Spring Rolls

Two posts in one day after months without a peep? Yes! I am prone to my particular excesses.

Spring rolls are amazing in the summer. I am not going to call these "easy," as there is a modicum of skill and some deep prep involved in assembling the mise en place. But they are a good project for a weekend afternoon, if you are crazy like me and enjoy the meditation of preparing many little components just so.

Ingredients:
- spring roll wrappers
- rice vermicelli, cooked, drained and chilled (I used the thinnest I could find, but this would actually be more authentic with the next size up)
- shredded chicken
- carrots, julienned and quick-pickled (a splash of vinegar and 1 Tbsp sugar, add water to cover)
- basil leaves
- mint leaves


Dry spring roll wrappers are discs of rice paper.


Soak them in water for about 15 seconds per side. Too long and they will get waterlogged and slippery and won't stick properly when you go to roll them.


Then transfer to another surface for assembly (a slightly moistened cookie sheet, in my case)


Plop the noodles on the round wrapper, slightly off center. You want them to be on the side that is closer to you.


Add all the other fillings.


Now start rolling. Always roll away from yourself, as this makes it easier to get a nice compact package instead of a floppy roll.







Do this a bunch of times. Your first few will probably be floppy and ugly. Eat them immediately to destroy the evidence of your failure. I usually eat at least 2 while making them because being a one-woman operation means I have to conduct my own QC audits.



Peanut dipping sauce:
- 1 Tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- a splash of sesame oil
- a splash of rice wine vinegar
- minced garlic, or garlic powder
- chili paste, or red pepper flakes
- 3+ Tbsp water to thin

Chicken Adobo

Ok, so I've made my friend Mike's pork adobo before and it is addicting and porky and salty and sweet and all the bad things for you in life. I'm actually making it right now using the excuse that the oven will help keep the house warm in this unseasonable Texan cold snap.

But the NY Times posts this article about the ADOBO WARS and publishes a chicken adobo recipe. This recipe is amazing. It winds up tasting like a clean curry. The sugar caramelizes slightly on the chicken skin. I just poured the left over sauce on leftover rice and ate it alone, but it also goes well with other meats. If it makes it that far.

So I took one camera phone picture of my bowl before I devoured it and most of the rest of the chicken. I made this recipe with a whole butchered chicken (thighs, drums, tenderloins, breast, wings) and it worked fine. It's not going to be as sinful as an all dark meat version, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Served with stir fried bok choy.



Also yes. This is the only pretty set of bowls in the house. Stephanie bought them for me years ago and they are still trucking as the happy part of my odds and ends plate collection.

Hot Pot pt 1 (broth)

Okay. Tonight I am starting the hot pot broth and I will kick myself later if I don't write this down right as I'm doing it. In this bigass pot I have

1 lb pork soup bones (lots of knuckles and neck)
2 large fat carrots cut into diagonal chunks(4 or 5 normal sized ones, these were the freak asian market ones)
1 lemon grass stem cut into diagonal chunks
2 inches of galangal root sliced thick
a half dollar sized knob of ginger sliced thick
half a head of garlic
1 tomato, sliced into wedges
2 stalks of celery
1 onion sliced into half moons
1 Tb Szechwan peppercorns
2 Tb salt
1 Tb sesame oil
2 Tb chinese cooking wine
water to the top of the pot

let simmer overnight and reevaluate.

This morning I added another large knob of galangal, more salt, an extra lemongrass stem and another inch or two of ginger.

Asian slaw

uh. hi. Yeah I know I've been bad. But I've been trying to cut down on dishes that are bad for me and cream heavy and meat heavy and I finally made something delicious that boys will eat that is also delicious.

I hated cole slaw. Forever. I mean. It was just scary. Turns out, more mayo issues! So we had this at our friend's parent's house and it was delicious and I made a version out of whtaever leftovers we had.

Essentially, if you ever feel like slicing things up really thin



Or just grating things for a while. make this.

I used half a cabbage, a large carrot, 4 sprigs of green onion, two crimini mushrooms and a handful of peanuts for the slaw itself. And the shredded leftovers of a roast chicken from earlier in the week, but this can be omitted to make this a vegetarian dish.

For the dressing i used 1 garlic clove, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, a teaspoon of black vinegar, a tablespoon of rice wine, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and blended it all together. I'm going to have to play around with these ratios, but it should make enough to toss the slaw in. you can also vary ratios to taste. I tend to like things a little soy saucey and a little tangy. Ginger is good if you have it and a little black pepper. You can add a touch of sugar if you want, but i think the vegetables work well for sweetness on their own.

Other things you can add if you have it: cilantro, mint, bean sprouts, sriracha, citrus juice.

Toss all together. can sit around let the flavors meld but man I just ate it two minutes after I was done mixing it and it's way too tasty for raw cabbage.