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Title: Vegetarian Crispy Beggar's Purses
Categories: Chinese Vegetarian
Yield: 8 Servings
| ASSEMBLY AND COOKING | ||
| 8 | Spring onions, green parts* | |
| 600 | ml | Groundnut oil, deep frying |
| 1 | pk | Spring roll skins ** |
| FILLING | ||
| 25 | g | Cloud ear fungus or Chinese black mushrooms |
| 100 | g | Beanthread noodles |
| 100 | g | Carrots; coarsely grated |
| 100 | g | Mangetouts; finely shredded |
| 100 | g | Celery; coarsely chopped |
| 50 | g | Fresh red chillies; seeded |
| 2 | ts | Salt |
| 1 | ts | Freshly ground black pepper |
| 4 | tb | Spring onions; fine chopped |
| 1 | tb | Fresh ginger; finely chopped |
| 1 | tb | Garlic; finely chopped |
| 3 | tb | Cilantro; finely chopped |
| 1 | ts | Rice wine or Dry Sherry |
| 1 | ts | Sugar |
| 1 | ts | Sesame oil |
| FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE | ||
| 150 | ml | Water |
| 2 | tb | Sugar |
| 3 | tb | Chinese white rice vinegar or cider vinegar |
| 3 | tb | Tomato pur‚e or ketchup |
| 1 | ts | Salt |
| 1/2 | ts | Freshly ground white pepper |
| 1 | ts | Cornflour -=SLAKED WITH=- |
| 2 | ts | Water |
| 1 | ts | Chilli flakes or powder |
| 1/2 | ts | Chilli oil |
NB * Spring (green onions) use green parts only, either blanched, or microwaved 15 secs on full power. ** "There are two types of spring roll wrappers. The Cantonese style uses a smooth noodle-type dough and results in a heavier wrapper, while the Shanghai type which I prefer, is more like rice paper, translucent and lighter. K.H." "I was invited to cook at John Cleese's final cast party for his film "Fierce Creatures". He requested a vegetarian treat, so I adapted my "Crispy Beggar's Purses into something fiery and fierce, but without any creatures. K.H."
If frozen, thaw the spring roll skins thoroughly. Soak the fngus or mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes. If using the fungus, finely shred, cutting off and discarding any hard ends. If using the chinese mushrooms, squeeze out the excess liquid, remove and discard the stems and finely chop the caps. Soak the noodles in a large bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. when soft, drain and discard the water. Cut the noodles into 3" (8cm) lengths. In a large bowl, combine the carrots, mangetout (US snow peas), celery and finely shredded chillies, add the salt and pepper and mix well. Then add the rest of the ingredients, noodles and fungus or mushrooms and stir them to mix well . Wrap the bowl with cling film and chill it for at least 20 minutes. Place all the ingredients for the sweet and sour sauce, except the cornflour mixture and chilli, in a pan. Bring to the boil, stir in the cornflour mixture and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the chilli flakes and oil. Allow to cool and set aside. (This mixture may be made 24 hours ahead and refrigerated. allow to come to room temperature before serving). When you are ready to stuff the skins, put two tablespoon of the filling in the centre of each spring roll skin. Dampen the edges with a little water and bring up the sides of the skin around the filling. Pinch edges together at the top so that the dumpling looks like a filled bag. Tie with a spring onion. Continue until you have used up all the filling Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat. Add the oil and when it is moderately hot, add a handful of dumplings and deep fry for 3 minutes until golden and crispy. If the oil gets too hot, turn it down slightly. Drain on kitchen paper and fry the remaining dumplings. Serve them immediately with the sweet and sour sauce. Recipe "Ken Hom's hot Wok" Book Mmed IMH c/o Georges' home BBS 2:323/4.4
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