Recipe Requests--Wraps and Rolls

by Jacqueline M. Newman

Rice, Noodles, and Other Grain Foods

Spring Volume: 1998 Issue: 5(1) page(s): 7, 8, and 12

A plethora of letters requesting specific recipes arrive our post office box or via e-mail to me to the 'Ask the Chef' column at WWW.CHANNELA.COM. Some were the impetus for this column as they touched upon a particular topic, namely, rolled foods, called wraps these days.

These recent queries may have been inspired by the increasing popularity of the fajita. It was fun to search and find that there are literally dozens in the Chinese repertoire. Most were older than the current rage, fascinating, and delicious. The Chinese recipes attest to their ancient and creative culinary genius. Hope you enjoy making and eating them as much as I did updating them.
Vegetarian Wraps
Ingredients:
3 dried shiitake mushrooms
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 cup vegetable (or chicken) stock
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 large nappa cabbage, about 1 pound
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon shredded ginger
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Preparation:
1.Soak black mushrooms in warm water until soft. Discard the stems, then thinly slice them.
2. Peel the carrots and shred them.
3. Braise both in a sauce of stock, sesame oil, and soy sauce for ten minutes, then drain and set aside, reserving the liquid. Keep it warm.
4. Boil a large pot of water.
5. Wash the nappa cabbage, separate twelve outer leaves and put them into the boiling water a few at a time for 1 minute, then drain. If coarse end is very thick, after draining then, cut away the thickness by slicing it in half.
6. Shred the remaining leaves and put them into the reserved hot stock and let them sit there for five minutes, then drain.
7. Mix the shredded mushrooms, carrots, and shredded cabbage with salt, ginger root and sesame oil.
8. Place one twelfth of the shredded mixture or a limp cabbage leaf and roll from the thick end to the thin to form a cylinder. Place on a plate, seam side down.
9. Steam the rolls for ten minutes, remove and serve.

Jade Rice Noodle Wraps
Ingredients:
2 flat rice noodle sheets, fresh preferred
8 ounces broccoli. cut into flowerettes
4 ounces asparagus, julliened
3 canned bamboo shoots, jullienned
8 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon of light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dry sherry
1/4 teaspoon hoisin sauce
1/4 teaspoon chili sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon oil, to oil the plate used for steaming
Preparation:
1. If not fresh, steam the rice-noodle sheets just until soft (about a minute or two).
2. Steam broccoli until bright green and starting to soften, then arrange as the outer circle on a plate.
3. Parboil asparagus, bamboo shoots and mushrooms together for a minute and rinse under cold water to cool; then drain and mix with the rest of the ingredients then divide into eight portions.
4. Cut each rice noodle sheet into four sheets. Place one portion of the filling on the noodle and roll it into cylinder. Repeat the process until all are rolled. Put them on an oiled plate Steam for 6 minutes.
5. Arrange the rolls in the center of the broccoli and serve.

Tofu Crepe Wraps
Ingredients:
10 ounces all purpose flour
1 ounce Shiitake mushrooms
3 sheets beancurd skin
1 cup hot water
5 Tablespoons minced scallions
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon. sugar
3 cups water
2 Tablespoons sweet bean paste
2 teaspoons sugar
2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
Preparation:
1. Soak mushrooms in warm water until soft, discard the stems and thinly slice. Reserve the mushroom water for later use.
2. Heat a wok, then add a Tablespoon of oil. Stir-fry the mushrooms until fragrant, add half cup of the mushroom water, the soy sauce and the sugar and cook until the sauce is completely evaporated. Remove and divide into three portions.
3. Mix flour with an equal amount of hot water and knead into a smooth dough. Divide the dough into three equal portions. Press each portion flat and brush on a layer of sesame oil. Press two dough portions together gently and roll into a four-inch diameter thin crepe. Fry the crepe on both sides in a dry pan over low heat until light brown. Remove from the pan and separate into two crepes. Repeat until all crepes are made.
4. Cut beancurd sheets in half. Spread a sheet of beancurd skin and arrange a portion of shredded black mushrooms into a strip a little shorter then beancurd skin. Fold the bean curd skin over and seal the opening with warm flour-water. Repeat until each beancurd sheet is rolled.
5. Heat a wok, add two tablespoons of oil. Fry the rolls until golden and crispy on all sides. Remove and cut into seven pieces.
6. Put a mushroom roll on a crepe, sprinkle on minced green onion, roll and serve.

