Si Wa Wa

Dim Sum and Other Snack Foods

Si Wa Wa
Ingredients:
1 recipe si wa wa skins (needs twelve tablespoons flour; instructions to make them is Step 1 below)
1/4 cup bean sprouts, tails removed
4 Tablespoons kanpo or another seaweed, thinly sliced, setting the eight longest strips aside
2 Tablespoons marinated or pickled radish, cut into thin two-inch-long strips
2 Tablespoons celery, cut into two-inch-long thin strips
2 Tablespoons rice noodles, soaked and cut into two-inch lengths
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
1 and 1/2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper paste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/8 teaspoon ground Guizhou pepper or Sichuan peppercorns
2 Tablespoons soy beans, soaked in water for four hours, then deep fried for one minute
Preparation:
1. Half an hour before planning to serve this dish, mix flour with two tablespoons of water, knead and when smooth, using fingers, brush some on the wok to make a very thin crepe. Repeat until there are eight crepes. When each is done, set it on a heat-proof plate. When all are made, cover them with heat-proof plastic wrap and steam over boiling water for three minutes. Remove from the steamer but leave the plastic on until ready to use.
2. Mix bean sprouts, seaweed, radish, and celery, blanch for one minute, drain, and add the rice noodles and spread these on a cookie sheet to cool.
3. Make sauce with soy sauce, vinegar, hot pepper paste, vinegar, pepper, and one Tablespoon water. Put into a small pitcher.
4. To put the si wa wa together, take one pancake and put two tablespoons of the bean sprout mixture in its center. Fold up the bottom just a little to prevent vegetables from falling out. Then fold in the sides making the si wa wa wider at the top and narrower at the bottom, sort of cone shape and as if putting a baby in a blanket. Wrap one long strip around the middle and pour a little of the sauce mixture on the top. Add a teaspoon of the fried soy beans, and set these wraps around the outside of the platter, closed end to the center. Repeat until all are rolled and set out. Put the extra sauce in its pitcher in the center of the platter, then serve.

Flavor and Fortune is a magazine of: