Yummy Vietnamese Style Rice Paper Rolls

 We love these Vietnamese style rice paper rolls, and we've been making them for about a year for parties and whenever we fancied them. Quite often that is! I've started to prefer these to sushi, maybe because I've eaten too much sushi, but these are also fresher with more vegetables and herbs, and the sauce is amazing! We use the same recipe for an Asian salad dressing which we make ALL the time. I've been wanting to blog the recipe since the first time we made them but never managed to get decent enough pics until now. I guess it's more like a rolling tutorial than a recipe but here it comes. Hope you like!

 Vietnamese style rice paper rolls

Ingredients
Rice paper sheets (from Asian Supermarkets, in Helsinki there's many in Hakaniemi)

Fillings of your own choice, for example
Chinese cabbage, rice noodles, bean sprouts - these are needed to bulk the rolls
Crunchy veggies chopped into stripes ; peppers, carrots, sugarsnap peas, cucumber, courgette
Prawns, tofu, mushrooms or other form of protein, marinated to your liking.
Avocado, cause it's tasty!
Coriander and mint leaves

Cold water on a plate

1. Place a rice paper sheet in the water for about 30 seconds or until it has softened.

2. Place the soft sheet on a plate and fill. Start with the herbs so that they will be visible and your rolls will look prettier! Don't overfill as then the rolls won't stay together.

3. Wrap the roll. Fold the bottom up first, then the sides and roll. Try to make them as tight as possible, so that they are easier to dip and eat without making a huge mess. (We always make a mess anyway) I also make lots of different filling combinations so you never know what you gonna get!

4. Repeat until your pile of rolls is big enough. We always, always make too many. Eyes bigger than bellies etc. You can make a salad out of the excess veggies and dipping sauce, just mix them up and it will be good!

(Picture instructions below)

Dipping sauce

Soy sauce 0,5 dl
(Sweet soy sauce, 1 tablespoon, optional)
(Yuzy vinegar, 1 tablespoon, optional)
Rice wine vinegar 0,2 dl
Honey 2 teaspoons
Fish sauce 1 teaspoon
Juice of two limes
Chili, 1, chopped finely
Ginger, 3 tablespoons, finely grated
Garlic, 2 cloves, finely grated
Scallion, 1, finely chopped
(Some sesame oil and sesame seeds, optional)

Mix all ingredients together.
We never actually measure the ingredients, but taste and add stuff if needed,
so the measures here are estimates only.

Dip

Assembly line

Ready!

Herbs first

Fillin'

Rollin'

Voila!

Wine recommendation Cono Sur Vision Single Vineyard Riesling

YUM YUM YUM Enjoy!!!

Pure Scandinavian Flavours at Spis

Thursday night was special just because me and my resident chef rarely have an evening off from work together, apart from Sundays and Mondays, when most interesting restaurants in Helsinki are all closed. So, previous week, after a short think thank we booked ourselves a table at Helsinki's fine dining scene's newcomer Spis. In a way I recommend you not to read this post if you're planning to go and have the surprise dinner as you will enjoy it much more if you don't know what is coming! I did the mistake of finding out what they were serving at the moment and I wish I hadn't.

We started with pre dinner drinks at wine bar Latva on Korkeavuorenkatu 25. I had a Franciacorta roseand the chef had a beetroot whiskey sour. Nice beginning for the night, and a short walk to Spis around the corner. Will have to visit Latva again to sample more wines and the Finnish tapas.

At Kasarminkatu 26 we found the tiny restaurant with just 18 seats. The sign outside looked promising and I would say that carrots did become the theme of the evening. Nearly all tables were occupied when we came but there were a few seats free for walk ins, as they promise on their website.

We went for the recommendation of a naturally sweet sparkling Beaujolais, which was a refreshingly different aperitif and served from some pretty funky glassware. We chose to have a tasting menu with fish and small glasses of recommended wines for the food.

The first amuse bouche was a carrot in a pot. The carrot was a spoon and the ground was star anise flavoured, with a mayonnaise in the bottom. Delicious and very very funny. Good trick to make anyone smile straight away at the beginning of their meal.

Second amuse was a borch "soup" with a beetroot sorbet, foam and powder. It actually turned into a soup in the mouth and definately was more delicious than any other borch I've ever tasted.

After this came the first starter "Pumpkin and Malt", of which I hadn't gotten a decent picture. The light was a little too dark for impressive food photography so I won't be publishing anything that doesn't do justice to the actual presentation. The dish had pumpkin cubes with malt in several forms; crumble, puree and foam at least. The chef loved it but he is a beer man; for me the malt was very very strong and bitter. However, the wine recommendation was spot on with a German sweet Riesling that tamed the malt and complimented the natural sweetness of the pumpkin.

Next we were poured a chilled Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. As it was a surprise menu we were trying to guess what would come next... Root vegetables was all we could think of. Got it partially right as we did get "something between a soup and a pasta", with a creamy frothy jerusalem artichoke soup and chestnut ravioli. Again the wine was beautiful with the food, contrasting the creamy soup and complimenting the chestnut.

