Mini Ngoh Hiang (Five spice pork rolls) 五香豬肉卷

I am not sure who invented the five-spice powder combination, but it sure did Chinese cuisine a great service. I tried to google the history but no concrete information was found. For those who are curious, the standard five spices are fennel, cloves, cinnamon, star anise and Szechuan peppercorns. Something amazing happens when these spices are added to meat, just like when you put 5 people with different personalities yet have great chemistry together, and they have a fabulous time!

It is easy to get this at Asian supermarkets or Chinese herbs store. If you're adventurous enough you can even try to blend your own powder with the original spices.

As I am blogging my recipes, I realized many of my favorite Asian meat dishes are seasoned with five spice powder. Today I am introducing another recipe which is a huge favorite in Singapore and Malaysia....Ngoh Hiang. I made mine "mini versions" for two reasons: 1) it's easier to cook the meat (I can skip the steaming part) 2) this makes great finger food and I eat a bit at a time!

I usually make a large batch, eat some on that day and keep the rest in the refrigerator. They are usually gone quite fast.

MINI NGOH HIANG (FIVE SPICE PORK ROLLS) RECIPE
Makes 40-50 small rolls

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Ingredients:

Ingredients A

500g ground pork

250g shrimps (weight without shell), roughly diced

250g (10 pieces) water chestnuts *, finely diced

4-5 stalks scallion, finely chopped

1 egg
2 tbsp. soy sauce

2 tbsp. chinese cooking wine

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp five spice powder
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp. cornstarch

Other ingredients
1 packet beancurd sheets

Cooking oil for deep-frying

Sweet soy sauce or chilli for dipping

(* Note: the traditional way to make this is to use water chestnuts. If you cannot find water chestnuts, replace with carrot or jicama.)

Peel water chestnuts and dice finely. Cut shrimps and scallion into indicated sizes.

Place "Ingredients A" together in a large bowl and use a pair of chopsticks or large spoon to mix well.

Cut beancurd sheets into 4 x 4 inches squares. Place a heap of the mixed ingredients onto the skin and roll it up like a sausage. I left mine open-ended (for quicker cooking). When rolling, make sure the meat is nicely tucked in and compact.

Heat up a generous amount of vegetable oil in pan over medium-low heat for deep-frying. Deep-fry the rolls a few at a time. Do not over-crowd the pan. Starting with a lower heat will enable wrapper to crisp nicely and meat to cook evenly. When the rolls are almost done, turn up the heat to high - this will keep oil absorption to a minimum. Remove when done and drain the rolls on paper towels.

Plate and serve with sweet soy sauce and/or chilli.

(Note: some people steam the rolls before deep-frying as it retains the juiciness of the meat better. I did not want to add another step so I just make mine smaller and deep-fry them immediately.)