The funky and the sublime: Fresh spring rolls
Friday was our last day in Portlandia—all the essentials necessary for the next project are packed away and Go Home in the GPS is back to Tacoma. I squeezed in one more Food Cart adventure—hard choice: fish and chips at the Flying Scotsman, salad rolls at Boonrad Thai, chicken and rice at Nong's, or Korean tacos at Koi Fusion.
Fourth of July we went to the Portland Blues Fest along the Willamette waterfront. Sunny, hot, and loud in a good way. The next day I balanced out the vibe and went to the Portland Japanese Gardens—time well spent. Such a beautiful, serene place to be. Landscape gardener Seyemon Kusumoto described Japanese gardens as "the best of nature's handiwork in a limited space." Native Northwest trees and shrubs are well suited to the Japanese aesthetic, framing the garden, becoming part of it, and blurring the lines between the two.
I like Portland: will miss lunch at the carts, the streetcars, the Portland Art Museum, the waterfront park, oatmeal at the Residence Inn, downtown, the bridges, and the roses.
Speaking of the next project, looks like B might be heading Souther to the Bay area for another install, we'll just see. Thought he'd be able to take a break, but maybe not. Oh well, there may be food carts down there.
Fresh Spring rolls
• 1# 15-20 size shrimp, boiled, shelled, and deveined
• 1-2# pork tenderloin, grilled and thinly sliced
• 2 cups bean sprouts (optional)
• 1 pkg. of rice vermicelli noodles
• Thai basil leaves removed from the stems
• Mint leaves
• cilantro leaves with end cut off
• Pieces of leaf lettuce
• 1 pkg. round rice paper sheets
Slice shrimp in half lengthwise and set aside. In a large pan, bring about 7 cups of water to a boil. Put vermicelli noodles in boiling water; reduce heat to medium and let cook for about 6-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain in a colander and rinse quickly with warm water. Set aside. Rinse bean sprouts, basil leaves, cilantro, and lettuce. Place each on clean paper towels to dry. Set aside.
To assemble the spring rolls: Thoroughly soak rice paper sheet in a large bowl of warm water for 30 seconds or until it gets soft. Place softened rice paper on a plate or flat surface. Place a row of vermicelli noodles, lettuce, pork, bean sprouts, basil and cilantro about 3 inches from the bottom. Roll firmly once. Fold both ends in and continue to roll firmly until you are about 1/4 of the way from the top. Place 3 pieces of shrimp face up and roll until the end. Serve with dipping sauces. Makes 25 spring rolls.
Peanut Sauce
• 1 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp. chunky peanut butter
• ½ cup water
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp. soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. fish sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. hot red sauce
Whisk Hoisin sauce, peanut butter, and water until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, bring to simmer, cook for 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Adjust hot/salty/sweet to your preference. Cool before serving.
Lime Fish Sauce
• 1 glove of garlic crushed or minced
• juice of one fresh lime or 1/4 cup of rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 4 tablespoons of water
• 1 fresh hot chili red pepper minced(optional)
• 3 Tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
Categories: Sauces, Seafood, Pork, Appetizers, Salad, Asian
Tags: Portland Oregon Portland Japanese Garden food carts spring rolls salad rolls peanut sauce lime fish sauce
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