Much cookery for Mom's day

[jaunthie]

So I wound up making the Chicken and Basil Summer Rolls for Mother's Day dinner, along with an asian-style soup (including homemade wontons) and green tea. Although MamaBear couldn't join us, my mom and dad came over, and a good time was had by all.


Warning up front: this is one of those recipes where it's all about the details and visual presentation. If you don't like fussy details, consider turning this into a salad or something.

Prep the chicken:

• 1-2 tsp lime juice


• 1/4 cup soy sauce


• splash of chili sesame oil


• splash of dark sesame oil


• 1 big thumb size piece of fresh ginger, microplaned or grated (and I mean the entire thumb, or maybe a forefinger if you don't have big thumbs - we're talking lots of ginger)


• 3-4 cloves garlic, microplaned or grated


• 1/2 onion, microplaned or grated (warning: this might well make you cry)

Combine liquid ingredients and whisk together. Add microplaned mush ingredients and mix until you have a thick, well-combined sauce. Spoon over 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts in an airtight plastic container. Put on lid and shake around until chicken is thoroughly coated. Put in refrigerator and marinate overnight. Next day, roast chicken in 400 degree oven until thoroughly cooked. Let cool, slice into long strips, and chill.

Prep the rest of the ingredients:

• 3 carrots, washed peeled and sliced into super-skinny strips (we're talking angel-hair pasta)


• 1 small bunch rice noodles, boiled for 3 minutes, then dunked into ice water


• 1 bag bean sprouts, washed, dried, and laid out all facing 1 way (don't use overly curled sprouts)


• 1 big bunch of large-leafed basil, washed, dried, leaves removed from stem and laid out in a pile


• chilled sliced chicken breasts, as per above




Get out your sushi mat (or if you don't own one, a flexible cutting board) and a box of cling wrap. Lay 1 piece of cling wrap over your sushi mat so that the cling wrap piece is just a little larger than the roll direction, but quite a bit longer than the other direction. Lay down a layer of basil leaves. Lay down a layer of carrot strips (1/4 the total). Lay down a layer of bean spouts, making sure all the sprouts are aligned in the same direction (same as carrot strips). Lay down a layer of noodles (ditto). Lay down 4-5 chicken strips, so that there are two strips per section of roll (ditto). Lay down another layer of basil leaves on top, and then lay down a layer of basil leaves next to the pile. Carefully use the sushi mat to roll up the ingredients, keeping the roll tight but not squished, and being careful not to trap the cling wrap in the roll. Seal up the cling-wrap roll. Repeat 3x (4 rolls total) and chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour, preferably longer.

Making the roll:



• 8 spring roll wrappers


• 1 frying pan with 1/2 inch hot water


• more saran wrap


• the sushi mat



Soak 2 spring roll wrappers in hot water 30 seconds, just enough to soften. Put saran wrap over sushi mat as above. Lay down the 2 wrappers so that they cover the area of the sushi mat. Carefully unwrap 1 of the refrigerated rollups (from above) onto the spring roll wrapper edge. Use sushi mat and saran wrap to roll everything together tightly, being careful not to get saran wrap caught in the wrap, and being really careful to roll as tightly as you can. Seal up wrap in saran wrap. Repeat 3x. Refrigerate wrapped rolls at least another hour.

Serving:
Carefully unwrap 1 roll onto a cutting board. Trim up ends, then slice each roll into 5-6 pieces. Place cut side up onto plate (looks like gorgeous sushi).


This is really spectactular-looking and very tasty, but definitely a bit of a production. Worth doing on special occasions.