Recipe: Night Crawler Veggie Rolls

I was very excited for this recipe. I've had spring rolls in other restaurants, so I was very excited to try and make my own. I have to admit, I was quite impressed with myself. I didn't bother with the garnish for this recipe, though, since I thought the recipe itself would be enough of a challenge for me. A quick note, though: it is a little spicy. I'm not sure if it's the cabbage (although, I assume that's what it is), but something in it is a little spicy. The peanut sauce I bought was also a little spicy. The recipe suggests that you use either sweet and sour or a peanut sauce. I've previously had a peanut sauce served with it, so that's what I bought. If I did this again, I'd probably go for the gold and just make my own.

So, pros: The outcome is great! It's super healthy, and I LOVE the taste of the sesame oil. Also, all of the ingredients were easy to find (except the bean sprouts were sold out almost everywhere I went...).

Cons: There was a long prep time. Also, the instructions in the recipe on how to roll these aren't very good. After messing up three of them, I came up with my own way to roll them (I'll provide that after the recipe), which gave me far more success. I have to warn you, though, these do get a little messy when you eat them. The skins tend to fall apart easily. Lastly, I suggest salting to taste when doing this. I thought it asked for less salt than what I like, but that's just me.

These are great for a party as an appetizer. They are also great as a healthy snack or just as a side dish for dinner.

Ok, so here's the recipe:

Night Crawler Veggie Rolls (from: Halloween Food, Fun, and Crafts 2008)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups snow peas, cut into matchstick-size pieces
2 large carrots, shredded
1 onion, cut into matchstick-size pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into matchstick size pieces
2 to 3 cups shredded Nappa cabbage
2 cups bean sprouts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 package (12 ounces) spring roll wrappers (can be found in Asian food sections of most supermarkets)
Sweet and sour sauce (optional)
Peanut sauce (optional)

Directions:

Heat oil, ginger, and garlic in wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add peas, carrots, onion, and bell pepper; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add cabbage, bean sprouts, salt and black pepper; stir fry 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Dip spring roll wrappers in hot water until soft. Position wrapper with one point facing down. Place about 2 tablespoons vegetable mixture in narrow strip across lower half of wrapper. Fold bottom point up and over vegetables and tuck under filling. Roll packet up once to enclose filling securely. Fold sides in tightly, forming an envelope. Brush edges with additional hot water to seal; finish rolling.

For creature features, cut tiny eyes and mouths in wrappers and add additional vegetable strips for antennae. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Serve chilled with sweet and sour sauce and peanut sauce, if desired.

Makes 18 to 20 rolls.


Ok, so here's my tip for the rolling. First of all, when I tried it their way, I found that the wrappers were WAY too wet to stick together. Once I rolled them and picked them up, they fell apart instantly. So here's what I did- after dipping them in hot water, I laid the shell on a paper towel and took another paper towel and very lightly dabbed any extremely wet spots on the top of the shell. This made the shell sticky instead of wet. Warning, though: Don't make them too sticky/dry or else it'll stick to the paper towel. After this, I put my filling at the bottom of the wrapper (my wrappers were circular). I tucked the bottom end (littlest end) over the filling and under, like the recipe says. Then, I folded both sides over, so the filling didn't spill out the ends. Then I took the long end and folded it over and continued rolling until it was done. Voila! Hope that helps...

So, what did I learn out of this recipe?? Well, I learned what a "matchstick-size" cut is. It's when you cut something into long narrow strips. I also knew what "shredded" was, but somehow, I got a better understanding of it. Lastly, I learned how to roll and I dealt with the wrappers for the first time. Over all, I think it was pretty awesome.

Summary:

Over all grade of recipe: B+

Cost of ingredients: $20-$30

Prep time: Long