Pork Spring Rolls with Chili-Hoisin Sauce and Spicy Cucumbers

Here I have a couple of Chinese-inspired recipes for you. The first is a spring roll stuffed with pork and cabbage and served with a chili-hoisin dipping sauce. The second is my answer to an overwhelming number of cucumbers thanks to my organic produce deliveries the past few weeks. I do love cucumbers, but I swear if I see one more slice in a salad I'm going to go on a mad rampage.

Or not. I mean, cucumbers are pretty tasty.

Anyway, the spicy cucumbers get a near-pickled treatment from being sautéed in the tamari "brine." I like to eat them on their own, but they would also be a nice change of pace as a salad topping.

The spring rolls are fairly traditional, save for not being deep fried. Obviously if you prefer the crunchy wrapper to the fresh, you can fry them. For the vegetarians out there, soy crumbles can be used instead of the pork with similar results. For an even more authentic flavor, add 1/4 cup of fresh chopped cilantro to the cabbage mixture when preparing the spring rolls. I skipped it, since the oldest spawn can't stand it.

Pork Spring Rolls with Chili-Hoisin Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 c hoisin sauce
1/4 c tamari
2 tbs garlic-chili sauce
1 tbs honey
1/4 c water
1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
4 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
1 tbs peanut oil
1 lb ground pork
1 1/2" piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
12 rice paper wrappers

Directions:
Whisk together the hoisin, tamari, garlic-chili sauce, honey, and water in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, toss together the cabbage and green onion. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the peanut oil over medium-high heat. Brown the pork until no pink remains. Add the ginger and sauté for one minute. Pour about half the chili-hoisin sauce over the pork and sauté another three to five minutes, or until most the moisture has evaporated out. Transfer the pork to the bowl with the cabbage and toss to combine.

Soak the spring roll wrappers according to package directions. One at a time, lay a soaked spring roll wrapper on a flat surface and arrange one-half cup of the pork filling on the rice paper, about two inches from the edge closest to you. Roll the wrapper tightly around the filling, tucking the ends on the left and right toward the center as you go. Repeat until each wrapper has been filled.
Serve the rolls with remaining chili-hoisin sauce for dipping.


Spicy Cucumbers

Ingredients:
1 tbs tamari
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tbs peanut oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2" piece of ginger root, peeled and grated
2 tsp garlic-chili sauce
2 cucumbers, halved, seeded, and sliced into 1" pieces

Directions:
Whisk together tamari, salt, and sugar. Set aside.

In a large skillet or wok, heat the peanut oil over med-high heat. Sauté garlic and ginger for about 30 seconds, then quickly whisk in the garlic-chili sauce. Add the cucumbers, tossing to coat, and sauté for three minutes. Add tamari mixture sauté another 3-5 minutes, or until cucumbers just start to soften. Remove from heat. Can be served immediately, at room temperature, or after chilling in the fridge (the latter is my favorite!).

Cantonese Style Spare Ribs with Veggie Spring Rolls

My youngest daughter brought home a Chinese cook book from the school library, and kindly demanded the ribs. That was the jumping off point of this recipe. I simplified the preparation to accommodate my odd sleep schedule and paired it with spring rolls to help cool us off on this hot, sticky day.

The spring rolls are prepared in the fresh style--that is, no deep-fat frying. I left the filling undressed to facilitate dipping (love plum sauce!). To increase portability, combine the filling with the dressing before rolling.

I apologize for the quality of the photos. I didn't realize the batteries on my camera were on their last electron prior to chowing down, hence the weird focus.

Cantonese Style BBQ Spareribs

Ingredients:

1 tbs ginger, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/3 c soy sauce

1/3 c hoisin sauce

1/3 c plum sauce

1 tbs whole peppercorns

2 lb pork spareribs, cut apart

2 tbs honey

Directions:

Combine ginger, garlic, sauces, and pepper in a large bowl; add ribs and toss to coat. Place ribs and sauce in crock pot and allow to cook on low for 6 hours.

Set oven to broil and place the rack on the highest level. Remove ribs from the sauce and place on a baking sheet. Brush the ribs with the honey and broil for about 3 minutes, or until the ribs have a glazed appearance. Flip ribs, brush with honey, and broil another 3 minutes. Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4.

