Spring Rolls and Cucumber with seaweed salad

It had been really hot and humid here in NY for the past few days but since yesterday it changed to a mild and nice weather. It is very comfortable weather right now. When it is so hot and humid, it is difficult to cook but it was much better yesterday.

I made spring rolls yesterday. My mom loves spring rolls and she makes it quite often. When I was at home in Japan, I didn't care for Spring rolls too much so I wasn't too excited ever time she made spring rolls. (I guess I was spoiled back then.. Now, I would enjoy everything my mom make)

At the end of last year (I thought it was more recent but when I checked, it was mid December of last year! Time flies), I made spring rolls on my own for the first time. (Click here for the post of that) I asked my mom for the recipe and made it. It was really good and reminds me of my mom's cooking. I realized that I like spring rolls now.

Last time, I used glass noodle instead of bean sprout but this time I bought a canned bean sprout (I didn't know until now that they have canned bean sprout!) so I used bean sprout instead of glass noodle since my mom always used bean sprout.

Here is the recipe from the last time I made. (This time, I changed the glass noodle to one can of bean sprout and also add some green onions)

This is the how inside of spring roll look like.

Roll them up and fry them with some oil. (You don't need a lot of oil. maybe about 3~4 table spoons)

Serve while it is hot!

Since it already have flavor inside, you don't really need to add any sauce. We tried with some sweet chili sauce, worcestershire sauce and mayonnaise. I liked mayonnaise better than other two sauces but I prefer without any sauce actually.

Since there are many vegetables such as shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots and bean sprout, I was not sure if my husband like it. To my surprise, he loved it. Maybe because I cut all these vegetables into small pieces, he didn't really know what was inside or maybe he was just so hungry. Anyway, I am happy that he liked it.

Since spring rolls are rich, I wanted to have something very light and fresh as side. I made cucumber and seaweed salad. This is very popular dish in Japan. When I was in Japan, I didn't care for it too much but when I ate it yesterday I was so surprised how good it was. It is simple and yummy.

Cucumber & Seaweed salad
Ingredients
Cucumber     1/2
Dried seaweed    one pinch (put them in the water for 10mins before using and it will expand)
Vinegar          3 table spoons
Soy Sauce     1/2 table spoon
Sugar           1 table spoon
Salt                1 tea spoon

1. slice cucumber into very thin slices and put in a bowl. Sprinkle with salt. Leave it for a while.

2. Add dried seaweed into water for more than 10 minutes.

3. Mix vinegar, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl.

4. Squeeze cucumber with your hand to get rid of water. Add seaweed and vinegar mixture.

This is a perfect side dish for a hot summer day!