[thechat] cooked carrots (was: what is this thing anyway?)

[Madhu Menon]

>1. How do you make the fish sauce stuff used for dipping
>eggrolls/springrolls - ... with (raw) shredded carrots and scallions
>and it's sweet and vinegary and fishy?

Fish sauce stuff? Fish sauce is a very Thai ingredient, unlikely to be used
in a Cantonese kitchen.

The dipping sauce has carrots in it? Don't know about that one then.

In any case, here's just one of many possible dipping sauces that can be
used with spring rolls, dumplings, etc.

GARLIC-SOY DIP

Ingredients

Thin (Light) Soy Sauce - 1.5 tbsp
White Vinegar - 1 level tbsp
Chinese Sesame Oil - 0.25 tsp
Sugar - a pinch
Garlic - fresh, finely chopped - 1 tsp

Method

Mix the sauces, oil, and sugar Add the garlic and allow it to sit for 10
minutes so the flavour seeps into the sauce. Serve with potstickers,
dumplings, spring rolls, buns, etc.

Make the sauce just before you need it. Don't dunk your dumplings in it.
Use sparingly. It's there to complement your food's flavour, not bury it.

I have several other dipping sauces recipes, but don't feel like typing
them all out at 1:00 AM. ;)


>Regarding clear rice noodles: I understand the correct technique is to

Eh? 'ang on. Did you say "clear" rice noodles? Don't think so. Most rice
noodles are an opaque white. Perhaps you are thinking of "glass noodles" or
bean thread noodles (same thing), which are made from mung beans. They are
also more suited for soups.

Glass noodles look like this:
http://www.foodsubs.com/NoodlesAsianOther.html (first one)

Thin rice vermicelli can look semi-transparent at times, but will turn an
opaque milky white when soaked in water.

Rice noodles of all types: http://www.foodsubs.com/NoodlesRice.html


>boil water, take it off the heat and let them soak for 20 minutes. I

If you're really talking about rice noodles, this will give you a soggy
mess. For stir-fries, I soak them in room temperature water for 20-30
minutes, and then just add a little extra water when stir-frying. Gives me
nice "al dente" rice noodles instead of soggy ones.

For use in soups, I'll soak them in warm water, but certainly not water
that's just been boiling. Rice noodles cook very quickly, and fresh rice
noodles (if you can find them) need just one minute of cooking.

Was that all? :)

Regards,

Madhu

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Madhu Menon
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