Veggie Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

1 tbs sesame oil

1 clove garlic, minced

8oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

8 spring roll wrappers, soaked according to directions

1 c carrots, matchstick cut

1/4 red bell pepper, matchstick cut

2 stalks green onion, thinly sliced lengthwise and cut into 5" lengths

1 jalapeno, matchstick cut (optional)

1 c alfalfa sprouts

Directions:

In a small skillet, heat the sesame oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and saute until just soft. Stir in mushrooms and cook until tender (about 4 minutes). Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.

Lay out a softened spring roll wrapper. At about one-third up from the edge closest to you, arrange a 5" layer of carrot using about 2 tablespoons of carrot per roll. Top with several slices of bell pepper, green onion, and jalapeno (if desired). Add 2 tablespoons of alfalfa sprouts. Bring the end of the wrapper closest to you over the fillings, and roll tightly until half the wrapper is aroung the filling. Bring in the left and right sides of the wrapper over the center, and then roll the rest of the way. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling ingredients.

Bias slice each roll in half and serve with plum dipping sauce. Makes 8 rolls.

Plum Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 c plum sauce

3 tbs rice vinegar

1/4 c water

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbs sunflower seeds

Directions:

Blend all iingredients until smooth. Refridgerate at least 30 minutes before use. Makes about 3/4 cups of dipping sauce.

BBQ Pork, Apple-Cabbage Slaw, and Fried Pickle Wontons

Ah, summer....sun, baseball, swimming pools, and--at least here in the Midwest--barbeque. This meal started out with me realizing that I forgot to thaw the pork loin that I had intended to prepare and asking the kids for input. As it turned out, my offspring had no strong feelings on what to have for dinner. So we headed to the store without a list or any idea what we were looking for. Pork roasts were on sale, and so a plan started to develop.

I am not allowed the luxury of a grill at my apartment, so this is strictly stove-top fare. The pork is essentially braised in the homemade BBQ sauce. The slaw is pretty and cools the palate nicely. The real star of this meal, however, is the fried pickle wontons.

'Round these parts, you can't have barbeque without pickles. Fried pickles are even better, but I have an aversion to the mess that batter creates. The last time I battered and fried something, I ended up covered in the cornmeal and egg combination. While I do believe that a person hasn't lived until she has had to wash an egg-based batter out of her hair, I am quite content with never experiencing it again.

Anyway, I had wonton wrappers, so I figured what the hell? It worked, and the kids absolutely flipped out over my version of fried pickles. Even better, it is nearly impossible to accidentally splash wonton wrappers into your hair.

Shredded BBQ Pork

Ingredients:

2 slices thick-cut bacon

1/2 yellow onion, sliced

1 tsp fresh lime zest

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 c tomato paste

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 c brown sugar

1 tbs salt

1 tbs cumin

1 tbs paprika

1 tbs freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp cayenne

1 tablespoon dried leaf oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbs stone ground mustard

1/2 c beer

2 lb pork roast

8 whole wheat rolls

Directions:

Heat stock pot over medium-high heat. Add bacon, and cook until crispy. Remove bacon and set aside for fried pickle wontons. Reduce heat to medium and saute onions in the bacon fat for 3 minutes. Add lime zest and garlic and saute another minute.

Stir in remaining ingredients except for pork until well-combined. Place pork roast in pot and cover. Allow to cook about 30 minutes, spooning sauce over the roast every ten minutes or so. With 2 forks, shred pork in the pot. Stir to combine with the sauce, turn heat to low, and allow to simmer another 10 minutes. Serve on whole wheat rolls. Makes 8 sandwiches.

Apple and Cabbage Slaw

Ingredients:

juice of 1 lime (about 2 tbs)

splash rice vinegar

1 tbs stone ground mustard

3 tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp sugar

2 Granny Smith apples, cored and julienned

1/2 head purple cabbage, cored and shredded

1/4 c parsley, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Wisk together juice, vinegar, mustard, oil, cumin, and sugar until combined. Toss apples, cabbage, and parsley with the dressing and season to taste. Serves 8.

Fried Pickle Wontons

Ingredients:

1 c dill pickles, chopped

2 tbs onion, diced

2 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled

3 tbs provolone cheese, shredded

20 wonton wrappers

oil for frying

Directions:

Combine pickle, onion, bacon, and cheese. Place about a teaspoon of the pickle filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Moisten the edge of the wrapper with water and fold over the filling corner to corner to make a triangle, then bring the small corners together and moisten to seal. Repeat until each wrapper has been filled and folded.

Heat oil in a medium sauce pan over med-high heat to 350F. Fry wontons until golden (1-2 minutes), turning halfway though. Remove from oil with slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain. Makes 20 wontons.