After complaining last week about the unreliable recipes in Vegetarian Times, I actually went back to the magazine for another recipe: Black-eyed pea spring rolls. I guess I’m on a bean roll since participating in last week’s bean-themed Is My Blog Burning. The idea of bean filling sounded really good, and I’d be using up tons of leftovers. I had year-old frozen peas (which was in one chunk, studded with ice crystals), six-month-old frozen dumpling skins, an x-month old (I can’t remember the exact age) carrot, and of course lots of dried black-eyed peas.

Since I didn’t want to do any deep-frying, I make black-eyed pea dumplings instead.

The filling was basically mashed beans, carrots, peas and some spices. It was really tasty on its own. I would have been happy eating it as is.

I put a rounded teaspoon in each skin.

I dipped my index finger in water and lined the outer centimeter of the skin with the liquid. Then I folded the skin in half, put in a crease…

…and finished creasing till everything was shut. It’s important to pinch the edges again and make sure there are no holes, or else the dumpling will explode during cooking.

The finished platter. Actually, I ran out of skins and still had half the filling left.

I dropped a couple dumplings in boiling water and cooked till they floated to the top (it was almost instantaneous, since these were fresh).

The interior was a bit dry, since the recipe said to pre-cook the filling until “it dries.” If any of you make this recipe, I recommend cooking the filling until it resembles mashed potatoes. The filling should definitely be creamy, not dry like mine.

While the filling was delicious, it was actually too strong for the delicately flavored dumpling skin. It would probably be good in an egg roll, since the skin is heartier.

The rest of my uncooked dumplings were individually frozen (so they wouldn’t stick together), then bagged for a quick weekday meal. Whenever I come home from work, sticking something in the microwave is all I have energy for. Boiling a pot of water shouldn’t be much more difficult than punching numbers on a microwave keypad.

The recipe:

Black-Eyed Pea Spring Rolls
adapted from Vegetarian Times, Feb. 2005

Photo: Vegetarian Times

Serves 8
Note to vegans: Most egg roll wrappers are made with cornstarch, flour and water, but some contain eggs. Check labels.

1 large carrot, peeled and diced
2 Tbs. canola oil plus about 4 cups for deep-frying
1/2 cup minced onion
2 Tbs. minced fresh ginger
2 serrano chiles, seeded and minced (about 1 Tbs.) (Sriracha hot sauce also works)
3 cups cooked black-eyed peas, drained and mashed
1 cup frozen green peas
Salt to taste
1 Tbs. garam masala or curry powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
3 Tbs. lemon juice (Important: this brightens up the flavors)
1/2 tsp. cayenne, or to taste
16 egg roll wrappers
1 Tbs. cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbs. water

1. If using dried beans, note that 1 cup dried beans=3 1/2 cups cooked. Sort through the peas and pick out tiny stones and stray seeds. This is best done by spreading them on a table with a pot in your lap and pulling the good peas into the pot. To soak dried black-eyed peas, rinse them, and place them in a pot. Add enough water to cover them plus at least 4 inches more. Add 1/4 tsp. baking soda to the water, and stir. (This pulls out the sugars that cause gas in the intestines.) Let them sit overnight. Rinse thoroughly. The beans will cook perfectly in fewer than 90 minutes. Add salt after cooking.
2. Put carrots in 3 cups boiling water, and cook about 15 minutes, or until very tender. Or, steam for about 15 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
3. Heat 2 Tbs. oil in 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and serrano chiles, and saute about 2 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
4. Add mashed black-eyed peas, and cook mixture about 10 minutes, or until the consistency is like mashed potatoes. Add water if necessary. Add green peas, carrots, salt, garam masala, coriander, lemon juice and cayenne. Mix, and set aside.
5. Place egg roll wrapper on counter with one corner pointing toward you. Shape 1/4 cup mixture into 3-inch-long log, and place it on wrapper, parallel to edge of counter and far enough above closest corner to be within edges of wrapper. Fold corner over filling, fold sides over tightly and roll tightly to far corner. Moisten corner with cornstarch mixture to help keep roll closed. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Set aside, or cook immediately.
6. Heat 2 inches oil in skillet over medium heat. Fry 3 or 4 rolls at a time about 5 minutes, until crisp and golden. Keep hot in 250F oven. Serve immediately.

PER SERVING; 340 CAL; 13G PROT; 7G TOTAL FAT (0.5G SAT. FAT); 57G CARB; 5MG CHOL; 390MG SOD; 7G FIBER; 4G SUGARS

Some ideas for leftover filling:

• Eat it just as it is. It’s like hearty mashed potatoes.
• Use as a sandwich or pita filling.
• Make patties: Shape the filling. Dip it in flour(seasoned with salt and pepper) and shake off the excess. Dip it in beaten egg and let the excess drip off. It’s important to get rid of the excess so the crust sticks. Dip the patty in breadcrumbs (preferably panko, seasoned with salt and pepper). Then pan fry. (Fill a pan with 1/2″ oil for a classic crispy crust. Or barely coat the pan with oil if you’re eating light.) To get a good crust, don’t touch the patties for the first couple of minutes. This technique also works really well for polenta (what I had when I boiled down Vegetarian Times‘ goopy corn mush). Panko-crusted polenta is wonderfully crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. Actually, I might try this method for Chinese turnip cakes, savory rice cakes (nien gow), sweet red bean rice cakes, or mochi.