An Asian Family Cook Out

A couple of weekends ago, I was visiting my family in Sacramento and my sisters and cousin decided to do a big cook out. Well, they decided, I just happened to be there also so I decided to take photos. Yes, I did help too. Jenny made egg rolls, Nancy made spring rolls, and Molly made hot dog fried rice. Yes, I know, strange, but it's actually not bad, it's super good. Just to make sure there was enough food for all of us, we decided to throw some drumsticks onto the grill. Take a look!

First, Egg Rolls:
I wasn't able to get all shots of the ingredients in because my sissies kept insisting that I put down the camera and help. So here is most of it:

Green Onions

Carrots

Mushroom Fungi (Don't worry, it's safe! And Delicious!)

Ground Pork

Brown it, then drain

Next, throw all your ingredients into a bowl and mix! It's easiest and best to use your hands, CLEAN HANDS. Other ingredients I didn't have time to take pictures are include: shredded cabbage, glass or vermicelli noodles, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and oyster sauce. Last ingredient to toss in before mixing are the eggs. Its hard to say exactly how many, I stay start with one or two and add in as necessary. It should be wet enough so that all the ingredients combine but not so wet that it's watery. In our case, since we were making a bunch, we started with three at first and then worked our way up to eight, I think.

Mix, Mix, Mix!

Next, grab the wrappers and start peeling them. We find it easier to peel them first, setting them on a plate and then start rolling. Usually, I am the peeler. I am excellent at it too! The reason why I'm the best peeler? Because mine will always come out with no holes. Sounds easier than it is, but keep in mind that these wrappers are super thin and there is not any flour separating them. You have to peel them back very carefully to avoid any rips or holes in it. It's harder to roll if there's a large hole in your wrapper. ;)

Every family has their own way of rolling their egg rolls. Our mom has always taught us to do it diagonally. Either way, they still come out very delicious. We just use a regular plate, spoon some onto the sheet a little halfway down, fold the bottom corner up, pull it in tight to form the "roll", bring in the side corners, and roll up while pushing the ingredients in sushi-style to make it tight.

Should look like this:

After you get it to look like the above picture, use an egg wash to lightly brush that last corner/triangle area and seal it in. To make sure it really sticks, I like to lay it with the seam side down to make sure the "glue" sticks.After you roll all yours, heat up some vegetable oil and fry it until it is golden brown. The meat is already cooked, so while the outside is turning brown, the other ingredients inside are slowly cooking so to become nice and soft and yummilicious!

Next, Spring Rolls a la Nancy:

Do the "Tuh-nin" Hahaha

The Pork "Meatloaf"/Ham, etc Don't know the actual name

Rice Noodles

Thai Basil

Lettuce Cups

Slice It Up

Cilantro

Bean Sprouts

Next, you'll need to take the rice paper, which will be hard and brittle, and dip it in warm water to soften it up. Be very careful and make sure that when you pull it out, you make sure it is smooth and there are no folds because it will be stuck like that. Use a flat surface (we used the lid of one of the big tuppewares) so there aren't any folds, rips, or tears, and then lay your ingredients in horizontally. The folding method is the same as the egg roll method.

For spring rolls, you don't need to use an egg wash. The rice paper will still be a little moist and sticky, so as the skin touches each other, it will stick.

Next, I didn't get any shots of the preparation for the other dishes, mainly because I was making the fried rice also, but here is the finished Hot Dog Fried Rice:

And finally, my sister's Corona (yes, the alcohol beverage) marinated drumsticks:

It was such a yummy lunch, we didn't have any leftovers. :( But it's all good. We do these quite often despite the fact that we all live a couple hours away from each other. Was a fun day!