Monday, October 26, 2009

SPRING ROLLS


There shouldn't be a recipe for spring rolls unless you like it in a certain way. And I do.

I like it when the spring roll skin has been lined with lettuce leaves for prettiness, smeared with 3 kinds of sauces for piquant-ness, heaped with julienned vegetables for crispness, piled with fruit for sweetness, sprinkled with crushed peanuts for crunchiness and maximised with shards of prawn crackers for saltiness. And only then will my spring rolls be perfect, nice, fat and outrageous.


That's the way I like it..... uh huh

But there is some work to be done beforehand. Don't be scared......just a little slicing, shredding and some Aristotelian compartmentalizing. And maybe a little boiling.... Uh huh...

Sengkuang or turnip I like. But I like them cooked. And I like them sweet. Because that's what my favourite spring roll stall does. I know because I asked. The turnip is shredded and boiled in brown sugar syrup until the turnips become gentle and soft and sweet. As sweet and gentle as you like it to be.


The carrots and the cucumber are to be brilliantly julienned, the sunshiny pineapple is to be peeled and chopped into bitty bits, some roasted peanuts crushed with a little love and some prawn crackers (or potato crisps) fragmented into tintillating pink shards. That's the Nigella part.

The 3 sauces are to be ready on the work top with a teaspoon dipped in each. Hoisin sauce from your supermarket shelf, taucheo sauce (yellow bean sauce) from the same shelf and a cooked chilli paste either bought in a bottle or homemade from blended dried chillies and sauteed in some amount of oil with a wisp of sugar and salt. That's the saucy part.


The spring roll skin would behave if separated and peeled before hand and covered with a damp cloth to prevent drying.

And the lettuce leaves would be very happy if they were washed and patted dry very tenderly.

Get a spring roll skin to lay quietly on the board. Introduce the pretty lettuce to the spring roll skin and let them be together. Spoon tiny dollops each of the saucy sauces onto the lettuce leaves to add some excitement. Bring the sweet shredded turnips (drained of syrup), julienned carrots, julienned cucumber and pineapple bitty bits together in a heap of fun. Then add a dash of crushed peanuts and the shards of pink prawn crackers for some wickedness.


Bring your fingers together and rock and roll.

Have a great party!

20 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

What a darling recipe:) The words alone uhuh I like them:) but w/ the photos and tips:) Brilliant:) Oh so well done..
This is like the saying.."If you do something..do it well:)"

Ju (The Little Teochew) said...

Pink prawn crackers in spring rolls! That's something new to me BUT what a brilliant idea! A crispy dimension, eh? Zurin, how apt that you photographed these gorgeous spring rolls in the sun! They are perfect food for hot, humid weather. I agree with Monique - so VERY well done!

Bren said...

uh..huh..ah huh..i like it.. I like the way u described it that makes me drool..:) That's a creative recipe..must try :) Thanks.

3 hungry tummies said...

beautiful looking spring rolls, i happened to do a vietnamese bbq , n wrap the meat with rice paper and herbs, have a look :)

http://3hungrytummies.blogspot.com/2009/10/another-bbq-but-vietnamese-touch.html

Anonymous said...

My word, how do you make spring rolls sound so tantalising! The tip about boiling the turnip in brown sugar syrup sounds precious, and I absolutely love the addition of the crackers. What a great way to roll! :D

Faida said...

I like..I like..I like Steamed spring roll is the way I like it. I like the tender loving care you portrayed on them, the most. Thats the other side of you I just learned :-))

Jules UmmEmJoey said...

Love spring rolls! And these look so fresh and yummy!

Quinn said...

In Malaysia, I rememeber we have spring rolls too and they are called popiah. Delish to the max too!!!

Anonymous said...

Your spring rolls are too good to be eaten! A far cry from the ones I always buy at Pasar Malam TTDI on Sunday hehe.
If I see your spring roll, I can just look on, sayang nah nak makan!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

This remind me that I have so long did not make popiah, yours look really well done, and I like your photos too, look really refreshing with added green leaves..

