Leaving for Japan - Our Farewell Party, Part I
26 February 2008
The day of our departure to Japan is rapidly getting closer. In the midst of all the packing and various admin stuff which is currently keeping us busy we celebrated our farewell party last Saturday, for which I prepared different finger food which would probably qualify as Japanese fusion, some more and some less authentic, but in any case setting the right tone for our Japan party.
The Japanese egg rolls, which you may know as a sushi topping, are probably the most "authentically Japanese" part of the snacks I prepared. I got the recipe from a Japanese lady I had the chance to cook with on my first visit to Japan, now almost six years ago. I have since prepared this dish every now and again as I really like both its taste and the texture, but only recently I actually bought the right tool to get the egg rolls in perfect shape: a rectangular non-stick frying pan, in which you can roll the egg base to and fro so you get a nice, solid, homogeneous egg roll.
It also kind of works with a normal, circular pan, but it is harder to handle as the egg tends to spread out across the full circle, so when you roll it up the ends of the coil will be thinner than the middle part.
Japanese Egg Roll Bites
| yields 50 slices (5 rolls) |
for the egg roll: |
| 11 eggs |
| 40ml soy sauce |
| 55ml rice vinegar |
| 50g fine, white sugar |
to serve/decorate: |
| some cherry tomatoes |
| 50 toothpicks |
Mix the eggs with the soy sauce, the rice vinegar and the sugar until homogeneous and smooth. The egg base should not be foamy though, so if you use an electric mixer, do not run it at maximum power.
Take a small non-stick, rectangular frying pan and put it on medium heat. If you do not have a rectangular one, take a round one, but be aware that the egg rolls might come out somewhat messy in shape!
Pour a dipper full of the egg base into the pan. Wait until the egg starts getting solid at the bottom of the pan but is still liquid at the top, then cautiously roll the egg up from one far end to the other, folding it bit by bit with a flat metal turner or similar kitchen tool. After each bend leave it in its position for a few seconds before you move on so the different layers can grow together. Once the omelette is all rolled up at one end, pour some more of the egg base into the rest of the pan and repeat the game into the other direction. Finally let the finished roll get slightly browned from all sides before removing it from the pan and starting all over again with the next portion.
Don’t worry if somewhere along the way you tear apart one of the layers when bending the omelette. Just continue rolling it up, it will stick together anyway.
Allow the egg rolls to cool down before slicing them up so they get really solid. Cut them into slices of about 1cm and, if you wish, arrange them on toothpicks. Decorate with some cherry tomatoes to add some colour and freshness.