Before the main came "Carrot and Carrot", sorbet and granita. Very fresh and clean taste of carrot.

The main course was "Burbot, Potato and Onion". Even with many components and foams and things the flavours were so simple and clean. The potato tasted purely of potato, and that's how it should be in this restaurant. It was a small shock to the tastebuds that are used to seasoning that often might cover the real original flavours of the ingredients. The burbot was a little tough but not being the expert on how to cook burbot I am not sure if it could have been more tender. We both enjoyed it very much. The wine was an Austrian blend of Gruner Veltliner and Riesling and was well balanced with the subtle flavours of the dish.

Before desserts we got "Gammel Dansk with a milk snow", which they admitted to have copied from Noma in Copenhagen. Herby alcoholic sorbet with a milky powder, again quite funny. (Sorry no pic)

Dessert was "Parsnip and White Chocolate" with white chocolate ganache and parsnip in the form of ice cream, powder and puree, as well as an apple foam. It was a completely new flavour for me to have parsnip in the form of a dessert and I really enjoyed it. The sweet wine was from the Jura area in France.

 With our espressos we got beetroot marshmallows and carrot lollipops, which added an another great touch to the evening. The chef enjoyed a Finnish røm from Åland, a surprising addition to the dinner.

We had a great evening and one of the most innovative meals in a long time. We will definately be going back, the menu is to be changed ten times in a year with the seasons so there are more surprises waiting for us in Spis. The service was warm and welcoming, professional (great wine pairing) and friendly. Only critism I have is that I'd wish they'd leave the water jugs at the table, they would save themselves alot of work. (The water glasses are tiny.)

Helsinki is the World design Capital 2012, and I'd recommed Spis for any travellers interested in Finnish design as they pay a lot of attention to detail here with the tableware (especially liked the plates by Nanna Bayer) and even the uniforms of the staff. And the food is definitely Scandinavian, pure, fresh and simple.

Go and let Spis surprise you too!

Ps. Another review found on Liemessä blog in Finnish with very nice pictures.

On the menu on Shrove Sunday

Crème Ninon

Wolfberger Cremant D'Alcase Brut, Alsace, France

*

Potato Blinis with Whitefish Roe, Cured Salmon and Creamed Forest Mushrooms 

Dr Pauly Bergweiler Blitz Riesling, Mosel, Germany

*

White Chocolate & Macadamia Yoghurt with Blood Orange & Pomegranate

 

 Recipes will follow after some sleep...

Spicy Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup

 This soup has amazing thai-style flavour, a combination of sweet, spicy and acidity that really tickles the tastebuds. It is absolutely great as a starter or even as a light meal on its own, as it is quite creamy and filling. Serve an off dry or medium white wine with it and the flavours will be even more wonderful. I love a good Riesling but I'm pretty sure that a Gewurtztraminer or a Pinot Gris would work as well. Go for something from Alsace and you're at least on the right track.

Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup
(New food for thought, Jane Noraika)
(Serves 4)

1 onion, finely chopped
sunflower oil
25g of root ginger
2 tsp roasted and ground cumin seeds
1 small fresh chilli (I cheated with jarred chilli paste)
600g sweet potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
400ml coconut milk
750 ml veg stock
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper
fresh coriander

1. Fry the onion in a large saucepan. Add the ginger, cumin and chilli and cook until the onion is translucent.

2. Add sweet potato, coconut milk and stock, cook until the sweet potato is soft.

3. Process with a blender until smooth. Add lime juice and seasoning. Serve with coriander. I also added some crayfish tails.

Sunday dinner with good friends, good food and wine

 When we invited our good friends over for Sunday dinner, I announced that I would like to be cooking it all by myself. This has not really happened much before, as my significant other happens to be a professional chef. Somehow he always ends up taking over in the kitchen whenever we want to have something slightly better than a everyday salad or pasta.

So, I planned ahead for a three course menu which ended up looking like this:

Sweet Potato and Coconut Soup with Crayfish

2009 Schloss Johannisberg Riesling, Rheingau, Germany

Parcels of Beetroot, Green Lentils, Mushrooms, Spinach and Mozzarella served with a Salad of Rocket, Fennel and Parmesan

2008 Krug'scherhoff Pinot Noir, Rheinhessen, Germany

Banoffee Pie

 The wines were bought during our Berlin trip in August, I liked the Riesling a lot but as I tasted the Pinot Noir I started dancing and laughing, I absolutely loved it. Beautiful berries with cherry, cranberry and strawberry aromas, velvety lightness and balance, no tannins. Match made in heaven for the beetroot and lentils. I am not ashamed to say I was proud of myself today, definately the best dinner I have ever cooked, without any help. Need to do this more often!
Next some pictures of the night, I will be posting the recipes in the next few days when I am less tired.