It all began with baby bok choy that had to be used. I really enjoy this shrimp wonton noodle soup in Chinatown, but I didn't have the motivation to make homemade wontons. In retrospect, I realize that I probably could have made the dough. Instead, I ended up making two labor-intensive dishes. First, I made egg noodles from scratch. It was actually much easier than I expected: flour, water, egg, salt. Hand-mix, allow to sit for 30 min, then roll out into long ovals, tri-fold like a letter, cut into thin strips, and boil. I kind of followed several recipes; but I really ended up winging it as usual. I put the noodles and baby bok choy in a vegetarian broth with some tofu, mushrooms, and carrots.
Then, I made egg rolls with some wrappers and shrimp I found in the freezer. The classic egg roll filling was employed: green cabbage, mushrooms, carrot, scallion, shrimp chopped up, all mixed with some sesame seeds a bit of Chinese 5-spice and some fresh ginger and garlic. Of course, I pan fried the egg rolls and kept them crispy on a baking cooling rack on top of a baking sheet in the oven. This keeps the bottoms from getting soggy too because the cooling rack keeps the whole egg roll raised above the baking sheet and allows the entire surface to crisp up. I served them with a sweet and spicy red chili and mustard dipping sauce.
This was my first time making a pasta from scratch: spaetzle is the same ingredients, but the process is much easier. The noodles were absolutely delicious and I'd highly encourage those who haven't tried making pasta to do so!
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