NEW YEAR BEAN CURD ROLL

What is bean curd skin，I hear you ask？Without sounding like too much of a geek，it is basically the skin that forms when you heat milk to just above 60°℃.China has factories where this skin is carefully removed from the soya milk and hung up to dry before being packed，frozen and sent all across the world to wrap things in，as I’ve done here and on the following page.This is the first dim sum that I actually invented.You make your own judgement.

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon preserved vegetables

1 tablespoon diced sauteed chestnut mushrooms

2 tablespoons blanched diced New Year cake

1 sheet of frozen bean curd skin 15× 20cm，defrosted beaten egg，for sealing

vegetable oil，for deep-frying

1Cheung Fun Rice Sheet 15×20cm

50ml Sweetened Soy Sauce，to serve

For the batter

100g plain flour

1 teaspoon ammonium bicarbonate powder

pinch of sugar

pinch of salt

650ml water

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1.For the batter，mix all the ingredients together until you have a sloppy mixture for dipping.2.Mix the preserved vegetables，mushrooms and New Year cake together for the filling，then check the weight，as you will only need 45g to avoid overfilling the roll.

3.Lay the bean curd skin out flat on a clean work surface orientated to form a diamond shape.

4.Spoon the filling on to the skin about 2cm up from the bottom point of the diamond.

5.Flip the bottom point of the skin over the filling and roll up until you reach the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock points，then fold each point in and continue rolling up as you would for a spring roll.Seal the top point of the roll with the beatenegg.

6.Heat the oil for deep-frying in a deep-fat fryer to 180℃.

7.Turn the roll in the batter to coat，then place straight into the oil and fry for about 5 minutesuntil the internal temperature reaches 60°C.The roll will be floating on the surface of the oil by this stage and golden brown in colour.

8.Remove from the oil and drain on kitchen paper.

9.Wrap the roll in the Cheung Fun Rice Sheet and cut it into 2cm-thick slices.Serve with Sweetened Soy Sauce.

CHEF’S TIP

In cutting your bean curd sheets into neat 15 × 20cm skins，you will undoubtedly end up with lots of oddly shaped trimmings.Don’t throw them away，as they make a wonderful addition to a broth-simply add them to your soup just before serving to poach lightly and they will transform in texture to resemble sheets of noodles.

hancheng

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