Vegetarian Spring Rolls

It didn't take long for me to realize that my new deep fryer was going to be trouble. Last week I made more hot wings (they're so quick and sinfully good) and then fried up a batch of spring rolls.

The recipe came from this cute little Thai cookbook (appropriately called Thai) that I got from a friend that has been my Thai bible. I'm sure there are better cookbooks but it's so small and handy.

VEGETARIAN SPRING ROLLS

1 oz. fine cellophane noodles
2 t. peanut oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 t. grated fresh ginger (see note)
1/2 c. oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced (I used shitake)
2 scallions, finely chopped
1/2 c. beansprouts
1 small carrot, finely shredded
1/2 t. sesame oil
1 T. light soy sauce
1 T. rice wine or dry sherry
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1 T. chopped fresh mint
24 spring/egg roll wrappers
1/2 t. cornstarch
peanut oil for frying

1.) Place noodles in large bowl. Cover with boiling water and let stand for 4 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, then drain again. Cut into 2 inch lengths.

2.) Heat the oil in a wok or wide pan over a high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, mushrooms, beansprouts and carrot and stir fry for about 1 minute until just softened.

3.) Stir in the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine, pepper, cilantro, and mint, then remove from heat. Stir in noodles.

4.) Arrange the spring roll wrappers on a work surface, pointing diagonally. Mix the cornstarch with 1 T. water ( I used hot water so it dissolved) and brush the edges of 1 wrapper with this. Spoon about 1 T. of filling onto pointed side of wrapper.

5.) Roll the point of wrapper over filling, then fold the sides in over filling. Continue to roll up and moisten wrapper with cornstarch mixture.

6.) Heat oil in wok (or in my case, deep fryer) to 350 degrees. Add rolls in batches and fry for about 2-3 minutes (it took me 5-8) until golden brown and crisp.

I served the eggrolls with two different sauces. In one bowl I had sweet chili sauce (no changes, just served straight from the bottle) and in the other I combined soy sauce (a few tablespoons), honey (about 1-2 t.), and minced Thai chili (just one, they're hot!).

Note: the ginger grater below is the BEST grater you can buy for grating ginger. It keeps the juice and grates it perfectly and effortlessly for any dish. You can find it at Sur La Table or asian markets. I bought mine at The Wok Shop in Chinatown (San Francisco). More to come re: The Wok Shop. Oh, and you can buy plain ones. I just thought the cat was cute!

I also made some mango-avacado sushi with spicy masago for dinner that same night. The spicy masago is a beautiful red and really makes the sushi pop both visually and in your mouth. They are pretty spicy but that's left up to each individual's taste. I LOVE spicy food--the hotter the better. My husband, however, is a little wimpier with the spices. He thought it was pretty spicy but very tasty.

99 Ranch Market carries regular, wasabi, and spicy masago. All are very beautiful and have their own unique flavors.