Crispy Salmon and Avocado Spring Rolls

My mother taught me how to make cha gios when I was young. She learned how to make them when she was working as a linguist in Vietnam during the war. It was our favorite food as kids and whenever we came home from boarding school for Christmas or summer holidays she would make us a huge dinner of crab meat-stuffed spring rolls, wrapped in crispy lettuce and dipped in the salty-sour so good sauce.

I have adapted the recipe here, using smoked salmon instead of crab meat, avocado instead of mung bean sprouts and honey instead of sugar in the sauce, but the results are every bit as delicious as the original so I suggest you try it as many ways as you can. You won’t regret it! Video demo.

Serves 4.
This is an excellent dish and unusual, but well worth it. It is especially tasty and nutritious if the summer squash is picked right out of your own garden!

• 5-6 yellow squash, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 inch ginger, grated
• 2 eggs
• pinch turmeric
• pinch cardamom
• pinch salt
• pinch freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c gouda or edam cheese, grated
• 2T dijon mustard

Method:
Heat a thick bottomed frying pan with a little oil until smoking hot.

Toss in the chopped yellow squash, add a bit more butter or oil, according to your preference. I like butter.

This is delicious alone, with Toasted Sesame Buckwheat or with rice.

serves 4

Soak a bag of dried chickpeas until they are nearly sprouting. This may be 3 days in cold weather, or overnight in warm. Rinse the beans often while they are soaking. You can also add whey to the soaking liquid. This helps to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors.

Bring the chickpeas to a boil. Remove any scum from the surface. Drain the chickpeas and bring to boil again. (You can repeat this if you like a few more times.) Put the pot back on the stove, turn it on low, covered and allow to simmer slowly until the chickpeas are very soft.

• 1 large onion, sliced
• pinch of turmeric
• 1/2 c diced pork sausage or bacon
• coconut oil, lard or butter as necessary

Saute the above ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan until they begin to caramelize.

Add:

• pinch hot chili powder
• chick peas
• 1/2 pound of green beans, cleaned and cut into inch long lengths
• 1 can of tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
• 1 T ground coriander
• 1 T five spice powder
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 T ground ginger
• splash worchestershire sauce
• salt

Method
Turn the heat way down and allow this to simmer 5-10 minutes covered to cook green beans and marry the flavors.

serves 4

• 2 onions, large dice
• 1/2 head garlic, peeled
• 5-6 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and large dice

Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Mix items together in a large roasting tray.

Add:

• Oil to lightly coat pan-coconut or olive oil and butter are best
• Sprinkle of salt
• Sprinkle of fresh cracked black pepper
• Sprinkle of ground cinnamon
• Sprinkle of hot chili powder
• Sprinkle of ground cloves

Method
Quickly rub oil onto vegetables, taking care to coat every surface. Pat out evenly on tray and place in very hot oven (400 degrees).

Lightly steamed homegrown green beans are delicious with cream cheese and balachaung

Serves 2-4

• 500g (1 lb) green beans
• ¼ c homemade cream cheese
• ¼ c peanut balachaung
• ½ lime’s juice
• salt to taste

Method:
Blanch green beans and drain. While hot add the cream cheese and toss until it has melted and coated the beans. Add balachaung, lime juice and salt to taste.

The Rakhine people of Western Myanmar love very hot spicy food and make this dip hotter than I can handle it. Therefore, although I say the chili’s are optional, it is no longer an Arakanese dip if the chilis are not added!

serves 4

• 5-6 Japanese eggplants
• ½ small white onion, sliced very thin and rinsed under cold water
• 1/4 c cold pressed peanut oil
• 2-3 hot green or red fresh chilis (optional)

This is a signature hand tossed Burmese salad. Variations can be found all around Myanmar.

Burmese salads are always thrown together fresh, the last minute possible before being served. Quick fingers toss and blend the salad, adding the personal touch of the creator into the mixture.

Serves 4

• 4-5 tomatoes, de-seeded and sliced
• 1 T turmeric and garlic oil
• 1 small onion, sliced very thin and rinsed in cold water
• 1 T sesame seeds, toasted
• ½ c cabbage, shredded very finely
• 1 lime’s juice
• ½ c peanuts, chopped
• 1 bunch coriander (cilantro) roughly chopped
• salt or fish sauce to taste

In Myanmar this salad is usually made with star-beans* or snake-beans and is another of their famous hand-tossed salads.

Serves 4

• 500g (1lb) star beans or green beans
• 1 small onion, sliced very thin and rinsed under cold water
• 1 T sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 T garlic and turmeric oil
• 1 lime’s juice
• ½ c peanuts, chopped
• salt or fish sauce to taste
• 1 or 2 hot green chilis, sliced (optional)

Method:
Blanch green beans and cut into about 1 inch lengths. Toss the ingredients together with your hands at the last minute before you serve to your guests. In some areas of Myanmar it is said that the Chef’s hands themselves add the secret ingredient to these famous hand tossed salads.

This recipe will make about two weeks worth of balachaung for about 4 people, using it as a condiment. Usually I make this if I know I am going to be too busy to cook the next coming weeks, or if I am broke. This way I can simply cook up some rice and have a simple nutritious meal with rice and balachaung and maybe some steamed veggies or an avocado for good measure. This is actually the vegetarian version of a condiment that is served at nearly every meal in Myanmar (Burma). Usually balachaung contains powdered dried shrimp.

Recipe:
2 whole bulbs of garlic, thinly sliced. More or less can be used according to taste. Enough oil to fry the garlic and a ½ teaspoon of turmeric.

Fry the garlic in oil to crispy, be careful not to burn it. Take it out of the oil a little before you think it is golden enough as it will continue cooking once out of the oil for a little while.