
• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 8-ounce can bamboo shoots, drained and julienned
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 stalk spring onion, finely chopped
• 1 leek, julienned
• 1 shredded carrot
• 2 handfuls of fresh bean sprouts
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• salt according to taste
• 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (add water to become paste)
• 50 spring roll wrappers, defrosted
• cooking oil, for frying

Instructions:

*If using Chinese dried mushrooms, soak them in very hot water for 20 minutes to rehydrate. Cut off and discard the stem.

In a large saute pan or wok, swirl in 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil. Turn on the heat to medium-high and immediately add garlic, ginger and green onion, stirring frequently. By the time the oil is hot, add the mushrooms, cabbage, carrots and bamboo shoots.

Turn heat to high and stir-fry the vegetables for about 2 minutes. and then toss in the bean sprouts. Add in the soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook for another minute. Then spread the filling out onto a large baking sheet. Prop the baking sheet up on one side to allow any sauce or oil to accumulate at the bottom (and discard)

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of cool water to form a paste

How to fold spring roll: http://www.wikihow.com/Fold-a-Spring-Roll . Note:  I  using store-bought rice wrapper/sheets, start the process from step 4 onwards. At Step 9, instead of sealing the spring rolls with eggs I use cornstach paste prepared earlier.

In a large wok or saucepan over high heat, add about 1-2 inches of cooking oil

Slide several egg rolls into the oil and allow them to cook for 2-3 minutes, turning them over a couple times, or until the wrappers are golden brown. Remove the spring rolls to a cooling rack or paper-towel-covered plate to allow them to drain. Serve hot.

Chinese New Year Longetivity Shiitake Noodles

Chinese New Year is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. It celebrates the start of new life and the season of ploughing and sowing. This Chinese New Year begins on 31 January 2014. It is a traditional time for feasting with family and friends.  Dinners tends to be very elaborate involving tables laden with auspicious food. Almost every dish has a symbolic meaning  for fortune, happiness, longevity and prosperity. 

Today I made Shiitake Noodles to commemorate the new year.  This is a vegetarian dish  because it is considered fortuitous for garnering good karma by refraining from eating food that has been killed. Vermicelli is used because is signifies longevity in Chinese culture. It is long and can be eaten without being cut up.

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Serving size:  8 person

Ingredients

• 500g pack dried rice vermicelli (buy from: http://www.noodlesonly.com/rice-vermicelli/)
• couple dashes toasted sesame oil
• 2 tbsp groundnut oil
• 2 clove garlic, finely chopped
• finger-length piece fresh root ginger, grated
• 300g fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (100g if dried. Soak overnight)
• 1 leek thinly sliced into lengthways strips
• 150g fresh watercress
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp thick dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

Method

1. Soak the rice vermicelli in hot boiling water until soft. Make sure stirring it occasionally to ensure the noodles are fully emerge into water. Rinse in cold water to prevent noodles from sticking. Drain water entirely. May toss with a little sesame oil to stop them sticking.
2. Heat 2 tbsp groundnut oil in a wok over a high heat. When it starts to smoke, add finely chopped garlic cloves, ginger and leek to stir-fry for a couple of secs, then throw in the shiitake mushrooms.  Stir for 2 mins then add the cold vermicelli and the sauces (fish+light+dark soy). Cook until all the liquid is absorbed and the veg is properly mixed then serve straight away.  Sprinkle fresh watercress on top of noodles.

The pasta basics.

 

I often cook to the wrong amount pasta. When cooked too much, cold leftover pasta can be used in cold dishes such as salad or broths.  Also, I always wonder if I am serving the right sauce with the right pasta.  Therefore here is some basics of pasta:

Pasta is an ingredient like no other. It is cheap to buy, easy to cook, delicious to eat and highly versatile. Available in a wide variety of shapes and textures, this simple food made from durum wheat can form the basis of limitless range of dishes.

Durum wheat

Durum wheat makes the best flour for commercial pasta. Majority of pasta making industry are grown in Italy or imported from North America. The flour from durum wheat is called semola in Italian, makes high-quality pasta that holds its shape well. Pasta made with 100% durum are usually more expensive than regular range however it is generally better quality combining flavours.

Nutritional values

Pasta is a completely natural complex carbohydrate food that contains no additives.  Pasta with egg contains most nutrients, while wholewheat pasta has the highest percentage of vitamins and fibre. Rich in protein, pasta provides as much energy as a pure protein like steak, but with little or o fat.  As it contains six or eight amino acids essential to make up a complete protein, it only needs a small quantity of cheese, meat, fish pulses or sauces to make it complete.  

In Italian cooking, ingredients such as extra virgin oil, fresh and canned tomatoes, garlic, onion, red peppers and fresh parsley are used all the time. For ease of use, pasta is also used in soups and broths, dishes in tomato sauces, cream sauces or in tasty salads.

How much pasta to serve?

