This recipe is largely adapted from Chef Sam Leong’s recipe. Chef Leong was a Winner of the World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence in 2001, 2002 & 2004. In his recipe, he uses pickled snow vegetables (xue cai) but I could not find them in all the supermarkets near my home. So, I replaced it with pickled curry gerkins and use my own ingredients for the roll. According to my food critic, it has passed the litmus test! However, if I can find xue cai someday, I will definitely do this again. This is a pretty and interesting appetizer. I like the nutty flavor of the peanuts, with a tinge of sourness from the gerkins and a punch of spicy taste from the thai chilly sauce. I must say it is a great combination of flavors to whet your appetite before the main meal. Try it!
Servings 4 (1 piece per person)
Ingredients:
4 leaves of Chinese cabbage
4 tbsp ground peanuts
2 tsp mayonnaise
2 pickled curry gerkins, cut into 8 strips
4 stalks of 4 ins spring onion, white part only
4 slices of carrot
1 tsp Thai chilly sauce
8 thinly sliced red capsicum
4 thin strips of Japanese cucumber
Method:
Blanch cabbage leaves then plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well. Lay cabbage leaves flat and spread mayonnaise and ground peanuts. Lay 2 pieces of pickled gerkins lengthwise and a stalk of spring onion over and rollup. Slice off both the ends and cut roll into 2 ins pieces. Brush each piece with Thai chilly sauce. Decorate the plate with Japanese cucumber and sliced red capsicum. Serve cold.
Note: If you cannot find curry gerkins, you can replace it with any kind of gerkins.
