Zizi's Adventures - Real Food, Real Stories

Spring Rolls With Citrus Soy Sauce

by

Spring rolls are a large variety of filled, rolled appetizers. There are fried and non-fried version available. I made non-fried savory spring rolls (these are typically bigger than the fried ones). They contain crisp, fresh veggies and are served with a perky citrus soy dipping sauce. I filled the wrapping with raw ingredients: sweet crunchy carrot and red bell peppers, spicey spring onions, cooling cucumbers and cooked rice noodles.
They are lots of fun to make with friends. Get rolling! Spring is here!
Spring Rolls with Citrus Soy Sauce
Ingredients (serves 5-6)
For the spring rolls
– 1 long cucumber (or 3 smaller ones), thinly sliced
– 2 red bell peppers, thinly sliced
– 1 bunch of sping onion, thinly sliced
– 3-4 carrots, cut into julienne
– 200 g thin noodles, pre-cooked (use rice, Chinese or bean thread noodles)
– 1 packet (20 pieces) spring roll rice paper wrappers
– coriander, basil, chopped (optional)

For the citrus soy sauce
– juice of 2 lemons
– juice of 2 clementines
– 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
– 3/4 cup soy sauce

Method

To make the sauce in a bowl whisk together all the sauce’s ingredients and set aside.

To assemble rolls, dip one piece of rice paper in warm water to soften (for about 15 seconds) and shake gently to remove excess liquid. Lay wrapper on a clean, dry surface. (Don’t forget that this paper is very thin and the more you pack in, the harder it will be too seal without it breaking.) Arrange some of the noodles in the center of the wrapper. Lay a small handful of carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper and spring onion slices on top of the noodles.

The roll up… I like to pull one side of the rice paper (that is closer to me) completely over, trapping in the ingredients. Then, fold your edges in and bring the remaining side over for a complete seal. Repeat until all ingredients are used up. (Here are two videos that help you to learn how to roll.)

Serve spring rolls sliced on the bias with dipping sauce and enjoy!

 

Mini Dorayaki – Japanese Pancakes with Adzuki Beans Paste

by

Adzuki bean widely grown throughout East Asia and the Himalayas for its small (approximately 5 mm) bean. Sweetened azuki bean paste is used in a variety of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean sweets. Whether used in bread or pastry fillings, sweet soups, pancakes, or ice cream, the essential adzuki bean is usually highlighted as the main flavor. Its assertiveness is best complemented with neutral ingredients but it is also common to add flavoring to the bean paste, such as chestnut. I don’t know if it is true but it is also said that an adzuki-flavored Pepsi product was released in Japan a couple of years ago. That’s interesting!

Make these pancakes on a lazy weekend when you have nothing else to do just staying in bed late, reading a good book, drinking a nice cup of hot tea and watching a great movie. These are my favourite programs to relax the hectic weekdays.

How do you relax?

Mini Dorayaki – Japanese Pancakes with Adzuki Beans Paste

Ingredients

For the pancake
– 1 and 1/4 cups white spelt flour, sifted
– 1/4 cup cold water
– 2 organic eggs

– 1/4 cup cane sugar
– 2 tablespoons honey
– 1 tablespoon sunflower oil plus 1 tablespoon for oiling pan
– 1 tablespoon mirin
– 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

For the adzuki beans paste
– 1 cup adzuki beans
– 3/4 cup cane sugar

Method

Soak the beans in three times their volume of cold water for a night before cooking. Drain, then put them in a pot of cold water again with the sugar; bring them gently to a boil and cook them until tender (45 minutes). Drain and mash the beans with fork or in a blender. If you have leftover, it freezes well.
Break eggs in a bowl and add sugar, honey, sunflower oil and mirin. With a whisk, beat the mixture by hand until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Add dry into wet in batches, whisking in between. Once all combined, slowly add just enough water to form a smooth batter. Heat a pan over medium heat, add small amount of oil and spread with a piece of kitchen paper. Turn heat to low, pour enough batter to make a 9cm pancake then cover immediately with a lid and bake until small bubbles form on the surface and the bottom is nice and brown. Turn the pancake over and cook the other side. Repeat process to make about 36 pancakes(18 dorayaki). Fill one side of the pancake with azuki bean paste and sandwich with another pancake.

