Meat Rolls

The great thing about food blogging is that I get new ideas from other bloggers all the time. This recipe is from a reader who commented on my blog and he goes by the name 'Foodbin'. I can imagine the size of his stomach. I hope I'm wrong.

I used Kraft's Jacob crackers (I couldn't find Meiji crackers, my fav) instead of marie biscuits which I imagine would give the rolls a sugary sweet taste. However, I found that the crackers didn't make the crust tastier and in fact soaked up a lot of oil so I would recommend using panko or fine breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs would also make a crispy crust compared to the crackers crumbs which turned soggy very quickly. I also added strips of red bell peppers which I happened to have. I think you can use any meat--beef, pork or chicken. Since I was using pork loin, which is tougher than tenderloin, I cut it into thinner slices of 0.5 to 0.7 cm thick. Be adventurous. Use a variety of fillings. A soft cheese like ricotta would be good too. These little rolls, which remind me of Japanese beef rolls, are good as cocktail appetizers but beware, the crackers/breadcrumbs are like micro-sponges. If oil is your concern, you can pan-fry the rolls with a drizzle of oil and light soy sauce instead.

Meat Rolls

12 pieces pork/beef tenderloin or chops/chicken breasts

6 stalks of scallions or spring onions

1 small red bell pepper, in julienned strips

1 cup fine breadcrumbs (original recipe: marie biscuits)

1/2 cup cornflour (original recipe: plain flour)

salt & pepper

1 egg, beaten

oil

1. Cut meat into 1/2 cm thick pieces. Use a mallet to hammer the meat into thinner pieces but do not break the meat through. Season the meat with salt and pepper.

2. Put a strip of bell pepper and a stalk of spring onion in the center of the piece of meat, adding more of the bell pepper and spring onion if necessary. Roll the meat up.

3. Coat the rolls lightly with cornflour, dip into the beaten egg and then into the breadcrumbs, rolling it firmly into the crumbs. At this point you can chill the rolls for 20 minutes in the fridge so that they are easier to handle during frying.

4. Heat the oil and deep-fry the rolls, 3 to 4 at a time, at medium heat. Drain on kitchen paper.

5. Cut rolls into maki sushi-sized pieces. Securing the pieces together with wooden skewers makes cutting easier and gives neater uniform pieces. Serve with a soy sauce-lime-chili dip.