Here’s a delicious appetizer (or snack!) that combines one of our strongest, not-for-the-faint-of-heart teas with delectable flavors from Asia. Spring rolls made with tea might sound a little out there at first, but our deliciously smoky Lapsang Souchong is the perfect thing to balance out the tangy, bright flavors found in this staple of Asian cuisine.
This recipe (reprinted below) comes to us by way of Super Natural Cooking, by Heidi Swanson. The process of putting together the rolls might seem a little tricky at first, so give yourself time, patience and perhaps some help from friends or family to get it right. If all else fails, you can focus on creating the tea-infused plum sauce. Explore by dipping different foods into it! For the original recipe, click here.
Lapsang Souchong Spring Rolls (with tea-infused plum dipping sauce)
- 1 tablespoon loose organic lapsang souchong black tea
- 1 tablespoon light sesame oil
- 1 onion, sliced into thin slivers
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 large shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
- ½ pound pork shoulder, braised and shredded
- 1 carrot, coarsely grated
- 4 chard leaves, ribs removed and coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons shoyu or soy sauce
- 12 (6-inch) spring roll pastry wrappers, defrosted
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Plum Dipping Sauce
- ¾ cup vanilla bean-black tea plum butter (check out the recipe here) or prepared jam or chutney
- ¼ cup rice wine vinegar
Preheat oven to 400 ° F.
Crush tea leaves to a fine powder in an electric coffee grinder or spice grinder. In a large skillet, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic, and mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes (or until mushrooms soften). Stir in shredded pork, carrot, chard and shoyu. Mix gently until evenly distributed. Tasting as you go, add ground lapsang souchong a teaspoon at a time until reaching desired smoked flavor. Remove from heat.
To assemble spring rolls, place a wrapper on flat workspace with one corner of the wrapper pointing towards you. Keep additional wrappers covered with a damp towel. Add 1-2 tablespoons of filling just off center on the corner closest to you. Fold this corner over the filling and then roll wrapper tightly one turn away from you. Fold in the corners from ends at the right and left, then continue to roll the wrap toward the remaining corner. Seal flap by dabbing with a bit of water. Place seam-side down on a baking sheet and repeat with additional rolls.
Brush assembled rolls with melted butter and bake for 10-15 minutes, turning each roll over halfway through baking, until golden and crisp. Serve hot accompanied with dipping sauce.
To make the dipping sauce, place the plum butter and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl, whisking to combine.