Spicy Udon Noodles with Cabbage and Shiitake

by

I mentioned earlier that I have been a fan of oriental noodles – udon, soba, vermicelli, etc. – for a while. Udon is a type of thick wheat flour noodle popular in Japanese cuisine. The origin of udon in Japan is credited to Buddhist priests who traveled to China around the beginning of the 9th century to study Buddhism. He got back to Japan with the recipe of udon.

Udon noodles are served chilled in the summer and hot in the winter. Toppings are chosen to reflect the season and to balance with other ingredients. Most toppings are added without much cooking.

Spicy Udon Noodles with Cabbage and Shiitake

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the noodles
– 200 g udon noodles
– 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, soaked in water for about 30 minutes, caps thinly sliced
– 1 small cabbage, thinly sliced
– 4 cloves garlic, chopped
– 150 g tofu, diced
– 1 small piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
– 4 spring onion, thinly sliced
– 3 tablespoons sesame seeds
– 1 tablespoon coconut oil
– salt

For the sauce

– 2 tablespoons soy sauce
– 2 tablespoons water
– 1 teaspoon dried chili

Method
In a dry pan toast the sesame seeds over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until pale golden, then transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
Heat the coconut oil in a pan, add garlic and ginger and saute them until fragrant. Add shiitake and saute, stirring frequently until it gets tender. Reduce the heat to medium and add tofu, after 5 minutes cabbage and spring onion too. Cook, stirring occasionally until tofu and cabbage is crisp-tender and a bit golden brown. Pour over the sauce, simmer 2-3 minutes more. Set aside but keep it warm.
While cabbage is cooking, cook udon in boiling salted water until the noodles tender. Drain well, transfer to a large bowl, give the vegetable mixture, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with fresh chopped spring onion on top.

Vegan Pho Soup

by

I have been the fan of oriental noodles for a while. Then I saw a short video about Vietnamese Pho soup. I knew I had to try it. After learning it what I should put into the vegan pho soup base I started cooking.

The first tasting was a bit different but from the fresh ingredients and the herbs it turned out better than I had expected. I will definitely cook it again.

Vegan Pho Soup

Ingredients

For the broth
– 3 carrots, sliced
– 1 celery (tuber), sliced
– 1 onion (leave the skin on), chopped into half
– a piece of ginger (leave the skin on), chopped into half
– 3 teaspoons soy sauce
– 1-2 teaspoons salt
– half lime’s juice
– 1 lemongrass stalks, thinly sliced
– 3 liters water

For the soup
– 200 g rice noodles, cooked according to the instructions on the bag
– 8 pieces of dried shiitake, stemmed, soaked in water for about 30 minutes, caps quartered
– 3 spring onions, chopped
– 200 g bok choy/spinach, chopped
– 200 g tofu, diced
– 2 cloves garlic, chopped
– 1 small piece of chilli, chopped
– fresh coriander, chopped
– salt, pepper
– soy sauce
– lime
– coconut/olive oil

Heat a dry pan and lightly brown onion and ginger (cut-side down). Place the onion and ginger in a pot, then add carrot, celery, lemongrass and water. Bring it to boil then simmer it for about 30 minutes. While making the broth, cook the rice noodles. Heat coconut oil in a pan, add garlic, then tofu, season with pepper and soy sauce and fry it. Set aside.

Check the flavour of the broth, add soy sauce, salt, pepper, lime juice, continue to simmer for about 5 minutes then strain the broth. In a soup bowl place some noodles, bok choy, shiitake, tofu, spring onion and pour the soup onto the toppings. Sprinkle with coriander and chilli and season it with soy sauce, lime juice if it’s necessary.