Let me preface this by saying that dinner tonight took me 2 hours + 15 minutes. Really. A friend of mine sent me a recipe for spring rolls she had made (thanks Kate!), so I decided to make a night of it and make orange sesame chicken and edamame as well.
It was all worth it, though. I will admit that home made spring rolls are not quick and easy, but the recipe makes so many you will have them in the freezer to enjoy for months! I believe the original recipe came from the steamykitchen website (http://steamykitchen.com/13029-my-mothers-famous-chinese-egg-rolls-2.html), but naturally I adapted it a bit. Mine were much smaller as I used small wonton (spring roll) wrappers instead of large egg roll wrappers.
The orange chicken was a new method I tried in an attempt to get the Chinese take out feel without the side of guilt. It was quite good! A bit more work than dialing the local joint, yes, but again worth it (and cheaper).
Sesame Orange Chicken
MARINADE
1-1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4 oz. orange-pineapple juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 T soy sauce
1 T rice wine vinegar
2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp grated orange peel (about half of a large orange)
PREPARATION
1/2 cup flour
2 T toasted sesame seeds
2 T butter, melted
ORANGE SAUCE
4 oz. orange-pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 T soy sauce
1 T rice wine vinegar
1 T ketchup
1 tsp grated orange peel
pinch Chinese five-spice powder
2 tsp cornstarch
2 T water
For the marinade, combine all ingredients in a large zip top bag and marinate 1 1/2 hours (I did this step first while I prepared the spring rolls, then cooked the chicken near the end of dinner prep).
Line a large baking sheet with foil, then place a roasting or cooling rack down in the baking sheet. Spray the rack with cooking spray.
Once the chicken is finished marinating, preheat the oven to 400 deg F, then remove the chicken from the bag and discard bag and marinade mixture. Pat dry and cut into 1-2" pieces. Combine in a shallow dish or bowl the flour and toasted sesame seeds. Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess, and place on the prepared rack. Drizzle the butter evenly all over the pieces of chicken (I actually used a small squirt bottle to get the melted butter to evenly coat all of the chicken).
Bake for 30 minutes, turning the baking sheet once after 15 minutes for even baking and browning. Meanwhile, make the orange sauce.
In a medium sauce pan, combine all ingredients for the sauce excluding the cornstarch and water. In a small bowl make a slurry out of the water and cornstarch. Bring the sauce to a boil, then whisk in the cornstarch slurry and reduce heat to low. Cook until thickened and remove from heat.
Once chicken is cooked, toss in a large bowl with the orange sauce until well coated. Spoon out the portions of orange chicken, leaving the excess sauce in the bowl.
Spring Rolls
FOR THE GROUND PORK
1 lb ground pork
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp brown sugar
freshly ground black pepper
1 T sesame oil for cooking
FOR THE VEGETABLES
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small head of cabbage (about 11 oz), shredded
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
10 fresh cremini mushrooms, roughly chopped, stems discarded
1 T Chinese rice wine (mirin)
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
To make the filling, combine the ingredients for the ground pork together (NOT the sesame oil). Marinate at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, shred the cabbage and the carrots, slice the mushrooms and roughly chop.
Heat a large skillet - I mean the largest one you have - over medium-high heat. Add the sesame oil and swirl to coat. Add the pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, push the meat to one side of the pan. Add the garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger and the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir-fry for another 2-3 minutes. Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Using only 1 heaping tablespoon of filling for each wrapper, place the filling on the wrapper and begin to roll up, stopping about halfway to turn the sides in, then keep rolling, ensuring the roll is tight. (the steamy kitchen site has step by step instructions for making these "perfect").
"Keep the rolled spring rolls in a neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.
To fry the egg rolls, fill a wok or pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350 deg F or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the spring rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1½ minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool. I ended up using Canola oil for this because it is what I had, but in retrospect I think peanut oil would have been better."
Again, I served all of this with steamed edamame; I keep frozen edamame (in the pods) in my freezer, just steam or boil them for about 5-7 minutes, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt and serve with low sodium soy sauce.
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