Organic Spring Rolls

By á-3354

Inspired by the works in Chinese Dim Sum (Chinese Edition)(which also has full English translations throughout), I formulated and created an organic spring roll full of healthy choices with flavors that play out in the mouth not unlike a fine aged wine or amazing pure chocolate. The prep time on these takes longer than the actual cooking time and they can be frozen and used later if you so desire.

Ingredients

• 1 Pack Sunlee Rice Springroll Rounds (Size 16 cm) (From your local Asian Market)
• 1 Bowl of Water
• 1 Organic Yellow Onion (diced - you may substitute Asian green onions)
• 3 Stalks Organic Celery (diced)
• 3/4 Cup Shiitake Mushrooms (diced)
• 3/4 Cup Baby Bella Mushrooms (diced)
• 1 Can Bamboo Shoots (diced)
• 1 Can Chestnuts (diced)
• 1/2 Cup Organic Carrot (diced)
• 3/4 Cup Baby Bok choy (blanched then chopped)
• 2 Tbsp Cornstarch (dissolved in water)
• 2 Tbsp Organic Sesame Oil
• 1 Tbsp Organic Shoyu (soy sauce)
• 1 Tbsp Organic Agave Nectar
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp White Pepper
• 4 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
• Tools
• Chinese Wok
• Chinese Wok Spoon for Stir Frying
• Blanching Pot
• Bowl of Water
• Chef Knife
• Cutting Board
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Cup
• Parchment Paper and Scissors

Preparation

Step 1

The Spring Roll Filling

Asian cuisine is an art form to all of the senses: the layers of taste, the texture, the aroma and the visual presentation. This does not mean that you have to be an artist to make this dish. Asian culinary secrets are found in the most important place, within each and every one of us as we posses the ability to relax and breathe. The invitation from this dish is to be in a mindful place of being with yourself as your prepare each stage. This means simply noticing your thoughts, your breath, your body and not holding onto or judging anything that arises from within you. From chopping to stir frying to rolling the rolls, simply BE with you and with the ingredients. I guarantee that if you do this, your dish will sing in ways that will blow you away!

Begin with your baby bok choy. You can find fresh organic baby bok choy at your local farmer's market, Asian market or grocer. I buy mine at my local farmer's market. Wash it thoroughly and then cut the leafy tops off just below where the leaves terminate into the stalk. You can use the white bottoms in other stir fry dishes or soups, we will not be using them in this dish.

Bring a pot of water to a boil while you are cleaning and prepping your baby bok choy as you are going to blanch the leaves. To do this, have a bowl of cold water also ready near your boiling pot of water. Drop your leaves into the water and let them boil for 2 to 5 minutes. The water will turn a beautiful green and your leaves will become even more vibrant. Carefully scoop them out of the water and place them immediately into the cold still water to stop the cooking process.

Next, take a handful of leaves and ball them into a mass in your hand, gently squeezing the excess water out. Then chop the mass of greens into a loose chop. Not too fine as the leaves will greatly reduce in size upon cooking.

Set your chopped baby bok choy aside and move onto your other ingredients. You are now going to dice each of the following, keeping in mind that you want all of your dice to be about the same size and shape across your various ingredients for a texture consistency in your final dish: onion, celery, carrots, bamboo shoots, chestnuts, shiitaki and baby bella mushrooms.

I buy the 8 oz cans of Dynasty brand bamboo shoots and water chestnuts from my local Asian market and then drain and dice the ingredients. I pick up my mushrooms from my local Farmer's Market from "The Mushroom Lady" (see my Mushroom and Garlic Soup for more about her amazing fungus!) Wash your shrooms, removing any woody stems and then dice. I mix my two mushroom dices together in a separate bowl in preparation for the wok.

Next we are going to prepare our wet mixture, which will also go into the wok in the last stage of cooking. In a measuring cup, add your cornstarch and enough water to cover completely with a splash more. Mix the two together thoroughly. Then add your sesame oil, Shoyu, agave, salt and pepper. Mix all of the ingredients together and set aside.

The wok is an amazing culinary invention and a must have for any kitchen, especially for those vegans out there! I have 3 different size woks, but for this dish I chose my largest (18") carbon steel hand hammered Pow Wok from China. If you are in the market for an authentic Chinese wok, visit The Wok Shop as their prices are AMAZING and no one does Woks like they do! If you are in Northern CA, you can visit their shop in San Francisco's China Town district.

Heat your wok on high heat. I use a gas stove, which is the preferred heat source for this type of cooking. Add a couple of table spoons of good sesame oil and let the oil get really hot, to the point that you smell the aroma of the oil. Add your onion, carrot, celery, bamboo and chestnuts and begin stir frying. This means using your wok spoon to move the ingredients around in a fairly continuous motion, remembering that the center of the wok is the hottest point and the sides cool more and more as you move away from the center. In the end, you are looking for the carrots to cook all the way through, being the toughest member of your veg medley.

After a good 10 minutes or so, add your baby bok choy and mushroom mixture and continue stir frying your ingredients together, making sure to evenly distribute all the bok choy as it cooks. Take your time. Keep breathing and being with yourself and your dish in a mindful way.

The wet mixture you made earlier is now ready to be added to your wok. Give the sauce one more good whisk and then pour it into the middle of your veg. Your carrots should be about fully cooked at this stage. Mix everything together, noticing how the sauce thickens the mixture - the magic of cornstarch!

Scoop your filling into a bowl and set aside to cool. You will want your filling to reach room temperature or even cooler before using it to make your rolls. You can place it in the fridge if you are short on time.

The outer wrapper

The wrappers are simply made of rice and water and are firm and brittle when removed from the package. I buy mine from my local Asian market. They come in several sizes and shapes. For these rolls I use the 16 cm rounds from Sunlee. I recommend you take one out and try to fold it in half to see how rigid it is out of the bag, impossible to make a roll! So we add the magic of water.

I set up my rolling work space by using a wooden chopping board to roll on, a large shallow bowl with water to soften my outer rice papers with, my filling and a container lined with parchment paper to house the finished rolls. Remove all of your rice paper skins from the plastic wrapper and have a kitchen towel on hand to keep your fingers clean. You do not want to contaminate your water or accidentally smear excess filling around your work area.

Begin by placing a fresh skin into your bowl of water and fully submerge it. give it a good 10 count and then flip it over for another 10 count then flip it again. You will notice how it immediately begins to soften. Remove the wrapper from the bowl and let the excess water drip off. Place it flat onto your wooden cutting board with the bumpy side facing you, as this is the inside of the roll. The smooth side of the wrapper is the outside of your finished springroll. With your fingers, wipe the excess water away. Using a small spoon (abut a teaspoon in size), place 2 scoops of ingredients about 1/4 of the way onto your wrapper. Use your fingers to make sure the scoops are evenly distributed together and form a nice line.

Gently fold the bottom of the wrapper up and over the top of the filling.

Then, gently fold the left side up and over onto the filling (not unlike wrapping a present).

Then gently fold the right side up and over the filling. Now you have an envelope shape.

Using your fingers to tuck the filling in, towards your body, roll the wrapper one time forward, away from your body.

Roll again, pulling back slightly to maintain some tension on the wrapper and roll the rest of the way. You have your finished roll! Place the roll on parchment paper and be careful not to touch the sides of your rolls together or to stack them without parchment paper between them as they will stick together and may be almost impossible to separate. Serve them with a Hoisin dipping sauce.

You can also deep fry these finished rolls in vegetable oil, but here we are looking to keep health up and excess fats down, so I opted not to fry them. Serve with a fresh cup of hot Chinese whole leaf Jasmine tea!