Rites of spring

All it takes to enjoy the profusion of spring vegetables popping up at the markets is a wrap.

In the warmer southern climes, April is when cabbages glow green and the carrots shine like bright orange batons. The bamboos, too, will be sending up creamy yellow tender shoots that can be harvested every morning. Mushrooms, too, are decorating the tree stumps on which they grow.

While not many of us have the privilege of seeing them fresh on the ground, we can still admire the spring vegetables at the market and bring home some for a healthy, seasonal feast.

For our family, the seasonal dish must be spring rolls, with juicy filling plumping up the pancake jackets. My Fujianese-Straits Chinese grandmother would spend a whole morning grating and slicing up vegetables and then cooking them down to a pot of delicious sweetness.

In another part of the kitchen, her daughters would prepare the garnish - slices of thin Chinese sausages lightly fried to render the oil, light-as-air omelettes that would be shredded into julienne, and pink prawns that would be blanched and then sliced in half.

In yet another section, the spring roll wrappers would be prepared. A ball of very soft dough would be expertly wiped on a hot griddle and miraculously, it seems, a paper-thin pancake would be ready in mere seconds.

The process fascinated me as a child. As an adult, I tried making the spring roll wrappers once, and only once.

I failed miserably. I guess it takes more practice than the mere hours I devoted to its making.

I now buy my spring roll wrappers from the chiller section of the supermarkets as I reckon there is more to life than devoting my waking hours to perfecting the art of pancake making.

After all that work prepping and cutting, the fun part is when we assemble the spring rolls, or bao bing (literally, thin cakes).

A sheet of wrapper would be laid down on the table and a lettuce leaf placed along one edge, a spoonful of filling would go on top.

After that, the garnishes go in - a few slices of sweet sausages, a scattering of deep-fried garlic crisps, a few strips of egg, some thinly sliced cucumbers and finally, a few slices of pink prawns.

The spring roll is then tightly wrapped up like a cylindrical envelope.

There is an art to eating a spring roll. Bite carelessly, and the filling squirts out, spraying juices over you, your neighbor and probably all over the table.

The trick is to suck and bite at the same time, so the juices go straight into your mouth. Needless to say, it's a noisy art.

My grandma used to say a Fujianese mother-in-law-to-be would always serve spring rolls to a prospective son- or daughter-in-law at the first meeting just to see if they know how to eat the rolls correctly.

It's a tough test, but I guess you should be prepared to do anything for love.

These days, I still remember my granny whenever I suck and chew on a spring roll, and I now truly appreciate the little stories she told us that made our culinary heritage so much more interesting.

I guess one of the first meals I will prepare for my daughter-in-law-to-be may just be a platter of juicy spring rolls.

Recipe | Spring rolls (bao bing)

Ingredients (makes 24 rolls):

1 small cabbage, thinly sliced

1 carrot, grated

2 small or 1 medium spring bamboo shoot

300 g green beans, thinly sliced

200 g beancurd noodles (doufu si)

Lettuce leaves

1 tablespoon sweet bean paste (doujiang)

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

Salt to taste

24 spring roll wrappers

Garnishes:

2 eggs, made into thin omelettes and thinly sliced

1 Chinese sausage, thinly sliced and fried lightly

300 g prawns, blanched, peeled and sliced into half lengthwise

1 cucumber, sliced into thin sticks

1 whole bulb garlic, skinned, finely diced and deep-fried to a golden brown

Method:

1. Blanche the bamboo shoots and slice them into shreds.

2. Heat up some oil in a large wok or frying pan and fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the bean paste and stir until you can smell the fragrance.

3. Add the shredded vegetables and bean curd noodles and toss to mix well.

4. Reduce fire and simmer until the vegetables are tender. Season to taste.

5. Pile the filling into a large bowl (so the juices drain to the bottom) and let cool.

6. Assemble the spring rolls by placing a wrapper on a flat board or plate.

7. Place a lettuce leaf along one end and spoon filling on top. Don't be too greedy or else you may find it difficult to wrap up the roll.

8. Garnish with some egg, sausages, cucumber and a few prawn halves. Scatter some crispy garlic on top.

9. Bring the edge of the spring roll over the filling and roll up as tightly as you can. Tuck the sides in and finish the roll with the edge tucked tightly under.

10. If you like your spring rolls fried, shallow fry them in a pan patiently over medium heat until they are golden brown all over. Cut into half and enjoy.

Recipe | Vietnamese spring rolls

Ingredients (makes 20):

300 g mince (pork or beef)

2-3 cloves garlic, skinned and minced

1 small bunch coriander, chopped

1 teaspoon sweet bean paste

1 large bunch fresh mint

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks

20 Vietnamese rice-paper wrappers

Method:

1. Fry the garlic and bean paste in a little oil and add the mince. Stir fry until the mince is cooked through. Stir in the chopped coriander and remove from heat immediately.

2. Place the mince mixture in a deep bowl and prepare to assemble the rolls.

3. Prepare a deep dish with hot water and dip each rice paper wrapper in it briefly to soften.

4. Place wrapper on a damp towel and place a spoonful of mince along one edge. Add a few mint leaves and top with carrot and cucumber sticks.

5. Carefully bring the edges of the rice paper wrapper together and roll up tightly. Cut into two for easier handling.