Hiromi_X
Vietnamese egg rolls, con't
As promised, the egg rolls. For the skins, please use the super thin Vietnamese rice paper ones, not the Chinese wheat flour ones. It just won't be the same; in fact, it'll be gross. Buy the 6" papers, rather than the larger size. They're best when you use ground pork and crab, but I'm not used to working with crab and anyway can't afford it, so I use shrimp. I once ate an all-crab version in Hanoi that was to die for. About buying fish sauce (nuoc mam in Vietnamese) - get the lighter color ones with a higher price - they tend to be better quality. I'm still trying to find one that I really like. When I was in Japan, I had a Vietnamese friend who told me the best one to buy, but it's not available here.
 2/3 pound ground pork, 1/3 pound shrimp, fish sauce, wood ear fungus (if you click on the photo, note that the brand is "Genuine Fungus"), rice paper wraps, one small yellow onion, two eggs, two cloves garlic, carrots, three scallions, 2 oz bean thread noodles (not shown - I forgot to put them in the photo). |  Soak about 6 fungus and the bean thread noodles in hot water for 30 minutes. |  Grate enough carrots to produce one cup (note the shapely mound). Finely dice the onion and squeeze them to remove excess water. Chop the scallions and shrimp. I like the shrimp to be a bit chunky. After they've finished soaking, cut the bean threads into about one inch pieces, and finely chop the fungus. |
 Finely chop the garlic. Mix it with the two eggs, 2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp fish sauce. Beat all this together. Mix this with the solid ingredients in a large bowl. |  Here's a close-up of the rice paper. These are dried on woven bamboo mats, hence the pattern. To soften them, turn on your hot water faucet and run the paper under the tap on both sides for about three seconds. Don't oversoak or the paper will tear. It should get only slightly bendy. |  Put on a non-stick level surface immediately. I like to use a cutting board (I do two at a time). Put a heaping tablespoon of filling on the bottom third of the paper and shape it into a cylinder. Don't overstuff it or it'll explode during frying. |
 When the paper has softened enough to fold, fold the lower part of the paper over the filling. |  Fold the two sides over as shown. |  Roll into a cylinder. |
 After you finish rolling them, place them seam side down on a plate. Make sure they don't touch each other, or they'll stick. The recipe makes about 30, but you can freeze them. Make sure they're separated by cling wrap or something, though. |  Fry until golden brown. Again, make sure they don't touch each other in the pan or they'll adhere. Serve with the dipping sauce explained yesterday. If you want, you can put some of the chili sauce shown into your sauce to make it hotter. |  The best way to eat the egg rolls is to wrap them in lettuce. You can add cilantro (which I love) and thinly sliced cucumber (which I forgot this time). I use more vegetables than is normal, I think. Dip the bundle into the sauce, and eat! |
Comments
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1. Posted by wayne on January 21, 2006
This one, I'm going to make. Yum.
2. Posted by Karl Elvis on January 21, 2006
Disregarding the fact that the shrimp would kill me, I think this demonstrates that Hiromi's food is easily better than my median sexual experience, at the very least.
3. Posted by Ray on January 21, 2006
The shrimp can easily be replaced by crab. In fact, I think crab is the original ingredient.
I think food-sex comparisons are made by people who truly live to eat. It's hard to explain - eating can be as euphoric and giddy-making as sex for us food cultists.
I also say food is my religion.
4. Posted by Hiromi on January 21, 2006
MMMM..... Nummy. And crab... Crab actually should start showing up pretty quick. The season for dungeness started Dec. 31/Jan 1. BUT, by the same token, it was delayed because of a late moult.
I am SUCH a geek. Who loves seafood :)
5. Posted by Darkneuro on January 21, 2006
I'm with Brett. Sex is sex and food is food. No food in bed, and no comparisons between.
6. Posted by Karl Elvis on January 22, 2006
Hiromi; you like to read, I know that. Cookbooks make poor reading (generally - I'll still browse in the Larousse I was given as a wedding pressie) so instead allow me to recommend "The Art of Eating" by M F K Fisher... It's only 14.93 on Amazon, and well worth missing a couple of Happy Meals for. While this is a book from the 'older generation' and can get bogged down at times, it sings in many places and combines narrative, oral history (well, *written* oral history anyway) and some beaut food writing all in one long fat volume. People who don't combine and compare sex and food have missed some of the circuitry of sensuality in their development.
7. Posted by henry b on January 22, 2006
p.s.
Books! "Kitchen Confidential" is a must-read in the food/life debate.
"Serenely full, the epicure would say,
Fate cannot harm me, - I have dined to-day."
- Sydney Smith (1769-1845)
8. Posted by Henry B on January 22, 2006
p.p.s.
". . . gastronomical perfection can be reached in these combinations: one person dining alone, usually upon a couch or a hillside; two people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good restaurant; six people . . . dining in a good home."
- M.F.K. Fisher, "An Alphabet for Gourmets". 1949
9. Posted by Henry B on January 22, 2006
I can't count the number of times I've heard somebody say at the dinner table "oh my god, this is better than sex". Every once in a while even about something I've cooked myself.
Outstanding food can't be overrated. And mediocre sex is highly overrated.
10. Posted by Ray on January 22, 2006
Henry, I did read Kitchen Confidential - it's one of my favorite books. I love his rant on vegetarians. Jeffery Steingarten and Robb Walsh are two other favorites; I also like Alton Brown.
I don't get why food and sex can't be compared. There's nothing inherently illogical about ranking different sensory or emotional experiences.
You get a really bad meal, you shrug it off. You get really bad sex, and you can be scarred for life. ;)
11. Posted by Hiromi on January 22, 2006
Hiromi,
believe you could take your love of food and create a cookbook that if combined with your blog would be a winner. Call it "Food and/or Sex" and write it just as you have written your blog. To achieve a publisher you would merely have them review your blog pages.
Please give it some thought as this would sell.
My wife collects cookbooks. Has over 400 from our travels. None, I repeat, none have the ability to hold one's attention as your blog has.
12. Posted by wayne on January 22, 2006
mmm! i might make some of this this afternoon.... well, that is if i've got any wraps left. i'm not sure.
13. Posted by sporkfoo on January 22, 2006
Okay, I'm going to have to try those. They look wonderful!
14. Posted by TinaMarie on January 23, 2006
I had a Thai mate rave about 'Golden Boy' brand of fish sauce, if you're still looking for a decent bottle...
15. Posted by g..k..s..t..r on June 9, 2007