Chinese spring rolls / Pachetele chinezesti cu legume / Taitei de orez cu legume

I love Chinese food. Never made it before, never been on my list, but Gustos.ro challenged me and here it is. I had some difficulties in finding the right ingredients, even if I know there are a few Chinese shops here in London but way too far from me. This recipe is vegetable rice noodles two ways. You can eat them without the pancake or you can fry them into these beautiful aromatic crispy rolls. Hope you enjoy my first experience. 

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Ador bucataria chinezeasca. Insa niciodata nu am gatit asa ceva, nu a fost pe lista mea pana cand Gustos.ro m-a provocat si a iesit reteta aceasta. Am avut ceva dificultati in gasirea ingredientelor, desi in Londra sunt cateva magazine chinezesti, dar mult prea departe de unde locuiesc. 

Aceasta reteta este taitei de orez cu legume in doua moduri. Ii puteti manca fara clatite, sau ii puteti transforma in pachetele de primavara aromate, delicioase. Sper sa va placa prima mea experienta in zona aceasta asiatica:) Reteta o am de aici.

Ingredients (10 rolls):
10 spring roll wrappers, squares preferably
½ red pepper, thinly sliced
1 carrot thinly sliced
6 bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
some bean sprouts
¼ white cabbage, shredded
some rice noodles, soaked in water
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
some salt and pepper
500ml vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
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10 clatite chinezesti, patrate de preferat

Jumatate ardei gras rosu, taiat bastonase

Un morcov taiat bastonase

6 vlastari de bambus bastonase (nu am pus pentru ca nu am gasit)

Cativa vlastari de fasole (se gasesc de la Bonduelle, eu am pus o mana)

Un sfert de varza alba, rasa

Cativa taitei de orez, inmuiati in apa

O lingura sos de stridii

O lingurita sos de soia

O lingurita zahar

Un ou batut

500ml ulei

Sare si piper

Instructions:

Begin by heating the wok. When hot, add some oil, the red peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots, cabbage and bean sprouts. Cook until the vegetables have slightly softened and their tastes have had a chance to intermingle. I let them like 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the noodles, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well, take it off the heat and place into a bowl to let it cool.

Place the pan with the oil for frying over a medium-high heat.
Place the spring roll wrapper in front of you, with one corner at the bottom so that it resembles a diamond. Brush the four edges of the wrapper with the beaten egg. Next, add the filling in the bottom part of the wrapper in a thin log shape, not touching the edges. Leave the bottom few centimetres clear. Lift the bottom wrapper over the top and tuck it in under the filling.
Fold over the left side, and then the right side and roll it up to form a tube. Brush a little more egg along the top part and seal the roll. Repeat until all the rolls are finished.
Once the oil is hot, deep fry the spring rolls until lightly brown, which should take only a minute or two. Put them on the towelled tray to let them drain.
Serve your crispy spring rolls as you would any appetiser. They go wonderfully with a sweet and sour sauce and many other types of dip.

If you don't have spring rolls, you can make them yourself. You need:

200 g flour

1 tsp sugar
160 ml boiling water
some flour for dusting

Put the flour and the sugar into a bowl. Combine them together with your wooden spoon then add the boiling water. Mix together, until it forms a sticky dough. Next, generously sprinkle the dough with some flour. Then dust the work surface and spoon the dough into the flour. Begin to gently fold the dough. Then knead it for a few minutes. Don't be afraid to add more flour to the dough, if necessary, as it might still be too sticky. Continue to knead until the dough takes on a smooth, non sticky, elastic consistency. Finally, cover it with a clean tea towel and set it aside for 30 minutes, to rest.
Uncover the dough. Rub the rolling pin with flour and roll into a thin sheet of about 1/2 cm in thickness. You can use a pasta machine like I did. Cut the sheet in 8x8cm or how big you want them. They are ready to be used.

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Incingeti wok-ul. Adaugati o lingura de ulei, ardeiul, morcovul, bambusul, fasolea si varza. Lasati pe foc pana aproape sunt moi, in jur de 5 minute.

Adaugati taiteii, cele doua sosuri, zaharul, sarea si piperul. Amestecati bine si luati de pe foc. Puneti intr-un bol sa se raceasca. 

Intr-o oala puneti uleiul la incins.

Formati pachetelele astfel:

Luati o clatita si puneti-o in forma de romb. Ungeti cele 4 margini cu ou. Deasupra coltului de jos, puneti putina compozitie, fara sa atingeti marginile. Ridicati coltul de jos deasupra compozitiei si bagati dedesubt. Indoiti deasupra coltul din stanga, apoi cel din dreapta si incepeti si rulati pentru a forma un cilindru. Ungeti cu putin ou coltul pentru a se lipi bine. Faceti la fel cu toate celelalte clatite. 

Cand uleiul este incins, prajiti rulourile pentru 1 minut pana devin aurii. Puneti-le pe un servet de bucatarie pentru a se scurge. Serviti fierbinte cu un sos dulce acrisor, sau ce alt sos va place.

Daca nu gasiti clatite, cum nici eu nu am gasit, le puteti face voi. Aveti nevoie de:

200g faina

O jumatate lingurita zahar

160ml apa fiarta

Amestecati toate acestea cu o lingura de lemn. Presarati faina si framantati cateva minute pana devine o coca elastica, nelipicioasa. Puneti un servet de bucatarie deasupra si lasati deoparte 30 de minute.

Rulati coca cu facaletul pe o suprafata curata de lemn, unsa cu faina. Daca nu aveti masina de paste, rulati foarte bine coca, sa fie subtire, in jur de 50mm. Eu am dat coca la masina de paste, la cea mai mica dimensiune. Taiati triunghiuri de 8x8cm, sau cat de mari credeti de cuvinta. Normal trebuie unse cu ulei de susan apoi prajite intr-o tava nonaderenta cateva secunde. Dar din moment ce deja le prajim cu legumele, nu mai are sens pasul acesta.