Serving pasta as first course is 65g-90g (2.5 to 3.5 oz.) uncooked per person. If serving as main course simply increase the weight of uncooked pasta to 115g-175g (4 to 6 oz.) per person.

Source: J. Wright, ‘Classic Pasta’, Annes Publishing Ltd., 2009

Really twisty vege fusilli.

REALLY FRILLY FUSILLI

I made this pasta dish for a party of 4. It took me 30 minutes to prepare and another 10 minutes to cook.  

The fusilli I used were made with organic durum wheat. (Get it from: http://www.noodlesonly.com/la-bio-idea-organic-tricolore-fusilli/). It contains three colours, red (tomato),  green (spinach) and yellow (durum semolina). Not only it is colourful but also healthy to eat.

Durum is a very hard wheat which contains highly of protein and gluten. It is commonly used to make pasta because the dough hold together well making it easier to roll into pasta shapes. When milled to remove the bran and germ, leaving the rich yellow endosperm granules which is called semolina. When these semolina is used to make pasta it becomes ambered-coloured giving pasta a lovely golden hue.

 

The ingredients:

 

• 1kg/2¼lb tomatoes, soaked in boiled water peeled and chopped.  cheat: tinned tomatoes *1
• 1kg/2¼lb spinach, washed.
• 1 courgette(zuchinni), cut lengthways.
  2 medium sized fresh red and yellow each, cut lengthways.
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped.
• 1 tbsp roasted sesame seeds.
• good quality olive oil
• 350g/12oz pasta fusillI
• 4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan.
• salt and pepper
  
  

  Method:

  1. Put a large pan of water on to boil with a little salt.                               
  2. In another large pan warm four tablespoons of olive oil over a medium flame and add the peppers, garlic and courgette. Gently fry these for a minute or so and season with a little salt and pepper, then continue to cook gently while the pasta boils.                    
  3. Drop the pasta in the boiling water and stir immediately. Cook until just tender with a little bit of resistance to the bite (al dente). This could take anything between 7 and 12 minutes depending on the type of pasta you choose.                                        
  4. When the pasta has nearly finished cooking, transfer a small ladle of the cooking water to the vege mix and continue to cook over a high heat until tender.                     
  5. When cooked, drain the pasta. Add another two tablespoons of oil and the sesame seeds to the vege mixed. Toss with the drained pasta and serve immediately.
  6. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese according to your taste.
     
     
      
     Alternatively,
     
     For GLUTEN FREE, you may also use other pasta such as the orgran pasta range http://www.noodlesonly.com/orgran-corn-vegetable-fusilli-pasta/. This pasta is made with corn and rice therefore suitable for those noodles lovers with sensitive digestion.

                    

NO CARBs chinese stir-fry noodles

NO CARBs chinese stir-fry noodles

Shirataki are very low carbohydrate, low calorie, thin, translucent, gelatinous traditional Japanese noodles made from devil's tongue yam (elephant yam or the konjac yam). The word "shirataki" means "white waterfall", describing the appearance of these noodles. Largely composed of water and glucomannan, a water-soluble dietary fiber, they have little flavor of their own.

Here, Slim rice pasta (http://www.noodlesonly.com/eat-water-slim-rice/) is used to make 'chow mein'. It is a regular fried noodles you buy in takeaways or in Chinese restaurants. An alternative to egg noodles, it contains very little carbohydrate and it contains minimal gluten.  The recipe included here is suitable for diabetic and food enthusiasts who love to eat but are counting calories.

Chinese chow mein

 

 Recipe for 2 serving bowls 

Cooking time:10 minutes

• 1 packet of Slim Rice (To buy: http://www.noodlesonly.com/eat-water-slim-rice/)  
• groundnut oil
• 2-3 tablespoons low-salt soy sauce 
• 2-3 tablespoons dark thick soy sauce 
• 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds. 
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger thinly sliced.  
• 2 cloves of chopped garlic. 
•  ½-1 fresh red chilli to your taste thinly sliced1 chopped shallot 
• 2 spring onions.chopped
• a handful mangetout
• a handful cabbage
• 1 carrot thinly sliced. 
• may add mushrooms as option 

Cooking instructions:

1. There will be a starch odour when open the Slim Rice® but it will soon off after rinsing it under warm water tap 2 to 3 times. Strain all the water out before cooking.

2. Heat the groundout oil and the fry the chopped shallots, ginger and garlic for approximately a minute until it is aromatic.

3.  Add all the vegetables and the rinsed noodles. Fry the mix for another one minute.

4.  Season the noodles with soy sauce, dark soy sauce and salt according to your taste

5. When the vegetables are soft pour it into two bowls. (Some may like their vegetables crunchy therefore remove from heat after it is mixed).  Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of the cooked noodles before serving.

Note: you may add mushrooms, water chestnuts, cooked prawns or cooked chicken if you fancy it.