Martha Liaos Spring Rolls Recipes

Steps:

• Place the rice noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Soak for 20 minutes, or until pliable. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drain the noodles and add to the boiling water. Boil 1 minute and drain. Rinse with cold water and transfer to a bowl. Using kitchen scissors, cut the noodles into 2-inch lengths. Toss with 2 teaspoons of the rice vinegar and the soy sauce
• Place the shredded carrots and turnips, slivered mushrooms and chopped herbs in a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the rice vinegar and salt to taste. Place the lettuce in another bowl and toss with the remaining vinegar and salt to taste
• Fill a bowl with warm water and place a spring roll wrapper in it just until it is pliable, about 30 seconds. Remove from the water and drain briefly on a kitchen towel. Place the wrapper on your work surface in front of you and arrange several cilantro sprigs, whole mint leaves and basil leaves, vein side up, on the wrapper. Leaving a 2-inch margin on the sides, place a handful of the carrot mixture on the wrapper, slightly nearer to the edge closest to you. Top with a handful of lettuce, then a handful of noodles. Fold the sides in, then roll up the spring rolls tightly, squeezing the filling to get a tight roll. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve with a dipping sauce of your choice, if desired

Steps:

• Combine the bean thread noodles, mushrooms, onion, carrots, and green onions in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
• Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the fish sauce, garlic, salt, sugar, and black pepper. Add the chicken and pork and using a fork, break up the meat, so it is thoroughly mixed with the seasonings. Add the noodle mixture and mix well. Set aside.
• Combine the cornstarch and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over low heat and stir often to prevent sticking. If mixture seems too thick, add more water. This will be the "glue" to seal the edges of the wrapper.
• Cut the wrappers in half diagonally. You will have two equal triangles. Starting with the longest side toward you, place about 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom area of the triangle. Using your fingers, mold the filling into a cylinder 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. Fold the two pointed ends of the wrapper in and roll to enclose. Dab a little cornstarch mixture along the edges (do not use too much "glue") and seal the roll. Set aside while you finish making the remaining rolls. Do not stack them.
• To fry, preheat a large wok or fry pan. When hot, pour enough oil in to completely cover the spring rolls. Heat to about 325 degrees. Carefully place the rolls into the oil. Do not crowd the pan or place the rolls on top of each other. Fry the spring rolls until filling is cooked, about 5 to 6 minutes on each side, turning often until they are nicely brown and crisp. If they brown too quickly, reduce the heat as the oil is too hot. Remove the cooked spring rolls from the pan and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with dipping sauce and table salad .
• To enjoy a spring roll the Vietnamese way, put it on a lettuce leaf, top with cucumber and mint, and wrap it up. Then dip in Vietnamese dipping sauce.

Steps:

• Cover mung bean noodles with warm water and soak until soft, about 30 minutes. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Combine pork, bean sprouts, cabbage, mung bean noodles, egg, light soy sauce, sugar, and white pepper in a bowl. Mix well.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook garlic until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork mixture and stir-fry until pork is cooked through and looks somewhat dry, about 3 minutes. Add more soy sauce, sugar, or pepper to taste. Set aside to cool.
• Stir 1 tablespoon flour with some water to make a sticky paste for sealing the spring rolls.
• Lay 1 spring roll wrapper on a flat work surface with one of the corners facing you. Place a scant teaspoon of the cooled filling right below the middle of the wrap. Fold the corner facing you over the filling. Roll the filling up about a half turn. Fold the left and right sides in to create an envelope shape. Finish rolling up the spring roll tightly, sealing the top corner with a dab of the flour paste. Store unused wrappers and finished spring rolls under a moistened kitchen towel, to prevent them from drying out.
• Heat oil in a heavy pot over medium-low heat. Fry spring rolls in batches until cooked through and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Steps:

