You Won Ton?

I want to start first by reminding everyone that I am not Asian. I was grown on healthy doses of meat and potatoes, an occasional stir-fry and a touch of hamburger helper. I have yet to have any formal training in Asian cookery or the ancestry to back my home-made how-to's. But what I do have is an un-dieing, un-satiated can't-get-enough-of-this-shit craving for all things curried, coconuted, stir-fried, soy sauced, fish sauced, sesamed or originating from rice. I'm dangerously addicted to these flavors. I have this twice monthly tradition of going out to Thai, all by myself. There's times when I bring a friend, or just get take out. But it's one of my favorite things to just sit down by myself with a hot plate of spicy basil noodle, some warm sake and no one to interrupt my important readings of the The Little Nickle and the county classifieds ( I was really disappointed the first couple times cause I forgot to bring my book, but then I found I actually enjoyed reading about all the useless crap people have and how much they want people to pay them for it, $3,000 for a used queen size mattress, are you kidding me?!)

I usually sneak a bit of Asian influence into all my cooking, a touch of soy here and some sesame oil there. Stir-fries are the number one go-to meal in my house. And, I'm a total whore when it comes to cilantro. Me and my dearest Khya have plans on taking over the world with our home made cilantro soap. We just love it so much that it only seems natural to want a daily rub down with our favorite food. Then, of course, after fulfilling our sudsy dream, we could help others do the same, like those of us who just want to roll around in Cinna-Bon's could just use the soap instead, or, for the men folk out there, we'll have a nice T-bone scent. I'm sure we're on to something here...

Anywho, as I was saying, I love Asian influences, but I rarely get down with a cook book and follow a recipe. It's more just hints of flavors mixed with other random ingredients. Well, today, I didn't follow a recipe, but I got pretty darn close to the real deal. I spent most my morning reading my Wok and Stir-Fry cook book. I got so much inspiration, and really tried to focus on the the key ingredients they were basing their recipes on. I decided on spring rolls. It's basically just a delicate stir-fry wrapped in a won ton and fried. Perfection! And so easy to make. I ended up only using about half my filling, so I took the rest, added a bunch of spinach and some nice firm tofu. Served over some brown rice, it was awesome. All the textures and underlying flavor layers were there to hold back my cravings for one more day.



So, here's my attempt at making traditional Asian food. 'Keep it simple' is a philosophy I noticed throughout my readings this morning. Don't muddle all the flavors by using too many ingredients, and definitely don't overdo the spices so you can't tell what your chewing on. Enhancement is key here.

Gingered Cabbage Pork Rolls
makes plenty 30-40 rolls

2 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
One half fennel bulb, thinly sliced
One small zucchini, cut into matchstick sized pieces
Half red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 pound ground pork
2 T minced ginger
2 cloves minced garlic
hand full fresh chopped cilantro
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 t sriracha
fresh ground pepper
1 t sesame seeds
a pinch of red pepper flakes

1 package won ton wrappers (I made the mistake of getting the smallest ones possible, if you can get the mid-sized wrappers, it's just easier)
5 cups, or so, peanut oil
small dish of water, for rolling the rolls

So, once you have everything chopped, it's really quite simple. Cook your veggies in batches, start with a bit of oil in a hot wok or heavy bottom saute pan, and do a quick fry on each veggie adding just a touch of salt and some pepper (not too much, as you will be adding soy sauce later). After finishing your veggies place them all together in a bowl and set to the side. Cook your meat in the same fashion, midway through add your ginger and garlic. When finished, add to veggie mix. Fold all your sauteed ingredients together and finish them by adding the rest of your seasonings. Give it a taste and make any changes, more spice or salt, or if your like me, more cilantro! At this point, you can start heating your oil for frying, you can do it in your wok or in a high sided heavy bottom pan.
Now for the rolling. I like to set up an assembly line when I'm doing any repetitive work like this. Lay out 4 or 5 wraps and place a tablespoon or in the center of each (this is the part where you'll find it was really important to thinly slice all your vegetables, big chunks really get in the way). Start by folding one corner up to the top of your filling an tucking the filling underneath. With a wet finger, paint the folded corner with water then fold each end over, tucking in the corner flaps and sticking it to the wet middle. Then, gently tuck all the ingredients into the envelope you've created, wet the remaining corner tightly roll it over to seal up the roll. Continue until until all your won ton wrappers are used. Don't start cooking until your done assembling, they tend to cook rather quickly. Really, I think whatever method you use to get these little guys all rolled up is good, just remember to keep your work surface dry to avoid any unwanted sticking, and make sure to apply enough water to keep your folds stuck together.
Test your oil for heat, I usually put a little scrap in to see how fast it bubbles, when hot enough cook rolls in batches, 4-5 at a time, flipping them over half way through till nicely golden brown. Keep in a warmed oven until ready to serve.

Also, had I had enought forthought, I would have made a really awesome cucubmer relish to go with these, but the Thai sweet chili sauce I had on hand was an awesome dip.