Nems (Spring Rolls)

This is a very basic recipe; it would be good with lots more garlic and with any spices or herbs you'd like to add. Mint and basil work very nicely. I recommend serving it with dipping sauce: soy, plum, hot mustard, chili, whatever you like for rolls and potstickers.

Equipment:

large frying pan
mixing bowl
pot for boiling noodles
colander
bowl for soaking mushrooms
spoon
fork or whisk
cloth
plate for folding rolls; plate for draining rolls
paper towels
large pot for wetting wrappers

Ingredients:

300 g ground meat (your preference--chicken is good)
100 g rice noodles
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, finely chopped
20 g (or more, to taste) dried black mushrooms
1 egg
10 rice flour wrappers (in France, you can substitute "feuilles de brick"; in the U.S. you could probably get away with whatever you would normally use for egg/spring rolls)
1 tsp sugar
oil
salt & pepper
4 cloves of crushed or minced garlic

Directions:

1) Boil water in a pot (just enough to cover your rice noodles). Throw the noodles in and let cook 30 seconds. Drain them immediately and rinse with cold water. Chop them coarsely.

2) Let the mushrooms soak 15 minutes in warm water. Drain them and press them between your hands to get rid of any excess liquid. Chop them coarsely.

3) In your mixing bowl, beat the egg with a fork or whisk. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

4) Cover your folding plate with a dry cloth or towel (a large napkin works well). Fill a large pot with enough water to wet the wrappers. Put the first wrapper into the water and transfer it to the plate when just wet enough to fold easily. Fill the wrapper with the noodle mixture and roll tightly. Repeat till you run out of wrappers, filling, or both.

5) Heat a good bit of oil in a pan till very hot (almost smoking), then lower the heat a setting or two. Cook the rolls 3 or 4 minutes on each side, till golden brown. You can cook several in the same pan at once. When you take them out, to cut the greasiness, set them on a plate lined thickly with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.

6) If you have extra filling, fry it after all the rolls are done and use it as a side serving or as baby food. You can serve whole rolls to your baby once they are thoroughly cooled if you don't mind a big mess; otherwise spoon-feed him the filling only.