Asian Cuisine Wrap Up
Hello everyone! We hope you enjoyed our class last Tuesday. Thank you for being so engaged and asking questions! Last week, Zul and Geethika walked through the process of making avocado spring rolls with peanut sauce and garlic ginger edamame.
Zul began by washing her vegetables, which were red peppers, carrots, spinach, cilantro, tofu, and avocado. Then, she chopped them into uniform, thin strips. This style of cutting is called Julienne. You can add any meats or substitute any vegetables with the ones in the recipe, it is very adaptable! Zul then soaked the rice paper in water and rolled the vegetables into the paper. When it’s wet, the rice paper becomes very sticky so it should hold your filling together without unraveling. Try to do this quickly so your rice paper doesn’t dry out while you are rolling. Next, she moved on to the peanut sauce. To make it, she blended peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, rice wine vinegar, and water. You can use a whisk to mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl, but if you have a blender or food processor that would work too! With that, Zul was finished and showed us her beautiful final product!
Geethika shared how to make the garlic ginger edamame next. First, she boiled frozen edamame for 5 minutes. Then, she cut up some ginger and garlic. She used a knife but you could use a mortar and pestle or even a cheese grater instead. Geethika introduced a new method called the Cross Chop. After cutting the ginger and garlic into halves or quarters, she put them in a pile on her cutting board. Then, she faced the blade toward the cutting board, put her other hand on top of it for control, and started chopping in a quick rocking motion back and forth to mince the garlic and ginger into very small pieces. If you’d like a visual representation of the knife skills, try looking up their names on youtube or google for more specific instructions! Remember, if you are using fresh ginger make sure to either peel the skin off or wash it very well with water and a little bit of vinegar. It is a root vegetable so it probably has some dirt on it. Geethika then drained the edamame and, in the same pan, roasted it in olive oil. After a few minutes, she added the garlic and ginger along with some red onions, green onions, and cilantro for some extra flavor. You can also add many other vegetables, herbs, and spices to this edamame. Once they were done roasting, Geethika turned the stove off and let them cool.
If you have any edamame left over, it tastes amazing sprinkled on a salad which you can make with any leftover ingredients from the spring rolls. Both recipes contain ingredients rich in antioxidants, protein, and fiber that make you and your body full and happy, so try not to let any leftovers go to waste!
Check out our instagram @uacookingoncampus if you would like to see how the final products looked. If you’re more interested in how they tasted (I know I would be), then follow this link to our website for the full versions of the recipe here.
Make sure to join us for our next class on March 30th! We will be making two nutritious recipes that use the quintessential college student ingredient: Ramen!
Click here to register: bit.ly/CookingOnCampus
We hope to see you there!
Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram: @uacookingoncampus #CatsInTheKitchen