Zurin said...

Monique, Tq so much for the kind words. M glad u enjoyed the post :)

Ju, yes the crackers add a lovely crunch and flavour, Tq too. it was hot outside..too hot ..i think the photos were a little too shadowy cos of that but good enough to post i suppose. :)

Sweet kitchen, tq do try k :)

hungry tummies, tq for dropping by :) ill go look at ur blog :))

ovenhave, tq..sweet turnips and prawn cracker are good :)

Faida, glad u like it :))

Ruqayyah, hope you try it. its easy :)

Quinn, yes its popia :)

Percicilan, tq, theyre quite good if I have to say so myself :D...i go to the sunday pasar ttdi too :)usually to buy fish and fruits.maybe we've 'met'.. heh

Sonia, tq please try n let me know k :)

Anonymous said...

I love lining the popiah sring rolls with lettuce too. We can get popiah pastry here in Sydney. Drooling!!

Nadia said...

NICE!!!!!!!! as always love the photography! mummy do you have recipe for tomato soup.now it's so cold i think i might try and make yr mushroom soup (schiwimming schuit) for the kids..nura was asking tadi

Anonymous said...

That looks beautiful and colourful and healthy. I love the idea of these! :D

Zurin said...

Ellie,Yes lettuce is nice :) good that u can get the skin in Sydney...or rice paper is good too isnt it?tq for dropping by :))

Juli, tomato soup hmmm ive never made that...if I did no one will eat it...lol..

but the mushroom soup is really good ur adik so crazy about it but I have to make it rarely cos of the cream..too rich...but we had it with garlic bread....mmmm so YUM

lol Nura schiwimming schuit! LOL...so cute..big time..we were just talking about your kids and Iwas saying that Nura was the cutest as a baby/toddler...miss them at that age pulak....lol

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

Dear Zurin, about the Hoclick cookie, actually the butter and flour are equal weight, dont worry about the flour, just follow to my recipe. About the taste, is just taste like normal cookie, can't really taste the Hoclick, and chocolate taste from the koko crunch. The important thing is this cookie is not hard at all, store immediately in airtight container once it turned cool. If you hesitate, I suggest you start with half portion from the recipe given, no harm to give it a try. Let me know if you need further info. Never try never know..quickly do it.

terri@adailyobsession said...

i just made spring rolls last fri, but unhealthy ones bc i deep fried them. for unfried ones like yours, vietnamese spring rolls wrappers are best, not as dry as frozen popiah skin. i'm told u can get fresh popiah wrappers/skin in west m. lucky ppl.

Zurin said...

Sonia , thanks...i will try :))

Terri, Yes we can get fresh popia skin :))) n I had it in my fridge but when I used it(knowing that it wld be better than the frozen ones)....but it tasted yukky (like cardboard)cos I had frozen them about a week b4 I decided to make the popia.(indecision is my worse trait).so it tasted worse than the ready frozen ones. I actually steamed the skins to soften them but ..SIGH.. too much work..lol

I was thinking of rice paper too because htey are definitely prettier and tastier but I didnt have that because I was thinking of the fresh popia skin all the while ..LOL.....nt expecting to throw it into the bin after all the stroking n cuddling of the package I did when I bought it!! :))

AND I had the frozen popia skin in my freezer left over from making the seaweed crackers! tadaaa..

So Thats my not very happy spring roll story..LOL

Moral of the story? make sure Terri dont see if I make popia next time and I use frozen popia skin......LOLOLOLOL

I love u Terri...yes I do... uh huh

Anonymous said...

i love spring rolls.
esp when i get to put in as much filling as i want!
its fun to make too.
oh so very hungry now :(

Through My Kitchen Window said...

Not only beautiful looking but sounds delicious and healthy too. What a plus!

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