Pork Patty Spring Rolls

Tonight's dinner was a "Build-your-own" affair.

Here's the buffet line-up, if you will: spring roll wrappers, red leaf lettuce, carrots, mint, and cilantro. The lychees are in the photo because they're juicy and sweet right now as well as extra large for only $2.99 in Chinatown, but they don't go into spring rolls.

This is the pork patty. About half of one gets crumbled into each spring roll. I really don't have a recipe for this. I take a pound of ground pork and add chopped green onions, a handful of chopped shitake mushrooms, about a tablespoon of sugar, and soy sauce and fish sauce to taste. Then I fry them up and use them for spring rolls. It doesn't need to be pretty or exact, just not too salty.

This meal is good for a leisurely Friday dinner in front of the TV. I keep a shallow plate of hot water on hand because the spring roll wrappers need to be dipped before eating, and we just take our time eating as many as we can.

Pho Tan Hoa

Friday night = no cooking! Okay, not always, but this Friday night we went to Pho Tan Hoa just a few blocks away because J was craving pho. I rarely crave pho, so I had a bowl of marinated beef and spring rolls over vermicelli and romaine lettuce. It was simultaneously bright and refreshing while great for my intense beef cravings. There's something about red meat and salad that usually hits the spot for me. Vietnamese fish sauce never hurts, either.

Pork Patty Spring Rolls

I'm on a roll with the healthy food this week.

Spring rolls are refreshing and delicious, though a big labor intensive. If you have the chops for it, here goes:

Pork Patties

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 egg
• several tablespoons of fish sauce

Combine ingredients and taste. Yes, I said taste. You can cook a small piece first and see if it needs more fish sauce, but I just lick a little and spit it into the sink. Pan fry large spoonfuls of this mixture in a pan to create small, flat patties. Uniformity of size and shape don't matter here, but flatter patties will cook more quickly.

Vegetables for filling (proportions are really up to you)

• 2 cups bean sprouts
• 2 slivered carrots
• 2 slivered cucumbers
• 1 cup shredded mint

Peanut sauce

• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter, creamy or chunky depending on your preference
• juice of a quarter or a half lime, to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Combine the ingredients and taste. Add more sugar or lime if necessary, and water as needed to create the consistency of gravy.

Assemble: following package instructions, moisten Vietnamese rice paper wrappers in warm water and place on a damp plate. Crumble a pork patty and spread on bottom third of the wrapper, top with peanut sauce and as much vegetables as you can neatly manage. Roll up and place on a second warm plate. Repeat until you are done.

Wrap in a leaf of romaine lettuce (optional) and chow down!