Rice Rolls (fawm kauv)

These are one of my favorite appetizers. Actually, I just eat them as a meal since eating a couple of them really fills me up. I'm not sure where these originated from. I know Vietnamese make these too. I'll just give credit back to the Chinese since they invented everything ;). I love eating these, but I hate making these. It sure takes a long time and by the time I'm done making them, there's only a few left because there's usually other people (or myself) eating these as I make these. It takes a lot of practice to perfect the wrapper. I've been making these for years, and they still don't come out consistently perfect each time. I always have a few that don't turn out. The first and last ones are usually the worst ones, which ends up being tossed. However, ever since I found this brand of flour, my wrapper has been turning out pretty good each time. I hope they don't discontinue or change anything about this flour because it's the best flour I have used so far. The instructions to mix is even right on since I've always used more water than what the instructions on the bag says. Excuse the poor picture quality. I made these at dinner time and I don't know why I didn't use my flash. Taking good pictures and cooking at the same time is more difficult than I thought.


Pretty simple ingredients...I like to use Jimmy Dean sausage; it gives a lot of flavor. I usually just use the Regular kind, but I had the Hot kind in my freezer.


This is the brand of rice flour I use. It's the best one I have used. NOT ALL BRANDS OF FLOUR ARE CREATED EQUAL.


Put sausage and ground pork in pan at high heat.


Cook meat until cooked through, stirring constantly until meat is no longer in large clumps.


Drain the meat once cooked to rid the juices and grease.


Put drained meat back into pan and add 2 tbsp of hoisin sauce and 1 tbsp of oyster sauce. Stir until mixed well with meat.


Add 2/3 cup of chopped cilantro and 2/3 cup of sliced green onions.


Cook until cilantro and onions are tender, less than a minute.


In a large bowl, mix the flour according to package instructions. Scoop up a full laddle of the flour mixture and put it into a non-stick pan that's been heated on medium heat.


Using the pan, stir the flour mixture until it forms a good circle around the pan. It is important to use a good non-stick pan (very few or no scratches!).


Cover the pan for about 1-2 minutes. Wrapper will be ready when it is somewhat bubbly and you can see it lifting off the pan. (Sorry, I forgot to take a pic of this). As you can see, I had two pans going...it helps make these things faster. Once it is ready, transfer it immediately to a flat surface such as a plate or you can use foil. If it does not come off of pan easily, it's probably not ready yet and try putting it back on the stove (covered) for a few seconds.


Wrapping is pretty easy. Just spread enough meat around the wrapper and roll away. I like to use a lot of meat in mine because I like it that way!


Serve with a side of sauce of your choice. I just buy the ready-made sweet chili sauce and add some chopped peanuts, more Thai chilis, and some fish sauce to it since I like it a little more spicy.

Makes about 40 rolls (or 20 per package)

Ingredients

Filling:
1 lb of ground pork
1 package of Jimmy Dean Regular sausage (1 lb)
2 tbsp of hoisin sauce
1 tbsp of oyster sauce
2/3 cup of chopped cilantro
2/3 cup of chopped green onions

Wrapper:
2 packages of steamed rice flour
9 cups of water
2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Sauce:
sweet chili sauce
chopped peanuts
Thai chilis to taste
fish sauce to taste


Method:
1. Cook sausage meat and ground pork in pan on high heat until cooked through.
2. Drain the meat so juices and oil run off. Once drained, put meat back into pan. Add hoisin and oyster sauces. Stir to mix well with meat.
3. Add cilantro and green onions to the pan and cook until both are tender, less than a minute.
4. Mix the flour mixture according to package instructions (4 1/2 cups of water and 1 tbsp of oil per package) in a large bowl. Stir until the flour is completely dissolved. It's important to keep stirring the mixture each time you pour a new laddle into the pan so that the flour keeps dissolving (it tends to form back).
5. Set a good non-stick pan on medium-low heat. Once the pan is warm, pour a laddle of the flour mixture into the pan. Using the pan handle, stir mixture until it forms a circle in pan. Cover immediately. Cover for about 1-2 minutes or until wrapper turns somewhat bubbly. Wrapper will be ready when you can see it lifting off the pan.
6. Once wrapper is ready, immediately transfer it onto a flat surface such as a sheet of foil or a flat pan. If wrapper does not come off of pan easily, put pan back on stove and cover for a few more seconds.
7. Spread a spoonful of meat over the wrapper until evenly distributed around wrapper. Start wrapping by folding in the left and right sides of the wrapper, then fold in the top over to form a roll.

This is one of the sauces I make for my rice rolls. I buy this ready sauce from Amazon or your local Asian grocery store, and add some fish sauce, more Thai chili peppers, lime juice, garlic and peanuts to it.


Another sauce I make is simply just pound garlic with red Thai chili peppers. Then add roasted peanuts and pound it together in a mortar until well blended. Add fish sauce, lime juice, and a dash of sugar to it. Add water to the sauce if you prefer a more liquid sauce. I tend to like mine on the pasty side.