Steamed Pork Wrap
Ingredients:
2/3 pound ground pork
10 dried bean curd sheets
2 stalks green onion
2 slices ginger root
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon dry sherry
1/2 teaspoons salt
a pinch of white pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 Tablespoons oyster-flavored sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Preparation:
1. Place dried bean curd sheets in boiling water, add baking soda and soak until white and soft. Rinse under cold water. Drain.
2. Smash green onion and ginger with cleaver, add three tablespoons water to make green onion and ginger water.
3. Mince ground pork, stir in wine, salt, pepper, and cornstarch and onion and ginger water and mix well.
4. Place pork mixture on bean curd sheet. Wrap tightly and place it on a plate. Put plate in an electric rice cooker, add one and a half cups water and steam until the switch turns off. Remove.
5. Heat wok, stir-fry rest of the ingredients and cook until thickened. Then drizzle over the rolls and serve.

Double Wrap in Soup
Ingredients:
10 cabbage leaves
10 dried bean curd sheets
1/4 pound ground pork
1 Tablespoon cooking wine
3 Tablespoons scallion/ginger water
1 teaspoon salt
a pinch of ground white pepper
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
5 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Preparation:
1. Blanch dried bean curd sheets and cabbage leaves separately in boiling water, drain and set aside.
2. Mince ground pork, stir in rest of the ingredients except cabbage and bean curd sheets.
3. Trim off hard leafstalks from cabbage and cut in half. Put two tablespoons of meat mixture on half a bean curd sheet topped with a cabbage leaf, then roll. Repeat until all materials are used.
4. Arrange rolls in deep bowl. Add soup stock and salt. Place in rice cooker. Add two cups cold water to the rice cooker and push the button to start, then cook until the electricity turns off. Remove. Sprinkle with pepper. Add sesame oil and serve.

Cabbage Wraps
Ingredients:
8 large cabbage leaves
3 wood ear/tree fungus, soaked in warm water
3 dried black mushrooms, soaked in warm water
2 cups cooked dark chicken meat, sliced thin
1 shredded carrot
3 shredded water chestnuts
2 Tablespoons shredded ham (optional)
2 cups chicken stock
1 Tablespoon corn oil
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Preparation:
1. Boil cabbage leaves a minute to soften.
2. Soak the mushrooms and wood ears separately, each for thwenty minutes in warm water. Discard the stems and shred them.
3. Bring stock to a boil, lower heat and simmer.
4. Parboil the chicken in the stock for ten minutes. Remove the meat, let cool, and shred it. Keep the soup for later use.
5. Heat a wok, add oil and stir-fry the mushrooms and tree/wood ear fungus until fragrant. Add carrots, water chestnuts, and ham and cook until any liquid has evaporated. Mix in shredded chicken and thicken with cornstarch mixed with cold water.
6. Divide the mixture into eight equal portions and roll each into a cabbage leaf. Then steam them over high heat for five minutes, remove, and serve.

Lamb Wraps
Ingredients:
2 star anise
2 ounces lamb sliced thin
1 ounce shredded ham
2 cooked green asparagus
2 eggs
2 Tablespoon flour
a dash of salt
Preparation:
1. Put star anise in two cups water and boil for two minutes. Then reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce is reduced to one-quarter cup. Discard the star anise and cool the liquid.
2. Heat a wok, add one tablespoon of oil and stir-fry the lamb slices until no longer pink, then remove them; and in the remaining oil stir-fry the shredded ham one minute and remove it. 3. Wash green asparagus and scald it in boiling water, remove and drain.
4. Beat the eggs, add the flour, the cooled sauce, and salt, and mix well. Make two ten-inch round egg crepes in a greased frying pan over low heat.
5. Place half of cooked materials on each crepe, put the asparagus in the center, and roll into a cylinder. Cut each roll into one-inch sections, hold each together with a toothpick. Serve.

Flavor and Fortune is a magazine of: