(I meant to post this article a while ago but then went on a trip to China. Now I am back.)
I held the first urban bachelor cooking party on May 8th 2005. A couple of my friends came over and we tried some new recipes. We had a great time.
The theme of the dinner was to try out different ways of using Vietnam spring roll wrapping. My friend Corie at work gave me a batch of spring roll wrappings. Apparently you can get from china town or any Asian market (or online, see below).
I never really cooked it myself but based on the recommendations of others and my own observation. Vietnam spring roll wrapping is a great way to get rid of leftovers. First of all, it can be stored for a really long time. The fact is that even the manufactures don't bother to put an expiration date on the package. (Not that it is not a good practice.) Second, it is very easy to make. All you need to do is put it in warm water. No cooking necessary. Third advantage is that it sticks to itself really well. So even if you are not good at wrapping stuff you won't make too much of a mess. The ideas is when you have a bunch of leftovers, you microwave them and wrap them with Vietnamese spring roll wrapping. Then wala you have a brand new dish.
You can find more information on Vietnamese spring wrapping on line. For example this site has a picture of how to make them.
There were total 8 people at the dinner. I used one 1 and 40 minutes to prepare and cook all the food. At the end everyone was full and I had leftovers for the week.
Here is a list of dishes I tried. They are easy-to-make common Chinese family dishes. Because people usually make too much of them you often see these dishes as leftovers.
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Fried Snow Peas Snow Peas are expensive but it is easy to cook because it is thin and it also taste very good.
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Fried beef with onion
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Fried bean thread noodle (also from Chinatown or other Asian market) with minced pork Well the bean thread noodle is probably not easy to get if you don't go to Asian market much. I made this because fried bean thread noodle with minced pork tastes great for any kind of wrapping. Here is a picture of bean threaded noodle.
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Boiled mixed vegetables. Easy to make. You use any vegetable at hand and save time by cooking other food while waiting for it to be done.
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Fried Bean Sprouts. Bean Sprouts fried with soy sauce. Easy and fast to make, add liquid to the wrapping.
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Strawberry dipped in chocolate. (Contributed by Max using my electrical fondue.) Melt dark chocolate using an electric fondue at mid-head setting. Dip in strawberries or other fruits. You can purchase an electric fondue online. Such as [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00018RR48/qid=1117903719/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/102-5580954-4279354?v=glance&s=home-garden&n=507846 new=false]this link[/url]
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The wrapping. Here is a better description of Vietnamese wrapping at <li>[url]www.cookcing.com[/url]</li>. The other name for the wrapping is called rice paper. You can even purchase it online at <li>[url]this store[/url]</li>
Here is a list of dishes served at the dinner but will be reviewed another time. They are the experimental dishes. They don't really fit in the theme, but they are fast to make. I am going to review them another time because I want to go into details of how to make them and why they are great urban bachelor recipes.
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Just in time Salad.
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Tofu like Steamed Egg.
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