Mustard-forward Chinese dishes

[Toliver]

This is my understanding of Spring Rolls versus Egg Rolls...

Spring Rolls are wrapped in softened rice paper and they are not usually cooked/fried. In my local Vietnamese Restaurants, they are usually served with a peanut sauce for dipping. 

Egg Rolls (not Chinese but American Chinese) are always fried and are usually served with that nuclear pink sweet sauce in my local American Chinese Restaurants.

With Spring Rolls, because the rice paper is semi-transparent, there is almost an art to wrapping the ingredients in a pleasant "artful" manner (like the repetitive shrimp arranged in the photo).

Edited February 22, 2021 by Toliver
Forgot the last parenthesis (log)

[heidih]

@Toliver In my area the word fresh is used to identify the uncooked ones Gỏi cuốn. For me please hold the gloppy peanut sauce. Nuoc mam with fresh or fried - chả giò. Mustard has no horse in the race ever.  

[Anna N]

22 minutes ago, Toliver said:

Spring Rolls are wrapped in softened rice paper and they are not usually cooked/fried

Hmmm. Around here (at least in my very limited experience) fresh spring rolls are wrapped in rice paper and uncooked. But spring rolls are wrapped in a wheat pastry and deep-fried.  

[rotuts]

there are ' spring rolls ' that are fried :

 

https://chefonefoods.com/what-is-the-difference-between-spring-rolls-and-egg-rolls/

 

https://dinnerthendessert.com/spring-rolls/

 

https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/fresh-spring-rolls/

 

probably very diverse in Cina

 

Or Vietnam

[Anna N]

Am I the only one who thinks that spring rolls and eggrolls are shaped very differently?

[rotuts]

before this discussion

 

i thought both spring rolls and egg rolls

 

were both deep fired.

 

granted

 

USA experience

 

the springnrools were thinner

 

perhaps shorter

 

and ' lighter'  w less filling  

 

more crunch

 

egg rolls had a thicker wrapping

 

and were more substancial

 

rice paper wraps

 

Vietnamese like   

 

 

came much latter to the Table.

[Eatmywords]

Those are SUMMER rolls!  We just made the wknd coincidentally.  Came out pretty good! I'll post in Dinner.

[Anna N]

5 minutes ago, Eatmywords said:

Those are SUMMER rolls!  We just made the wknd coincidentally.  Came out pretty good! I'll post in Dinner.

Perhaps in your part of the world! Here they are generally called spring rolls.

[rotuts]

Soooo

 

there must be 

 

Autumn rolls

 

and Winter Rolls  

 

Somewhere ?

 

just not yet here nor there.

 

looking forward to them

 

in  few years

[Eatmywords]

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Perhaps in your part of the world! Here they are generally called spring rolls.

Right, googling and seeing both but Summer I think has only the one meaning whereas spring can be the deep fried so.....

 

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11573-vietnamese-summer-rolls

 

[heidih]

40 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Hmmm. Around here (at least in my very limited experience) fresh spring rolls are wrapped in rice paper and uncooked. But spring rolls are wrapped in a wheat pastry and deep-fried.  

Not here - the fried spring rolls are definitely rice paper - fabulous crunch & texture.

[heidih]

31 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Am I the only one who thinks that spring rolls and eggrolls are shaped very differently?

Same method but the thin rice paper allows for a tight roll - in my experience. Filling down line, tuck end in,tug and roll. It is wet and pliable versus wheat or even same method with a flour tortilla for burritos. Not referring to the uncooked spring ones that often have a cute fan of chives out the rear. 

[KennethT]

The unfried ones are summer rolls - because in summer it's too hot to fry. Spring rolls are the fried ones. In NYC, egg rolls are much bigger than spring rolls in general but the filling of spring rolls varies depending if you get it in a Chinese Viet or Thai restaurant.

[Anna N]

 

Perhaps it is a Canadian thing. To me eggrolls are not rolled but sealed at each end. This extra crispy part of the wrapper makes them very different from spring rolls. 
edited to add they are pillow-shaped. 

Edited February 23, 2021 by Anna N (log)

[heidih]

9 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

Perhaps it is a Canadian thing. To me eggrolls are not rolled but sealed at each end. This extra crispy part of the wrapper makes them very different from spring rolls. 
edited to add they are pillow-shaped. 

Well yes that is different to my experience. They do look crispy

[liuzhou]

14 hours ago, Toliver said:

This is my understanding of Spring Rolls versus Egg Rolls...

Spring Rolls are wrapped in softened rice paper and they are not usually cooked/fried. In my local Vietnamese Restaurants, they are usually served with a peanut sauce for dipping. 

