Crispy Seafood Spring Rolls

The crunchy texture of lettuce makes the rich seafood stuffing flesh. 
This is crispy, tasty and a perfect nibble!!

Ingredients (around 15+ large pieces of spring roll)

<For stuffing>

• Raw shrimps and scallops* 4-5 pieces each (chopped into 1.5cm) 
• Fresh crab meat  30g (drain the water) 
• Bamboo shoots           30g (shredded)
• Shiitake mushrooms or any kinds of mushrooms           4-5 pieces (shredded)   
• Lettuce leaves 4-5 (shredded) 
• Carrot 4-5 cm (shredded) 
• Spring onion 2 bunches (shredded) 
• Chinese chive  (if available) 6-7 stems (cut into 4-5 cm) 
• Rice noodles (soaked in a boiled water for 5 mins and drained and cut into 4-5cm)                    50g
• ginger 1tablespoon (grated)

*Instead for shrimps, scallops and crab meat, frozen seafood mix can be replaced.

<For seasoning>

• Chicken stock if powdered 1/2 tablespoon, or 1/2 cube
• Soy sauce             1.5 tablespoons
• Oyster sauce                        1 tablespoon           
• Sesame oil                        1 table spoon
• Sugar                                    1/2 tablespoon
• Salt                                    1/2 teaspoon
• Fish sauce                         1/2 teaspoon
• Chinese rice wine (if available)          1 tablespoon
• Cornflour                        1.5 tablespoons
• Water                   200cc

*Mix all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl

Spring roll pastry sheet  15+ sheets

Vegetable oil  
Cornflour and water for sealing the roll 

All are shredded or sliced into 4-5 cm length

Grate ginger over the shrimp and the scallop pieces

Soak the noodle in boiled water and drain

Directions

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium temperature. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and stir-fry all the vegetable ingredients except Chinese chives. When they are half done, add the shrimp and the scallop pieces.

2. Add Chinese chives, crab meat and rice noodles then add the seasoning mix. Stir-fry well until the flour became translucent and starched.

3. Spread the stuffing over a tray and let it cool down. This process prevent the spring rolls explode while they are deepfried.

4. Place 1.5 tablespoons of stuffing in a corner of a spring roll pastry sheet. Envelope it and then seal the end with cornflour dissolved in water.

5. Heat up vegetable oil filled in a large frying pan over medium temperature and deepfry the spring rolls.   

6. Once they are done, set aside on kitchen papers to remove extra oil.

 7. Extra spring rolls can be stored in freezer.

(Menu: Spring rolls, deepfried aubergine, tofu with sesame oil and salt, rice and miso soup)

Total cost (except rice): 5.7pounds

4 (Shrimp, scallops)1.34 (1/2 crab meat can), 1 (pastry sheet),  1.5 (all other ingredients of spring rolls):7.84 x 5pieces/15 pieces=2.61, 1 (aubergine), 1.6 (1/2 tofu), 0.5 (miso soup ingredients: peas and shimeji mushrooms)

Restart my blog!!

I had a busy but very productive time since the last upload. Finishing my PhD, had two journal publications and that, delivered a baby daughter!! 

I got my hands full in this new life and am absolutely happy with it!!

Though not so frequently, I will continue this blog involving a new perspective such as busy mom's time-saving but satisfying male (husband's) appetite cooking, baby food and child nutrition, etc.


Thank you for visiting my blog and hope you enjoy!!!



   

HAPPY NEW YEAR, though belated!!

Got a deadline of my PhD thesis correction on 31st January. So I needed to stay away from my blog. I shall powerfully post other dishes, including Christmas Leftover series after I submit it!!

In Japan, family gather up along with a festive cuisine called 'Osechi' on New Year's Day (1st January). Likewise Christmas in Europe, New Year's Day is very important for family in Japan. I tried some of them.

• Datemaki (right top): sweet omelette with fish paste 
• Kuri-Kinton (right bottom): sweet mushed potato with chestnut
• Namaru (left bottom): pickled radish and carrot with sesame seeds
• and salmon sashimi with ikura marinated with soy sauce and sake. 

 I also made Ebi-shinjo (right), a steamed shrimp paste with enoki mushroom.

Though not osechi, the main dish was roast lamb from Ginger Pig served with mashed parsnip with lemon sauce.

Ozoni, soup dish with shimmered veggies is essential for the Japanese New Year's Day. The contents is varied to region to region. This is my mom's style of Tokyo (?).

