Hip-hop Vegetables

Can you say “wrap?” Good. Now say "rice paper" . . . and you’re on your way to the most incredible taste sensation. The thing about meat, be it chicken or beef or pork or duck or quail, is that is can never be (or shouldn’t be) crunchy.

And the mouth craves crunchy! And the mouth also craves raw, sometimes . . . one gets tired of cooked, cooked, cooked.

So, we made incredible vegetable wraps—some would call them un-fried spring rolls—last night, and here is how you can, too.

You need:

Rice-paper wraps. These are usually disks, large or small, that look like translucent glass and are stiff and dry. You get them at your friendly Asian food store.

Shrimp, declawed and deveined, sautéed in sesame oil and garlic and julienned
Carrots, julienned (into matchsticks)
Red, orange or yellow pepper, julienned
Green onions, white part only, sliced lengthwise into long shards
Snow peas, threaded and both ends removed, sautéed briefly and then julienned, with
Shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly and sauteéd with the snow peas.
Beansprouts
Cilantro, washed, leaves separated and patted dry
Serrano chiles, julienned (optional)

Method:
Get all your mise in place. Best to line up all the ingredients next to each other, assembly-line style. Have a clean kitchen towel at the ready. And go!

Put the rice paper disk in warm water for about thirty seconds. It’ll take a few tries to get used to how it handles. Quickly place the ingredients one by one , starting with the cilantro, on the bottom third of the rice paper disk. Roll the bottom up over the vegetables, then fold in the sides. Then complete the roll. You now have a vegetable wrap.

For dipping sauce:

Orange-chili dip:

1/4 cup orange juice, pulp included
2 tbsps. soy sauce
3 tbsps. mirin
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsps. Asian chili sauce, such as sambal oelek or chili-garlic sauce
1 tsp. nam pla (Thai fish sauce)
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, let stand 30 minutes to blend before serving.

Amazing

The pesco-ovo-lacto-vegetarian saga continues. Last night it was Thai green curry with shrimp, something I usually do with chicken. Very odd to taste shrimp where chicken used to be, but I’m getting used to it. It’s just picking off the tails—that I will never get used to. One after all does not have to peel the tail feathers off every chicken breast.

And sesame-cashew rice noodle salad (no meat, no wheat) . . . rice noodles are a devil to make, much touchier than your ordinary pasta. Re: gluey on the outside, hard on the inside. Don’t you hate that? But I defeated it by putting the throwaway mess in the microwave in water for a few minutes and it actually turned out fine (recipe to follow).

Walked to the Asian store (Kim Phat, at Plaza Cote-des-Neiges) yesterday, and as usual it was like being a kid in a candy store. So many sauces, so little time. I could barely stagger home with my haul.

But my cucumber salad is becoming perfect, now that it’s being made and consumed in large amounts every day, so when the magic formula has been determined (it changes like the wind but is always good) it shall be posted.

Haven’t seen a chicken or a cow in almost a month now.

Amazing.

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Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chopped Peanuts and Thai Basil


1 tablespoon peanut oil
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1/8 cup mirin
1 tablespoon (or more) hot chili oil
Salt to taste (but can always adjust with soy sauce instead)
Packet Vietnamese rice vermicelli
12 green onions (white and pale green parts only), thinly sliced
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted peanuts
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh Thai basil leaves

Heat peanut oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Transfer to large bowl. Add next 6 ingredients; whisk to blend.

Follow package directions (good luck!) for vermicelli. Drain thoroughly and transfer to bowl with sauce. Add sliced green onions and toss to coat noodles. Let stand at room temperature until noodles have absorbed dressing, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour. Stir in peanuts and Thai basil; toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature.

(After-note: the next morning the noodles had somehow magically become al dente; don't give up on them! It turned out to be awesome!)