SERVES 3 TO 4 IN LARGE BOWLS, 6 TO 7 IN SMALL BOWLS
Both delicious and fun to make, this soup is a takeoff on a recipe of Irene Kuo’s in her wonderful book, The Key to Chinese Cooking. Done in China Moon style, as opposed to classic Chinese style, this is a more complex-flavored bowlful garnished with a sprinkling of market vegetables. In summer, you might also add fresh corn and/or diced tomato to the bowl. Or in winter, when fresh peas are only a memory, you might instead use blanched spinach.
The cartwheels are easily made 1 to 2 days in advance. Slicing them into pinwheels and putting together the soup is an easy, last-minute business.
This very same egg crêpe, rolled with a mild pork forcemeat and steamed (then often deep-fried for added texture), is, in fact, the real Cantonese eggroll. Another beast entirely is the thin springroll of northern and central China (recipes begin page 333).
PORK FILLING:
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Ma-La Oil (page 17), Five Flavor Oil (page 13), or ½ teaspoon Japanese sesame oil
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon chopped Chinese chives
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green and white scallion rings
½ teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1½ teaspoons cold stock or water
10 ounces coarsely ground pork butt
EGG CREPES:
2 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon chopped Chinese chives
SOUP AND TRIMMINGS:
1 cup fresh peas
8 cups China Moon Infusion (page 72)
Kosher salt
Roasted Szechwan Pepper-Salt (page 5)
4 to 6 fresh shiitake mushroom caps, sliced paper-thin
⅓ cup finely shredded carrots
¼ cup finely chopped Chinese chives
½ cup thinly sliced green and white scallion rings
1. Combine the filling ingredients through the cornstarch mixture in a large mixing bowl. Add the pork and stir briskly in one direction until well blended. If working in advance, press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the pork and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Bring to room temperature before making the crêpes.
2. To make the egg crêpes, whisk the eggs, yolks, and chives in a mixing bowl. Heat a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat until hot enough to evaporate a bead of water. Add ⅓ cup of the egg mixture and quickly rotate the skillet to cover the bottom with a thin film of egg. Adjust the heat so the egg congeals quickly but doesn’t brown, 30 to 45 seconds. Loosen the crêpe with a spatula and slide it gently onto a clean, dry surface. Repeat the process with the remaining egg mixture. You will get 3 crêpes and you need only 2; take the worst-looking one and eat it as a prize.
3. To make the cartwheels, gently spread half of the pork mixture evenly over each of the 2 cool crêpes, leaving a ⅛-inch hem at the edge. Carefully roll each crêpe into a log, not too tight or it will split when steamed. Put the logs, with an inch between them, on a heatproof plate at least 1 inch smaller in diameter than your steamer.
4. Bring ample water for steaming to a gushing boil. Put the plate in place, cover the steamer, and steam the eggrolls for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the eggrolls rest undisturbed for 5 minutes more. Carefully remove the plate from the steamer and let the eggrolls stand for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
5. For immediate use, gently slice the eggrolls on a slight diagonal into ¼-inch pinwheels. (The ends make great nibbles.) Or, if working in advance, let the eggrolls come to room temperature; then, seal and refrigerate them for up to 3 days. Slice when chilled for cleanest cutting, but let the slices come to room temperature before adding to the soup.
6. To finish the soup, blanch the peas until tender-crisp, about 30 seconds. Drain, chill in ice water, then drain again.
7. Bring the infusion to a steaming near simmer in a non-aluminum pot. Add enough kosher salt to bring out the garlic flavor, then enough pepper-salt to tingle your tongue.
8. Portion the pinwheels, peas, mushrooms, carrots, chives, and scallions among heated soup bowls. Ladle the hot infusion on top and serve at once.
Some cooks excel at subtle flavors and soft nuance. I’m not one of them. I’ve tried now and then to do simple dishes with just one or two flavors woven quietly into the fabric, but I’m not good at it. Alas.
China Moon food is, at its best, gutsy and bold. There is a loud stereo of flavor emanating from our dishes—not the equivalent of a rock concert, thank you, but more like the gallop of Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” with its big crescendos of tonality followed by moments of quiet resonance.
Thank goodness for the quiet moments! Between the bursts of ginger and chili, everyone needs a rest.
MENU SUGGESTIONS: For a simple dinner, serve the soup on its own with Pan-Fried Scallion-Chive Breads (page 382), Mandarin Breadtwists (page 66), or any of our baked or steamed buns. For a heartier meal, follow the soup with either a tasty roast chicken or Ma-La Poussin with Roasted Szechwan Pepper-Salt (page 153).
