Tag Archives: Deepfried

Spring Rolls

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It seems insane to me that I have never posted a spring roll recipe because I love those little suckers more than life itself. I would never have an order of Chinese food without them and a pack always makes its way into my basket when I’m shopping at home. But sadly they are not as popular in Korea as they are in the rest of Asia. You can find them in your local Thai restaurant, but when you enjoy eating them as much as I do you have to make them in bulk. They call be a a bit fiddly, but once you get in the zone you can churn them out by the dozen. Sit in your living room to roll them out while watching an episode of your favourite show and in no time you will have a pile of the little beauties. I got my spring roll wrappers from the foreign food market in Itaewon. They usually have 3 or 4 sizes. I chose the medium sized ones. Obviously the bigger the wrappers the bigger your rolls will be. I only used about half of the packet making these, so they go a long way and they only cost about 5,000. You can also use them to make samosas. Use whatever veg and meat you like, I just used up all my leftovers.

Ingredients

½ a packet spring roll wrappers

1 red pepper

1 green pepper

1/2 a carrot

A small wedge of cabbage

100g of shredded chicken

2 eggs beaten

1/2 an onion

2 inches of ginger

3 cloves of garlic

1 packet of instant noodles

A bunch of cilantro leaves

3 tablespoons of soy sauce

2 tablespoons of sesame seed oil

900ml of soy bean oil (for deep frying)

Directions

1. The first step is to finely slice your vegetables. Get them the peppers and cabbage as thinly as possible and grate the carrot.

2. Boil the noodles until soft then drain.

3. Fry the onion, garlic and ginger for a minute or two to soften, then add the rest of the vegetables. Fry on high for five minutes until softened. Add the drained noodles, chicken, cilantro, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, and sesame oil, and mix. Turn off the heat and put into a large bowl.

4. Peel off one spring roll wrapper and put it out on the chopping board. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture into the middle of the wrapper. Like below. Fold the top edge up, then wash the three remaining sides with the beaten egg. Fold the two other sides in and roll until you have a neat little spring roll. Set on a clean plate and repeat until all your mixture has been used.

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5. When all of the spring rolls have been made, heat the oil to 190 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer let it heat on medium for about five minutes. Carefully put a spring roll into the oil, if it sizzles and floats to the top then it’s hot enough, if it doesn’t, turn it up a little higher and wait until it reaches temperature. Cook them in batches of about 5 for a couple of minutes until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan when they are done and let them drain on kitchen paper. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce and enjoy!

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Scotch eggs

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Scotch Eggs are a very popular snack or picnic food in Britain. They are also one of my boyfriend’s favourite foods to eat. Personally they have always tuned my stomach and I have never dreamed of eating one. But because I am such a loving and wonderful girlfriend I do occasionally make them for him as a very special treat. In England they are always found in refrigerator section and served cold. I think that is what has always put me off. I cannot stand cold egg, which probably explains my reluctance to eat egg mayo too (although the smell may also be accountable). Last week we went to Reilly’s in Itaewon and were shocked to see scotch eggs on the menu as I never dreamed they would make it to Korea. These however were served hot and tasted amazing. Later that week I had some left over pork mince from some dumplings I had been making and decided I would whip Niall up a batch. I tried these ones too, straight out of the fryer and they were amazing! I think I have finally been converted into a scotch egg eater after all these years. If you want to be truly authentic, then scotch eggs should be made with sausage meat which you can buy from Gavin’s sausages in Myeong-dong or online. However the pork mince works quite well too.

Ingredients

5 hard boiled eggs

1 beaten egg

200g of pork mince or sausage meat

150g of pankco crumbs

A pinch of salt

A pinch of pepper

1/2 a teaspoon of sage

1/2 a teaspoon of mixed herbs

Directions

Boil the eggs for about 10 minutes. When they are done take them out of the pan and plunge them into a bowl of cold water to cool them down. This will also help with the peeling process. Meanwhile season your pork mince with the herbs and salt and pepper. Its really up to you how well you like it seasoned. On a large flat surface, lay a piece of cling film down, and put the pork mince on it. Then cover it with a second piece of cling film. With a rolling pin, roll the meat flat until you have a nice large rectangle of it about 5mm thick.

When the eggs have been fully cooled, remove the shell being careful to keep the egg intact. After they have been peeled, place the egg on the mince and wrap the mince around the egg. You should be able to get it covered but you may have to fill in a few patches by yourself. Making sure the egg has been completely covered in the mince, dip the mince covered egg into beaten egg then roll in the panko crumbs. Make sure that the egg has been completely coated. Deep fry them in hot oil for a few minutes, turning then over occasionally so they brown evenly. Be careful to insure the pork mince has cooked through thoroughly. When they are done, pat them with a kitchen towel to remove excess oil and serve. Voilà your favourite British snack in minutes.

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Tempura King Prawns with Mango Mayo

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Being a larger lady I’m rather fond of anything deep-fried in batter. I’m not really very keen of fish but you can’t beat a good prawn. For many years I was rather wary of deep-frying. I don’t know why exactly, maybe it was just the thought of using so much oil. It’s not even that wasteful if you clean your oil by straining it through a piece of kitchen towel each time you use it. You can keep your oil for sometime if you do this. Sadly I did not take my own advice and clean my oil thoroughly, which is why my prawns have little black dots on them, but que sera sera. I generally use soy bean oil for my deep-frying as it has a high smoke point and its cheap and plentiful in Korea.

Ingredients

Tempura

15 – 30 King prawns with the tails on (get the biggest ones you can find. I usually buy the bags of frozen ones from Costco)

250g of Ottogi frying mix (they sell it everywhere, it has a picture of a tempura prawn on the front)

300-400 ml of ice cold water (use fizzy if you have it)

500ml soy bean oil

Mango Mayo

200 ml of mayonnaise (any brand is fine, make your own if you have time)

3 tablespoons of sweet chili sauce

75gof frozen mango (use fresh if you have it ,but frozen is much cheaper here in Korea)

Directions

Heat the oil in a wok or saucepan until it reaches 180 degrees. If you don’t have a thermometer, drop a little bit of the batter into the pan, if it sinks to the bottom it’s not hot enough. If it sizzles at the top then its fine. Dip you prawns into the batter then put them into the hot oil being carefull not to splash yourself. Don’t cook too many at once as it will lower the temperature of the oil, about three is fine. Give them a minute or so then flip them over. When the batter is a light golden brown they are done. Place them on a few sheets of kitchen roll to remove excess oil while you are cooking the rest.

To make the mayonnaise. Chop the mango into very small pieces then put them into a bowl. Add the mayonnaise and sweet chilli sauce and mix together. Voilà a delicious and easy starter to impress all your friends.