Monday, September 15, 2008

Taro and Shrimp Spring Rolls

To accompany the savory rolls, I quickly whipped up these easy spring rolls. Lately, I have been craving taro and been using it few times for this same recipe, mixing it with different ingredients. Mushrooms and taro, shrimp and taro, or taro with any ground meat. Some water chestnuts to add crunch is yummy too. Super easy to make and the frying part is not too bad with its tiny size - I just use small frying pan and just rotate it to get even browning. Or, of course a huge pan and do it all at once. But then I got to use more oil and I am not particularly fond on having some leftover frying oil. Feel bad to toss it after one time use, as bad as having it sit there in a container. Ick.

What:
- 15 spring rolls wrappers
- 1 taro, peeled and either cut to small cubes or shred.
- 1 cup shrimps, deveined, shelled and chopped coarsely
- 3 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked and choped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 small onion, minced
- 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 2-3 spring onions, chopped
- pepper
- dash of sugar

How:
- Heat a little bit oil in pan. Pan fry taro. Once tender, set aside on a platter.
- Toss in onion and garlic to pan. Saute until onion is soft.
- Add mushrooms, five spice powder, soy sauce, green onions, pepper and sugar. Stir and mix thoroughly.
- Add taro back to the pan and toss in shrimps. Cook just until shrimp turn color. Turn heat off and stir in sesame oil.
- Take a wrapper. Put about 1 1/2 tbsp of filling to the edge and roll it like a cigar. Seal with mixture of corn starch and water.
- Fry until golden brown.

For dipping sauce, version of Vietnamese style sauce is perfect, nuoc nam with lime juice, sprinkle with warm water and thinly sliced bird eyes chillies with garlic. Or, just bottled hot sauce. Hoisin sauce whisk together with lime juice and few teaspoon of hot chili sauce is a pretty good pairing also.

15 comments:

Dewi said...

Love spring rolls, especially the homemade spring rolls. I can easily eat 5 of these, with fresh lombok, not the sweet and sour kind of sauce. Seriously, I am not kidding.
Taro sounds pretty unusual filling, I am sure it was good.

Anonymous said...

These are wonderful- crispy, I bet just as tasty and fragrant as well.

Natalie Que said...

Oh! Be still my heart! I can't stand it, I love spring rolls! These look so beyond delicious. I love Taro too. I am so loving this blog Cecil!

Anonymous said...

they look amazing!! so hungry looking at them hee

Deborah said...

Not only do they sound good, but they look beautiful!

CECIL said...

Elra: Oh, I do too love fresh lombok! :)

GirlJapan: Thanks!!

HotGarlic: Thanks much for such nice comment! :) If somebody can tend the frying part, I can eat spring rolls everyday!

Noobcook: :D Thank you!

Deborah: Thanks!! I like to pretend that I was doing some origami.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Thank you so much for the nice visit over at my blog. Let me tell you I was very happy to find yours as well. All the food you have here looks great! I love asian inspired food. Great rolls, I wouldn't mind having a couple now! Yummmy!

Apples and Butter said...

I have never cooked with Taro - too scared I would mess something up and end up with that scratchy feeling in the back of the throat. You make it look totally approachable. Thanks!

Prudy said...

I love all of your food. It's always right up my alley, spicy and ethnic and so bright and yummy. I spotted those rolls in CL and haven't made them yet but you've given me the inspiration.

Maria said...

I love spring rolls. These look awesome!

CECIL said...

ClumbsyCookie: Thank you!! :)

Apples&Butter: Yeah, I just had this crazy craving for Taro! It's very versatile as substitute for potato. Delicious baked or fried!! Yum. Just be careful when peeling it, if you have sensitive hand, the sap can irritates skin.

Prudy: I love your blog! :)

Maria: Thanks much!

Wandering Chopsticks said...

I like to add taro to my egg rolls too. I think it helps keep the inside moist and flavorful, especially when I'm making vegetarian versions.

BTW, email me if you want a referral to sign up with my advertiser to make a bit of side money from blogging.

CECIL said...

WanderingChopsticks: I love the flavor and taste of taro! And thank you for the tips, I will email you soon!!

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I've never cooked taro before and don't think I've come across a spring roll with taro before. It might be time to remedy this deficiency. Thanks: these look superyummy!

Anonymous said...

Mmmm... these look great! I've never had spring rolls with shrimp, and have only recently been introduced to taro. I'll have to give this a try soon :)

I would love to write about your recipe on our blog! If you are interested send me an email at haley@keyingredient.com

Thanks!
Haley, KI Blogger