MisoHungry: Fried Nori Meat Rolls

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Fried Nori Meat Rolls

For pot luck tonight, I'm making fried nori meat rolls and amaretto fig cupcakes with peach schnapps swiss butter cream. I'm posting this recipe I put up many moons ago. Enjoy, and hope to see ya there tonight!

Fried Nori Meat Rolls are something my mother made for years. I'm not sure if there is a history to them, but they taste pretty good. Serve with Sweet Chili Sauce (in the Thai section). You might notice that the ingredients for the filling are exactly the same as the filling for the Lion's head soup. It is the exact same recipe. I actually made these when I got tired of making meatballs. I also tend to put more vegetables in my meat balls than normal. I actually have more veggies than meat in my meatballs. You can vary the ratio to your own liking. Additionally, I use a food processor to chop my dried mushrooms, carrots, and water chestnuts.

Ingredients for meat filling:

	2 pounds ground pork
	1 cup chopped scallions
	1 cup diced carrots
	1/2 cup diced water chestnuts (you can find these canned in many grocery stores now).
	1 cup diced dried mushrooms (soak mushrooms for at least one hour prior to use)
	2 table spoons garlic ginger paste - optional (find this in the Indian food section)
	2 eggs
	2 tablespoons of corn starch

Additional ingredients:

	Nori Paper
	Oil
	Sweet Chili Sauce

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add more eggs or corn starch to achieve a sticky but not overly dense consistency. Spread a thin layer of meat filling over the nori, and roll the nori into a tube like sushi You may use water to seal the edge, but I don't use anything at all. Fry immediately in a hot pan with the edge side down. Turn the rolls evenly and carefully (the nori paper is delicate!) until all sides have been browned. I also cover the rolls with a lid to make cooking time faster and to ensure that the meat inside has been cooked via steam. Once the nori is slightly brown and crispy on all sides, the meat should be done. If you made larger rolls, you might need to cook the rolls a bit longer. Slice on the bias and serve with sweet chili sauce. May be frozen and reheated. Enjoy!

*I've seen some recipes deep frying these rolls, but I prefer to pan fry.