Just sometime soon after we were engaged, my then-fiance-now-hubby, took me to this big rooftop restaurant for a treat. I was at my personal squirmy worst in such places, where you were supposed to make a reservation, and dress up. And when the Menu came, I acquired another darn good reason to hate those places-----the price!
My sweetheart had been there before and wanted me to try the sizzlers that they were very popular for. But after doing a good calculation in my nerdy calculator brain, I decided we would be (financially) unbroken ordering a simple dish and a sizzler, which was big portion-wise big enough to be shared! I was still in my college, with a hand in my parents' pocket and hubby had just started working, and I decided to be the practical one. I slyly scanned the menu for the cheapest dish, and found spring rolls. I had no idea what a spring roll was! It could as well be a boiled snake with an apple in its mouth, for all I knew.
After ordering, we chatted and looked around and found that there were bunnies and swans walking around in the rooftop garden and I did an imaginary drill in my mind to secretly feed the swans, if it actually turned out to be the snake, after all.
When the dishes came, we were caught by the novelty of sizzling super-hot food, that actually made a sound, and dug in. The Spring rolls went unnoticed and when we finally set our eyes on the simple unassuming fried rolls, cut diagonally resting on the bed of a confetti of cabbage and carrots, we took one piece each and took a cautious bite. After all the excitement over the sizzlers, this was one dish we liked, much comparable to ourselves- plain, filled with good stuff and getting along greatly with any of the three dips we were offered.
And when it came to paying the bill, even my adventurous hubby couldnt help keeping his pupils from being dilated. It was four times the amount we usually had a filling meal at any other restaurant. We decided then and there, that this kind of dining was simply not us, but the memory of spring rolls remained. Now I make it for the kids, occasionally and we laugh about the day when the three of us met, and got acquainted!
Ingredients:
Spring roll wrappers- From any Asian market. The refrigerated ones are much better than the dry ones, in my opinion. One pack has plenty to feed a family of four about 2-3 times.
1 egg- beaten with 1 tsp of water
1/2 of a medium cabbage, sliced as thin as possible
1 carrot- shredded
1/2 of 1green bell pepper, shredded
pepper and salt to taste
Meat (optional) - You could use leftover cooked shredded chicken or turkey or any browned ground red meats. Very little is needed for this recipe- Just a quarter cup per cup of cabbage.
Orange Sauce:-
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp juice
2 tbsp fresh crushed ginger
1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 1/2 cup water
Method:-
First make the orange sauce, by mixing the ginger, sugar and orange juice in a nonstick sauce pan, and boiling it. When it gets a little thicker, add the corn starch solution. Filter it and remove the ginger pulp. Return the filtered sauce to the pan and boil until thick. Remove from fire, and let it cool down. If you need more kick in your dip, just go ahead and add some hot sauce to it or ground pepper, to suit your tastes.
Now separate the (thawed, if frozen) spring roll wrappers carefully. Keep aside.
Mix all the ingredients together (except the wrappers and egg wash) and squeeze gently to remove any moisture. Now lay one wrapper flat on a clean surface and fill it with about 1 tsp of the mixture (if using the small wrappers) and about 1 tbsp if you are using the large ones.Follow the image on how to roll up a spring roll.
Repeat until the filling gets used up.
Wrapping up a spring roll can be quite messy and eventful- esp. the first time you do it. But just go liberal with the egg wash and try to seal up the loose edges as you go!. I have learnt from experience, pressure and spring rolls don't end up well. So its better if you roll them up first and arrange them on a platter without touching each other and then move onto frying.
Heat oil in a fry-pan, until hot. One way to tell is to dip a wooden spoon into the oil and see if bubbles are rising to the surface from the spoon.
Fry the rolls carefully until golden brown all over. Serve hot with orange sauce. Enjoy!
My sweetheart had been there before and wanted me to try the sizzlers that they were very popular for. But after doing a good calculation in my nerdy calculator brain, I decided we would be (financially) unbroken ordering a simple dish and a sizzler, which was big portion-wise big enough to be shared! I was still in my college, with a hand in my parents' pocket and hubby had just started working, and I decided to be the practical one. I slyly scanned the menu for the cheapest dish, and found spring rolls. I had no idea what a spring roll was! It could as well be a boiled snake with an apple in its mouth, for all I knew.
After ordering, we chatted and looked around and found that there were bunnies and swans walking around in the rooftop garden and I did an imaginary drill in my mind to secretly feed the swans, if it actually turned out to be the snake, after all.
When the dishes came, we were caught by the novelty of sizzling super-hot food, that actually made a sound, and dug in. The Spring rolls went unnoticed and when we finally set our eyes on the simple unassuming fried rolls, cut diagonally resting on the bed of a confetti of cabbage and carrots, we took one piece each and took a cautious bite. After all the excitement over the sizzlers, this was one dish we liked, much comparable to ourselves- plain, filled with good stuff and getting along greatly with any of the three dips we were offered.
And when it came to paying the bill, even my adventurous hubby couldnt help keeping his pupils from being dilated. It was four times the amount we usually had a filling meal at any other restaurant. We decided then and there, that this kind of dining was simply not us, but the memory of spring rolls remained. Now I make it for the kids, occasionally and we laugh about the day when the three of us met, and got acquainted!
Ingredients:
Spring roll wrappers- From any Asian market. The refrigerated ones are much better than the dry ones, in my opinion. One pack has plenty to feed a family of four about 2-3 times.
1 egg- beaten with 1 tsp of water
1/2 of a medium cabbage, sliced as thin as possible
1 carrot- shredded
1/2 of 1green bell pepper, shredded
pepper and salt to taste
Meat (optional) - You could use leftover cooked shredded chicken or turkey or any browned ground red meats. Very little is needed for this recipe- Just a quarter cup per cup of cabbage.
Orange Sauce:-
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp juice
2 tbsp fresh crushed ginger
1 tbsp corn starch dissolved in 1/2 cup water
Method:-
First make the orange sauce, by mixing the ginger, sugar and orange juice in a nonstick sauce pan, and boiling it. When it gets a little thicker, add the corn starch solution. Filter it and remove the ginger pulp. Return the filtered sauce to the pan and boil until thick. Remove from fire, and let it cool down. If you need more kick in your dip, just go ahead and add some hot sauce to it or ground pepper, to suit your tastes.
Now separate the (thawed, if frozen) spring roll wrappers carefully. Keep aside.
Mix all the ingredients together (except the wrappers and egg wash) and squeeze gently to remove any moisture. Now lay one wrapper flat on a clean surface and fill it with about 1 tsp of the mixture (if using the small wrappers) and about 1 tbsp if you are using the large ones.Follow the image on how to roll up a spring roll.
Repeat until the filling gets used up.
Wrapping up a spring roll can be quite messy and eventful- esp. the first time you do it. But just go liberal with the egg wash and try to seal up the loose edges as you go!. I have learnt from experience, pressure and spring rolls don't end up well. So its better if you roll them up first and arrange them on a platter without touching each other and then move onto frying.
Heat oil in a fry-pan, until hot. One way to tell is to dip a wooden spoon into the oil and see if bubbles are rising to the surface from the spoon.
Fry the rolls carefully until golden brown all over. Serve hot with orange sauce. Enjoy!
Thanks yaa..I will definitely try this up...will get back to you hopefully with a photo of it....
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome, Raakhee! That would be awesome. Thanks!
ReplyDelete