Curry Egg Rolls

For those who like to eat dim sum, sitting around a table filled with aromatic food and steaming, hot tea is the best. Egg rolls have long been a favorite among the old and the young. Maybe people may like them for its crunchiness, others for its warm filling, but I like them for both reasons.

Because my mom had been craving for them, I decided to give it a try and make them. It turns out making egg rolls is really not that difficult. Here, I've added a little twist and made curry egg rolls instead of the regular ones. Enjoy!

Ingredients:



Filling:
-1 pound fresh pork
-1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
-1/2 pound cabbage (= 1/2 small green cabbage)sliced thinly
-4 stalks green onions, diced
-1 carrot, diced
-1 can thinly sliced bamboo shoots (optional)
Pork Seasoning:
-1 teaspoon soy sauce
-salt and pepper to taste
-1-2 tbsp cornstarch
-2 tsp sesame oil
1 package egg roll wrapper
1-2 tbsp curry powder (depending on mild versus spicy)
1 egg white
*ingredient quantity can be adjusted, depending on your own preferences

Directions:

1. Season pork with seasoning and marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Slice the carrots, cabbage, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and green onions.
3. Heat wok, add a dash of salt for taste. Stir fry carrots, cabbage, and mushrooms separately. Remove from wok.
4. Stir fry pork and cook until well done. Add in bamboo shoots to pork and cook. Finally add green onions and mix everything else into wok.
5. Stir in curry and mix well. Set aside to cool.
6. Lay wrapper flat on surface, scoop ~1 tbsp filling to center and spread out in a line, leaving edges of wrapper free. Fold side edges to center, then lift bottom end into center and roll upwards. Close wrapper by dabbing a bit of egg white along the last edge and seal.
7. Heat a wok or pot with oil. When ready, add in egg rolls and fry until golden brown under medium to low heat. Drain excess oil with paper towels.
8. Store unused egg rolls in the freezer.

Don't forget the worchestire sauce for dipping! ^_^

Kimbap

What is more convenient to eat than kimbap when you're studying and have no time to cook? Kimbap is a type of Korean rice roll simply made of lightly seasoned rice, egg or a kind of meat, and vegetable slices that are all wrapped in a sheet of seaweed. Of course, there are countless variations as to what you put in them. For me, I like to put in 5 ingredients; egg, spinach, carrots, cucumber, and fishcake. Alternatives to try are pickled radish, beef/ bulgogi, imitation crab; be creative! Though it will initially take some time to make, you can make them by the bulk and save time in the long run!


Ingredients:

4 cups cooked rice (short grain white rice)
1 pack seaweed sheets
2 whole eggs cooked, sliced into long strips
1 carrot, sliced thinly
1/2 pound spinach, parboiled
2 cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 sheet fishcake, sliced
vinegar sauce for rice: 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp rice vinegar, 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sesame oil, sesame seeds
fishcake sauce: 1/2 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, pepper to taste, 2 tbsp sesame oil




Directions:

1. Cook rice and let cool slightly. Then add vinegar sauce to rice, mix well.
2. Stir fry carrots with a dash of salt.
(optional: stir fry cucumber or can be left uncooked)
3. Fry eggs into flat pancake and slice into long strips.
4. Blanch spinach and add little sugar, sesame oil, soy sauce for taste.
5. Cut fishcake into 1/2 inch width long strips. Cook fishcake sauce, add fishcake to absorb sauce.
6. Lay the seaweed sheet with the shiny side facing down on the bamboo sheet roller. Evenly spread out half a cup of rice onto seaweed so that 2/3 of the sheet is covered, leaving the top 1/3 bare.
7. Lay each ingredient on top of rice.
8. Roll from the bottom up, pressing down so that fillings stay in. Continue to roll till the top part. Dab a tiny bit of water along the top seam of the seaweed to hold the roll together.
9. Give the roll a final squeeze and slice into 1/2 inch rolls (each roll can yield 7-8 pieces).

**Tip**
Use clingwrap over rolls for easier slicing.

Banana Bread

In commemoration of my first post, I would like to share something that I myself enjoy making very much. I’m sure many of you have experienced not knowing what to do with over-ripe bananas that are too mushy to eat. So instead of throwing them away, a better alternative is to recycle them into something else.

Here is a classic banana bread recipe for banana lovers. This recipe has worked for me on first try, so it really shouldn’t be difficult. If you’re like me who likes to change the recipe or substitute ingredients, that’s fine as well. Everyone has different tastes and preferences, so why not make something that you’ll enjoy! It’s simple, quick, resourceful, and tastes good, so be sure to give it a try!


Banana Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/4 teaspoon salt


• 1/2 cup butter


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 2 eggs, beaten


• 2 -1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.


2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.


3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

Yield: 1 loaf


Comments and questions greatly welcomed.