Asian Street Food Extravaganza

Winters living in the North are long, cold, and if you don't have a hobby, quite dull. Don't get me wrong, there are tons on fun things to do here in the winter but when the temperature dips below -20 Celsius or so, one doesn't want to spend extended periods of time out in it. One would rather curl up with a cup of tea and a cookbook.
My distraction of choice in the winter is trying out new recipes with my sister. We set aside one night a week to cook together. We've decided to choose a theme for these nights and pick three recipes to try. One recipe for each of us to cook and one to cook together. We will post our adventures here.
My sister and I like to cook, travel, shop, research alternate food lifestyle recipes and eat. We always cook gluten free and frequently cook Paleo and Whole 30 recipes. We will also be posting food from our travels and other interesting food related tidbits.
So, on to the cooking portion of this post. We've decided this weeks theme is Asian Street Food. The three recipes we have chosen to make are Vietnamese Spring Rolls, Spicy Vegetable Samosas and Chicken Satay Skewers. Now I realize that samosas aren't really Asian, but they are street food, so bear with me. We had planned a street food drink to go with our recipes but we ran out of time and had to abandon the idea....oh well, next time. On with the recipes...

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

1/2 lb Ground Pork
1/4 cup Carrot, shredded
1 oz Vermicelli Noodles, softened in boiling water and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1 clove Garlic, finely minced
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
1 Tbsp Ginger, peeled and grated
1 small Egg, beaten
salt & pepper to taste
6 Rice Paper Wrapper (8 1/2 inch round)

Preheat deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Mix all the ingredients except the rice paper wrappers in a bowl and mix well. Set aside. Lay a damp towel on your cutting board and have a bowl of warm water set close by. Lay a rice paper wrapper on the damp towel and pat with warm water on both sides until softened. The wrapper will go from stiff to really soft fast so work quickly. Put two tablespoons of filling at the end of the wrapper closest to you, leaving about 2 inches from the edge and shape into a 3 inch log. Pull up the edge over the filling and fold in the sides. Roll tightly. Place on a tray with a damp towel, not touching as they will stick together.
Fry 3 rolls at a time until the outside has crisped and remove to tray with paper towel to drain. When you have fried all of the rolls once, turn the deep fryer up to 350 degrees F. Fry all of the rolls a second time, 3 or 4 at a time, until light golden and really crispy. Remove to a tray with paper towel to drain. Let cool slightly before serving with nuoc cham dipping sauce.

Nuoc Cham-Dipping Sauce

1\4 cup Fish Sauce
3 Tbsp Lime Juice
1\4 cup Coconut Sugar
2\3 cup warm Water
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Carrot, shredded

Stir together in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Serve alongside spring rolls.

Spicy Vegetable Samosas

2 Tbsp Ghee, Olive Oil or Coconut Oil
1 Tbsp Tandoori Masala
1 Tbsp Garam Masala
1/4 tsp Hot Paprika
1 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 Bird's Eye Red Chili, seeded and finely chopped
1tsp Garlic, minced
4Tbsp Fresh Ginger, grated
1 med Onion, chopped fine
1 med Carrot, chopped fine
1 large Russet Potato, peeled & finely diced
1 sml Sweet Red Pepper, chopped fine
1 cup Water
1 1/2 cups Frozen Green Peas
10 Rice Paper Wrappers (8 1/2 round)

Preheat your pan over medium heat. Add the oil and the first 9 ingredients, masala through ginger. Stir until fragrant. Add onion, carrot, potato and red pepper. Cook and stir until potatoes are almost tender. Add frozen peas and water, stir and simmer until the potatoes are tender and the liquid has evaporated. Remove to tray and place in refrigerator to cool.
Preheat oven to 450 F. To assemble samosas, put a damp towel on your cutting board and have a bowl of warm water close by. Lay a rice paper wrapper on the damp towel and pat with warm water on both sides until softened. It will go from stiff to really soft fast so work quickly. Put a tablespoon of filling on the edge of the rice paper in about 1\2 inch from the round edge. Fold the paper in half, then in quarters, then sixths like a pizza slice and then fold up the 1\2 inch you left at the edge and moisten with water so it will stick to itself. Lay on a baking tray that has been brushed liberally with olive oil. Brush each Samosa with more olive oil. Bake until crispy, approx. 10 minutes per side. Serve with mango chutney for dipping.

Chicken Satay Skewers

6 Chicken Thighs, cut into strips

Marinade:

1 sml Onion, minced
2 cloves Garlic, crushed
1 inch Fresh Ginger, grated
2 tsp Curry Powder
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Tbsp Coconut Aminos or Tamari

Mix all marinade ingredients in a zip top bag, add chicken, seal and place in refrigerator for 2 hours. Preheat a grill pan on medium heat. Place skewers diagonally in pan and grill for 3-4 minutes per side. Serve with satay sauce for dipping.

Satay Sauce:

3/4 cup Coconut Milk
1/3 cup Almond Butter
2 Tbsp Coconut Sugar or Raw Honey
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 tsp Lime Juice
1/4 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes until thickened. Serve with chicken skewers for dipping.