Datemaki

Ingredients:

• 5 Large eggs 
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 2.5 tablespoons of mirin
• 120g of red-snapper or sea bass or hanpen (japanese fish cake) (this time, I used  60g of hanpen and 60g of sea bass)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• Vegetable oil (for baking)

*I referred the recipe of Yoko Arimoto, a Japanese cookery teacher

Directions

1. Blend all ingredients in a mixer for 1 min

2. Heat up a large frying pan or a shallow pan over medium temperature. Grease the bottom and side with vegetable oil. Pour the datemaki batter into the pan then close it with a lid

3. Cook it for 25 mins over minimum temperature. Pierce the middle part of datemaki with a toothpick. If nothing comes with the pick when it is taken out, it's the sign that datemaki is ready 

4. Place datemaki immediately over a scroll. Cut the two opposite sides parallelling to the sides of the scroll. Place cut pieces in the front side 

5. Roll up datemaki from the front to the end tightly

6. Bind dakemaki with rubber bands and rest it at least over night. The process 4.-6. should be done while the datemaki is warm

7. Slice datemaki to serve with soy sauce and wasabi. It lasts 4-5 days in the fridge.

Total cost: 4-5 pounds. Depends on the price of fish and other ingredients
Time to prepare: 40 mins

Thank you for reading my blog!!

Best wishes for 2013!!

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 7: Omurice (Rice Omelette) with Roast Goose 

Omurice is a genius invention for using leftover rice and meat as introduced many times in this blog. Leftover Christmas Roast also worked well.

Ingredients (for two people)

• 2.5 cups of cooked rice 
• 1/2 large onion
• 3-4 eggs
• green peas (if available)
• 3tablespoons+ of Tomato Ketchup 
• 50g of leftover Christmas Roast Poultry
• salt and peppr
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Directions

1. Watch the Omurice scene in a cool film "Tampopo". 

2. Chop Christmas Roast and onion into pieces

3. Microwave rice for 1 min (this process makes rice easy to combine with other ingredients). Grease a frying pan with vegetable oil and fry onion and Christmas Roast for 3-4 mins

4. Add rice and combine while frying over medium temperature

5. Season the rice with tomato ketchup and pinches of salt and pepper

6. Place the rice in oval shape on a plate by using a bowl (please refer: http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/japanese-rice-omelet-omurice-sunday.html)

7. Make a flat omelette in a small frying pan and place it over the top of the rice

8. Draw whatever you like with ketchup over the Omurice.

Time to prepare: 20 mins
Total Cost:????

Christmas Roast Leftover Remake 6: Pumpkin Soup with Goose Bone Stock and Bread Pudding with Plum Compote 

The natural flavour from the stock prepared with leftover Christmas Roast Goose enhances the real taste of vegetables and then the soup becomes very elegant. 

It is definitely different from the one using chicken stock cube (though I enjoy it usually).

Ingredients for Pumpkin Soup (for 3-4 people)

• 1/2 of medium sized pumpkin
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 branch of celery without leaves 
• 1 tablespoon of butter 
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 400-500cc of goose bone stock (or 400-500cc of water and a half cube of chicken stock. In this case, avoid to use salt)
• (sour cream)
• (dill)

Directions

1. Microwave the pumpkin for 3-4 mins. Peel the skin and chop into rough pieces

2. Chop onion and celery into pieces and fry them in a deep pan with butter for 3-4 mins

3. Add pumpkin and soup stock, gently cook until all ingredients become tender for 5-6 mins

Goose Stock came out from freezer!!

4. Blend the soup for 3 mins. Once it gets smooth, put it back to the pan and add salt. Serve the soup with sour cream and some dill or chopped parsley on top.

I also add plum compote prepared at Le Cordon Bleu Christmas Dinner Workshop into the bread pudding.

Directions:

Cut bread into small bite sized and soak with 200cc of milk. Grease the baking tray with butter. Prepare caramel with 50g of dark sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and spread it on the bottom of the baking tray. Place bread, plum compote and rasin in the tray. Combine 2 eggs, 50g of sugar and 300cc of milk and pour into the tray and grill it in oven over 160C for 25-30 mins.

Total time to prepare: 10 mins for Pumpkin Soup and 40 mins for Bread Pudding

Total Cost: ??? Extremely inexpensive since most of ingredients are leftovers