Martha Liaos Spring Rolls Food

MARTHA LIAO'S SPRING ROLLS

Steps:

• Place cellophane noodles in enough hot water to cover; let stand until softened, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet with a lid over medium-high heat. Add cabbage and cook, stirring, until coated with oil. Season with salt and cover; cook until cabbage is soft, about 5 minutes. Transfer cabbage to a large bowl; set aside.
• Add enough oil to lightly coat bottom of skillet. Add pork, garlic, and ginger; stir to combine. Add soy sauce, wine, and sugar. Whisk cornstarch together with 1/4 cup water until well combined. Add to skillet and cook, stirring, until mixture is thickened and pork is cooked through.
• Drain cellophane noodles, cut into 2-inch pieces and add to skillet; stir in scallions and sesame oil. Transfer pork mixture to bowl with cabbage; toss to combine. Let filling stand until cool, about 4 hours.
• Place 1 wrapper on a work surface, with 1 corner facing you. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp kitchen towel.) Arrange 2 tablespoons filling in a mound in center of wrapper. Fold bottom corner over filling, then fold in sides halfway. Roll wrapper to form a tight cylinder, leaving top corner exposed. Brush top corner with a little of the beaten egg, and press to seal. Cover with a damp kitchen towel. Repeat process with remaining wrappers and filling.
• Fill a large heavy-bottomed saucepan halfway with canola oil. Heat over medium-high heat until temperature reaches 365 degrees on a deep-fry thermometer. Working in batches, cook spring rolls, turning occasionally, until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat process with remaining spring rolls; serve hot.

SPRING ROLLS WITH CARROTS, TURNIPS, RICE NOODLES AND HERBS

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

THAI SPRING ROLLS

Steps:

• Soak bean thread noodles in warm water for 10 minutes, drain, and cut into approximately 1" sections.
• Mix ground pork, noodles, vegetables, and seasonings in a large bowl.
• Place 2 tsp of filling in corner of spring roll wrap, roll to middle, fold in side corners, use the beaten egg to seal the top corner as you finish rolling the spring roll.
• Deep-fry the spring rolls in batches so that they don't stick together, and drain on papertowels. Serve while still hot with Sweet chili sauce for chicken (found in most Asian food stores).
• Alternatively, freeze the rolls prior to deep-frying. Fry when needed, and they will be just as good as if you had rolled them that day.

CRISPY SPRING ROLLS (CHA GIO)

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.

FRESH SPRING ROLLS

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.

MARTHA LIAO'S PEKING DUCK

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.

LUMPIA

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.