In Good Taste: It’s a wrap!
Not a lot of people can grow really good bananas around here, yet many have a banana tree in their garden. Well, forget banana fruit and think “leaves”. The perfect wrap! Add to that fig and grape leaves. Fig leaves are said to give a coconut smell to fish that has been wrapped and baked. The Greek dish of dolmades is a delicious mix of aromatic rice (and often minced lamb) wrapped and rolled in softened grape leaves and baked in a dish lined with more grape leaves, some lemon juice, slivers of raw garlic and a slug of olive oil. These are great to serve as a starter, with a dip of grated cucumber, mint and yoghurt alongside.
Apart from these green leaves, wraps can also be made with tortilla, (thin unleavened bread made from ground maize), sushi, tacos and rice paper rolls, and are all readily available at the supermarket. The fillings can be as imaginative as you like, ensuring you use complementary tastes and textures. Look in the Asian section of the supermarket for packets of round rice paper and vermicelli noodles. If you are lucky enough to have a crayfish lying around in the fridge, then please use that instead of the chicken in the filling!
Chicken and vegetable rice paper rolls
200g rice vermicelli noodles
12 round rice paper wrappers
12 mint leaves
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
1 baby cucumber, sliced into juliennes
4 spring onions, thinly sliced into long strips
½ cup of roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup of snow pea sprouts
1 cup of cooked chicken, or cooked crayfish or prawn meat, or use more vegetables for a vegetarian wrap.
Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 3 minutes, or until softened. Drain. Refresh in cold water and drain well again. Squeeze gently to remove all water.
Working with 1 rice paper wrapper at a time, soak them in warm water until soft. You will think they have vanished, but feel around in the water and there they will be! Drain and lay flat on a clean surface. Place a mint leaf on the top third of the wrapper. Now place a small pile of noodles on the bottom third of the wrapper and add to that a small amount of each ingredient. Fold over to cover the filling from the bottom, fold in the sides and roll up. Repeat with remaining wrappers and ingredients. Place on a plate and refrigerate until serving time. Serve with a lime, chilli and soy dipping sauce.
The Balinese use banana leaves for grilling and steaming all sorts of food. The porous and pliable leaves retain the natural flavours of the food while adding their own subtle flavour, described as being “cool, but not mint cool; faintly smokey and lightly fragrant, but far from aromatic”. Banana leaves are used for plates, tablecloths and as containers to hold food. When the leaf is twisted together to form a cone and pinned together with a sliver, it can be used to hold peanuts or a farmer’s lunch of newly-cooked rice with a bit of fish on top. As banana leaves are so large, you will only need one or a part of one to make this dish.
Children love eating this as it has the surprise factor of unwrapping their very own parcel. The recipe is from Janet de Neefe’s wonderful book called Fragrant Rice.
Pepesan ikan (grilled fish in banana leaves)
500g fresh fish
2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded finely
Banana leaves
Spice paste
2 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons of grated palm sugar (or use brown sugar)
1 tomato
2 tablespoons of sunflower oil
3 macadamia nuts or use 5 cashew nuts
1 stem of lemongrass, chopped
¼ teaspoon of shrimp paste
1 fresh red chilli, seeds removed
1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
½ teaspoon of turmeric
1 teaspoon of tamarind paste
½ teaspoon of ground coriander seeds
1 shallot, finely chopped
Cut the fish into 2cm square chunks. Mix with the kaffir lime leaves and set aside.
Grind all the spice ingredients together in a mortar and pestle with ¼ teaspoon of black pepper, or blend in the food processor. Mix the paste together with the oil, ½ teaspoon of salt and the fish. Taste a little bit for flavour.
Cut the banana leaves into 20cm x 20cm squares (use the scissors). Steam briefly to soften if necessary. Along the bottom of each leaf place a row of fish pieces, dividing it out among the six leaves. Roll the leaf up like a bon bon and secure the ends with a toothpick.
Grill, BBQ, bake, or steam over gently boiling water for about 8 minutes. You will have to peek inside one to ensure that they are cooked. Serve with rice.
Fiona Feasey
