Once a long while I'd like to dig into more troubled hassled work in the kitchen. Things like making bread and noodles from scratch, or this pan-fried rice paper roll recipe.
Some might find it a soothing process, but trust me, all that handcraft work doesn't necessarily translate to therapeutic especially when you have to cook up few other dishes at the same time. But it's definitely fun and especially fulfilling once the result is successful.
Pan-fried chicken and Chinese basil rice paper rolls -
Ingredients (about 20 medium small or 10 medium large pieces)?
- 20 medium small or 10 medium large rice paper
- 380 grams chicken tenders
- 40 grams Chinese or Thai basil
- 1 medium red bell pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
- 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- Some olive oil
- Some sweet chili sauce (optional)
How?
Remove the tendon from chicken tenders then slice the meat to smaller cubes. You can simply use ground chicken but I think hand-slicing the chicken to smaller cubes adds more texture.
Marinate the chicken with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of rice cooking wine.
Meanwhile, peel and chop the garlic cloves. Destem, remove the seeds and pith from the red bell pepper, then slice to small cubes. Save some whole basil sprigs for garnish in the end, and chop the remaining leafy part.
Have a pan ready and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat then add in the garlic. Give it a quick stir-fry till aromatic but not burnt.
Add in the chicken, try to stir-fry while breaking the meat to smaller bits, cook for about a minute. Add in red bell pepper and stir-fry for another minute. Add in chopped basil leaves and cook for a quick 30 seconds.
As for the seasonings, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of fish sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Mix till evenly blended and continue to cook till the whole thing appears more concentrated and darker color. Scoop them out and set aside till cool-off.
You have to really wait till the chicken filling has completely cooled-off, that means the temperature won't affect the rice paper much.
Have a plate with some depth filled with drinkable room temperature water. Also try to find a non-stick working surface to lay the rice paper on top.
So take out the dry rice paper, doesn't matter the package shows Thai or Vietnamese rice paper, gently soak one rice paper in the water till softened and shapable. The package should also have some instructions on it for you to follow.
Move the softened rice paper to the working area. I actually put a damp towel on the working area too to further prevent any possible sticking issue. Spoon over some of the chicken filling then wrap into a roll. Remember to tug in both ends. Repeat till you finish up all the rice paper or chicken fillings.
Have a pan ready and drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Switch to medium heat and wait till the oil gets hot. Carefully pick up the rolls one by one and add to the pan. Make sure these rolls do not touch one another, otherwise they might stick together.
Just leave the rolls there and sear till you feel the bottom has been set and turned golden color. Carefully flip to the other side and sear till golden again.
Set up a big plate lined with paper towel. Once both sides get that good sear, transfer the rice paper rolls there. You might have to pan-fry these rolls in few batches depending on the size of pan. If so, drizzle more oil and repeat the process.
It's better to sear fewer rolls at once instead of crowding the pan. Once these rolls touch and stick to one another, that'll definitely give you a big headache, way more troublesome then searing these rolls in few batches.
Once all set, transfer pan-fried rolls to serving plate. Garnish with whole basil sprigs and see if you'd like to serve with additional Thai sweet chili sauce on the side. However, the filling is flavorful enough, these rice paper rolls still taste great even without the extra sauce .
Working and folding the semi-sticky rice paper is no easy job at first, but trust me you'll get a hang of it after a few tries. So don't get discouraged or frustrated when the first few pieces turn out somewhat mis-shaped.
And even if you do have some slightly deformed rolls, you can still pan-fry them till nice and golden as long as the filling is still nicely sealed inside. The final look won't be so bad after all with golden pan-fried color on both sides.
One final note, please make sure to enjoy these pan-fried rice paper rolls right away. As they turn cold, store overnight, or even reheat afterwards, the rice paper will become soggy and soft. It'll be like eating a sheet of gelatinous mass instead, not good.
Other recipes using ground chicken:
- Mountain yam, shio kombu, and ground chicken patties 山藥塩昆布雞肉餅
- Ground chicken and shiitake mushroom congee 香菇雞肉粥
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