Nems Tahitiens (Tahiti's Chinese-Tahitian Spring Rolls)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •12-inch heavy skillet or wok for the filling
• •Wide shallow dish for softening rice paper
• •Heavy 5-quart pot with fry thermometer
• •Rimmed sheet pan with wire rack
• •Spider strainer or long tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak and snip

   Put the cellophane noodles in hot water until they soften, 8 to 10 minutes, then drain them well and snip them into short pieces. Soak the wood ear mushrooms in hot water until they open up and feel springy, then trim away any hard bits and slice them thin. Keep both dry after soaking. Wet filling makes rolls burst, and no one wants to chase pork through hot oil.

   The noodles should drink the seasoning, not bring water into the wrapper. After draining, spread them on a towel for a few minutes if they still feel slick and wet.
2. 2

   Cook the filling

   Warm 1 tablespoon oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook, breaking it small, until no pink remains and the fat gives the meat a savory gloss, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and ginger and cook until the sharp smell softens. Fold in the cabbage, carrot, green onions, noodles, and wood ear, then season with soy sauce, oyster sauce if using, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cook just until the vegetables lose their raw edge but still keep some bite.

   This filling wants to be seasoned a little stronger than you think. Once it goes inside the wrapper and meets the lettuce and sauce, it settles down.
3. 3

   Cool it down

   Spread the filling on a tray and let it cool until it is no warmer than your hand. Hot filling weakens rice paper and makes wheat wrappers sweat. The old people would tell you the same thing in fewer words: wait. Food teaches patience even when it came by ship and market, not by canoe.

4. 4

   Simmer the sauce

   In a small pot, combine the water, vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, tomato paste or ketchup, garlic, and chile if using. Bring it to a gentle boil, stir until the sugar dissolves, then whisk in the cornstarch slurry and cook 30 to 60 seconds, until the sauce turns glossy and lightly coats a spoon. Set it aside to cool. It should taste bright first, sweet second, salty underneath.

5. 5

   Soften the wrappers

   Fill a wide shallow dish with warm water and lay a clean damp towel beside it. Dip one rice paper wrapper for 5 to 8 seconds, just until it bends but before it goes limp, then set it on the towel; it keeps softening while you work. If you are using wheat spring roll wrappers, keep the stack covered so the corners do not dry out.

   Rice paper gives the bubbled Tahitian nem skin many families expect. Wheat wrappers are easier for a big potluck. Eat what you have, just do the wrapping with care.
6. 6

   Roll them tight

   Place about 2 tablespoons filling near the lower third of the wrapper, shape it into a small log, fold the bottom over, fold the sides in, and roll snugly away from you. Tight, but not strangled. If the roll is packed too hard, it splits; if it is loose, oil sneaks in. Set finished nems seam-side down on lightly oiled parchment with space between them, because rice paper likes to stick to its neighbors.

   If the first rice paper wrapper tears, double-wrap that one and keep moving. The first roll is always the teacher.
7. 7

   Fry in batches

   Heat 2 to 3 inches of oil in a heavy pot to 350F. Fry the nems in small batches, keeping rice-paper rolls apart for the first minute so they do not glue together, then turn them until they are golden brown with tiny blisters and a firm shell, 4 to 5 minutes for rice paper or 3 to 4 minutes for wheat wrappers. Drain on a rack, not on a flat plate, so the bottoms stay crisp.

   If the rolls darken before the skin tightens, the oil is too hot. If they come out pale and heavy, the oil is too cool. Steady heat is the whole law here.
8. 8

   Serve the table

   Pile the nems on a banana-leaf-lined wooden platter with lettuce, mint, cucumber sticks, and the sweet-sour sauce. Let people wrap a nem in lettuce if they like, tuck in mint, dip, and pass the plate along. This is Tahiti's Chinese-Tahitian feast food, not one careful restaurant portion. Celebration food should look like somebody expects more cousins to walk in.

Chef Tips

• •The roots of nems reach outside Polynesia, so I no pretend those elder stories are mine. Here I am standing at the Tahitian table, honoring the Chinese-Tahitian families who fed the fenua with them.
• •Keep the filling dry. If your cabbage is throwing off water, cook it a minute longer or drain the filling in a sieve before cooling. A wet roll splits before it ever gets beautiful.
• •Rice paper wrappers blister and chew in the way many Tahitian nems do. Wheat spring roll wrappers are less fussy and still honest for a home kitchen or a church hall tray.
• •Do not crowd the oil. A full pot drops the heat and the nems drink oil instead of frying clean. Give them room, drain on a rack, and salt only if the filling tastes shy.
• •For a pork-free table, use finely chopped mushrooms and firm tofu, or ground chicken if that is what your family eats. We work it out with aloha, no problem.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook the filling up to 1 day ahead, cool it fully, and keep it covered in the fridge. Cold filling wraps cleaner.
• •Make the sweet-sour sauce up to 3 days ahead and refrigerate it. Warm it gently or serve it room temperature.
• •Rice-paper nems are best wrapped close to frying. If they sit too long, the skins get tacky and tear. Wheat-wrapped rolls can be assembled a few hours ahead under a lightly damp towel.
• •Fried nems can be reheated on a rack in a 375F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. They will not be quite like the first fry, but they still feed people well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 245g)