Thursday, November 5, 2009

POH PIA – FRESH SPRING ROLLS







500 g frozen spring roll pastry (30 sheets about 24cm x 24cm)

Filling:
2kg frozen yam beans, defrost and shredded
150g French beans, sliced diagonally
cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
200g small prawns, peeled
2 tsp brown bean paste
4 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup water, or prawn stock
Salt and pepper

Garnishing:
200g crab meat (optional)
4 pieces hard bean curd, shredded and deep fried until crisp
2 cucumbers, cut into 8 cm x 1 cm lengths
100g fresh coriander leaves, washed and drained
100g lettuce leaves, washed and drained
1 cup fried red onion
100g bean sprouts, boiled and drained

Sauces:
1 cup sweet black sauce or Hoisin sauce
4 tablespoon chilli paste
4 tablespoon pounded garlic paste

Defrost spring roll pastry. Peel pastry one at a time. Cover with a damp cloth. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Fry garlic until crisp. Add bean paste. Stir until fragrant. Add prawns and stir for ½ minute. Stir in French bean and yam bean. Add water to make some gravy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To Serve:
Place spring roll skin on a flat surface. Spread sweet back sauce, chilli paste and garlic paste. Place 1 lettuce leaf and 1 stick of cucumber and coriander leaf on top. Spread 2 tablespoon of filling, without gravy. Add crab meat, bean sprouts, fried bean curd and fried onions. Fold sides inwards and into elongated shape. Cut into 4 pieces. Place it on the plate. Add 1-2 tablespoon gravy on top of spring roll and serve.

SAMBAL UDANG PETAI – PRAWN SAMBAL WITH PETAI


500g banana prawns
200g petai beans
2 stalk lemon grass, peel and slice
5 red chillies wash and slice
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 large brown onion, peel and slice
4 cloves of garlic, peel and slice
3 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp shrimp paste (belachan)
6 tbsp oil
6–8 fresh mint leaves, washed and drained
Salt

Method:
Grind lemon grass, chillies, onion, garlic, and shrimp paste. Heat oil in pan, stir in spices until fragrant. Add prawns and petai beans. Add tamarind juice. Cook over low heat until gravy thickens. Add salt to taste.

Note: Petai beans have a strong flavour. They are definitely an acquired taste. They can be purchased in an Asian Grocery store in the frozen section. Snow peas can be used instead of petai beans. Soak Tamarind paste in soak in hot water to extract the juice. Remove seeds and drain. Add juice in curry.