Egg Rolls (not Chinese but American Chinese) are always fried and are usually served with that nuclear pink sweet sauce in my local American Chinese Restaurants.

With Spring Rolls, because the rice paper is semi-transparent, there is almost an art to wrapping the ingredients in a pleasant "artful" manner (like the repetitive shrimp arranged in the photo).

 

Those are Vietnamese rolls on the left. Chinese are different.

 

Rice paper is rarely used in China. The only time I've seen it in a store, it was imported from Vietnam and the shopkeeper didn't know what it was.

Edited February 23, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[shain]

On 2/9/2021 at 4:13 PM, shain said:

I managed to find one dish that makes use of mustard - http://news.cnwest.com/sxxw/a/2021/01/31/19473314.html - Shaanxi cold buckwheat noodles with mustard and sesame paste. 

 

OK, took me a while, but I made this dish, with some variations.

It was much more mild than I expected, and overall gave me quite of a Japanese vibe - maybe because I associate many of those flavors (buckwheat noodles, sesame paste with soy, mustard~=horseradish/wasabi) with said cuisine.

It was quite tasty, I'd make it again at some point, even though I still prefer my old go-to Japanese style cold soba with miso and sesame.

 

 

 

 

 

Recipe:

 

250g buckwheat or wheat noodles -

    cook in salted water, wash well and drain

    (I think that noodles made of 50% buckwheat 50% wheat would work well with a good balance of texture and flavor) 

-

3-4 tsp mustard seeds, ground and mixed with water to form a paste

-

Sauce:

2 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 tbsp light soy sauce

3-4 tbsp black rice vinegar

2.5 tsp dark brown sugar

20g light sesame paste (tahini), apx 2 tbsp

chili oil to taste (I used plain, without added flavorings, but I thinks that a flavored one would work well)

MSG to taste

salt to taste

cold water as needed for a smooth creamy sauce - 1/4 to 1/3 cup

-- 

2 cucumbers, julienned

3 eggs, boiled 8 minutes and chilled

more chili oil for topping (I used one with douchi, which worked well)

 

 

In a bowl large enough to hold the noodles, mix together the sauce ingredients, including about 1/2 of the mustard paste, so that you can add more to taste.

Add water as needed to form a creamy sauce, reserving some to thin it further if needed.

Add the noodles and mix well.

Add more water, mustard paste, MSG, salt, sugar, chili oil, vinegar, soy sauce as needed.

Place in serving plates and top with cucumbers and eggs (lightly salted). Top with chili oil.

 

[liuzhou]

51 minutes ago, shain said:

I think that noodles made of 50% buckwheat 50% wheat would work well

 

Most buckwheat noodles in China contain regular wheat too, but I'm not sure of proportions. A number of foreigners, new to China, have asked me over the years where they can get buckwheat noodles. I always ask if they want them because of gluten issues and, if so, I tell them "Every supermarket, but be careful; most contain wheat." Then I have to teach them the Chinese characters for buckwheat and wheat, so that they can check the ingredients list.

I'd still like to know where these Shaanxi people are getting their mustard seeds, though. Shaanxi was the first place I lived in China and couldn't find them.

[shain]

13 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Most buckwheat noodles in China contain regular wheat too, but I'm not sure of proportions. A number of foreigners, new to China, have asked me over the years where they can get buckwheat noodles. I always ask if they want them because of gluten issues and, if so, I tell them "Every supermarket, but be careful; most contain wheat." Then I have to teach them the Chinese characters for buckwheat and wheat, so that they can check the ingredients list.

I'd still like to know where these Shaanxi people are getting their mustard seeds, though. Shaanxi was the first place I lived in China and couldn't find them.

 

I actually wanted to get the half-and-half kind to begin with, but it's harder to find here, probably because gluten-free products have more demand than otherwise plain "specialty" products. 

[Katie Meadow]

I buy Japanese buckwheat noodles. Most of them are a blend of wheat and buckwheat; if you want all buckwheat you do have to read the labels carefully. I've tried cooking the all-buckwheat noodles and it's tricky. Buckwheat alone doesn't have much structure and gets mushy, so if you are looking for a gluten free alternative that would be the only option. If you are looking for that earthy buckwheat taste w/o needing gluten free, go for the 50/50 ones, or whatever ratio the noodles are.

[shain]

Stumbled on another dish with mustard. I must say, it's not often that I feel overwhelmed by a dish only by imagining how it would taste like. There's a lot going on in this plate...

 

 

I should make starch jelly noodles again before weather turns cold. Though probably not this dish.