Many home cooks keep on hand a lot of rice paper and make sure to have a good supply, because it can be used in a multitude of applications. Frying makes it wonderfully tasty, similar to other ingredients! These crescent-shaped parcels are filled with an aromatic chicken mince, while tteokbokki is a Korean dish of chewy rice tubes that are typically simmered in a sauce. Sourcing them can sometimes be tricky, but I love them, so I prepare them from scratch.
Homemade Rice Paper Tteokbokki (pictured top)
Prep 5 minutes
Cook Twenty min
Makes a dozen
134g pack rice paper spring roll wrappers
45ml of oil
Six garlic cloves, minced after peeling
Three tablespoons gochujang paste
30ml of soy sauce
To serve
Sesame oil
Spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
Toasted sesame seeds
Dunk each sheet of rice paper in a shallow dish of cold water, letting them soften.
Twist each into a tube, then slice into two and set aside.
Pour the oil in a broad frying pan on a medium heat and, when it's heated, add the chopped garlic and fry.
When the garlic becomes fragrant and colored, add 750ml cold water, gochujang paste and the soy sauce, and simmer for five minutes.
Drop the rice paper rolls into the pan and allow to cook for several minutes, until they become tender and take on color.
Top with a trickle of sesame oil and a scattering of chopped green onions and a few sesame seeds.
Savory Chicken Crescents
Prep Five minutes
Cook Thirty min
Makes half a dozen
Half a kilogram chicken mince
One teaspoon garlic paste
One teaspoon ginger paste
A couple of scallions, sliced
5ml of salt
Three teaspoons chilli flakes
One egg
Six rice paper sheets
Neutral oil, to fry in
Your favorite spicy sauce, for serving
Place the ground chicken in a bowl, then incorporate the pastes of garlic and ginger, chopped green onions, salt and chilli flakes.
Add the egg and mix until everything is well combined.
Get a lipped plate and add some cold water.
Dunk a rice paper sheet in the water and let it soften – it softens almost instantly.
Place the wrapper on a surface, portion out some of the chicken filling on a single side of the paper, then distribute it evenly, leaving a 1cm border.
Bring the opposite side over of paper on top of the filling, then seal the border to seal.
Continue this process for the other five rice paper sheets and filling.
Heat a layer of oil into the base of a pan so that it covers the surface.
Put on a high heat and, when hot, carefully add the half-moons two at a time and pan-fry until browned and crunchy.
Following a couple of minutes, carefully turn them and cook on the other side.
Repeat with the remaining half-moons.
Present hot or at room temperature with a preferred spicy condiment.