• Line a rimmed baking sheet with a double layer of paper towels. Arrange tofu in a single layer on sheet, and top with another double layer of paper towels. Place a baking sheet or a baking dish on top, and weight with heavy cans. Let stand until tofu has released excess liquid, at least 20 minutes (or up to 1 hour). Cut tofu into 1/4-inch dice.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, scallions, and celery, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 6 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high. Add tofu and shrimp, and cook, stirring, until shrimp are pink, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl, and let cool. Stir bean sprouts into cooled shrimp mixture.
• Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap, allowing a 1-inch overhang. Whisk egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water. Lay a wrapper on a clean work surface in a diamond shape, with one corner facing you. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp kitchen towel.) Arrange 2 tablespoons filling in a horizontal mound about 3 inches from bottom corner of wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling, then fold in sides halfway. Starting at the bottom, roll up wrapper to form a tight cylinder. Brush top corner with egg wash, and press to seal. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, and cover with plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
• Add enough oil to a large skillet to come 1/2 inch up the sides. Heat oil over medium-high heat until it registers 375 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer. Working in batches of 3 or 4, add spring rolls, seam side down, and fry, turning often, until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Using tongs, transfer to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Add vermicelli to boiling water and cook just until soft. Immediately transfer vermicelli to ice-water bath to cool. Drain and cover with a damp towel until ready to use.
• Fill a clean spray bottle with water and mist the surface of the rice papers to moisten. Cover with a damp towel and set aside.
• Place another damp towel on work surface. Lay one rice paper on top of towel. Place a lettuce leaf on the bottom third of the rice paper and top with 1/8 of the vermicelli, cilantro, and mint leaves. Roll rice paper away from you, about halfway, pressing down to form a tight cylinder. Fold about 1 1/2 inches from each side over the filling.
• Place 2 shrimp halves, cut sides down, over the crease. Top with 3 chives so that about 4 inches of the chives stick out at one end. Continue rolling rice paper away from you to form a cylinder. Seal edges with a little water. Repeat entire process with remaining rice papers and filling.
• Cut rolls in half and serve with fish sauce dip.

Steps:

• Heat a wok or medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and tofu and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add carrot and water chestnuts and stir-fry until heated through, about 30 seconds.
• Add tamari sauce. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in nuts, sesame oil, and green onions and toss to combine. Remove from heat.
• Fill a bowl with warm water. Dip one of the wrappers in the water for 15 seconds, or until softened. Then carefully transfer it to a dry work surface.
• Arrange 2 to 3 tablespoons of the spring roll filling in an even horizontal mound just below the center of the wrapper. Roll up the rice paper to form a tight cylinder, folding in the sides about halfway. Assemble the remaining spring rolls the same way.
• Coat a large baking sheet with a cooking oil such as canola. Use just enough to keep the rolls from sticking. Arrange spring rolls in a single layer, leaving a little space between them. Brush rolls with cooking oil. Broil the rolls until lightly browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes, checking frequently to avoid burning. Use a spatula to turn the rolls over and continue to broil another 8 to 10 minutes. Serve each roll wrapped in a lettuce leaf, with Lime and Soy Dipping Sauce.

Steps:

• In a very cool room, tie duck wings together using kitchen twine. In a cool room, hang duck from kitchen twine over a large bowl overnight, about 8 hours.
• Fill a large pot with 4 cups water, 2 scallions, ginger, and honey; cover and bring to a boil. In a medium bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1 cup cold water until well combined. Whisk cornstarch mixture into boiling water mixture until it is the consistency of a light gravy. Stir in wine and vinegar; remove sauce from heat.
• Add duck to pot and spoon over sauce, for 3 to 5 minutes, until very well coated. Remove from sauce and hang duck again, in a cool room, over a large bowl for 4 hours.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Fill the drip tray of a vertical poultry roaster with water; set in a roasting pan. Place duck on vertical roaster and transfer to oven. Roast until duck is golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh (but not touching the bone) reaches 175 degrees. Take care with duck grease as you roast; if too much begins to accumulate in roasting pan, ladle into a disposable heatproof container as the duck cooks and discard.
• Meanwhile, prepare frozen steamed rolls according to package directions. Quarter white parts of remaining 5 scallions and cut into 2-inch pieces, reserving green parts for another use.
• Thinly slice duck and serve with steamed rolls, scallions, and sweet bean or hoisin sauce.