I decided to join in the Blog Party hosted by Dispensing Happiness. Did I throw my own party at which to serve these treats? No, I made them after work, and ate and drank them in my work clothes. A party of one! along with my cats. Wow, I promise I'm not nearly as pathetic as that sounds . . . I guess I'll leave out the part where I watched crappy sit-som pilots.
Anyway, I decided to go to Bali with my party theme. No, I have never been to Bali, but I did Google it just to make sure they grow papayas there. Yes, they do - everywhere. So I guess I'm safe (just forget that I used cranberry juice in my cocktail). For both of these recipes, you will need canned papaya - I found a great one at Trader Joe's, canned in pineapple juice. They're really good.
Drink: Bali Cosmo
2 ounces orange or citrus vodka (I used Hangar One Mandarin Blossom)
1 ounce juice from canned papaya
splash cranberry (just for color)
Shake well and strain into martini glass. Garnish with chopped papaya and a nice little mermaid, if you have any fun cocktail trinkets, like I do.
Appetizer: Curried Coconut Rice Spring Rolls with Shrimp & Papaya - makes 8
1 12 ounce can coconut milk
12 ounces water
Sticky Rice (So Cal Rose or other) - enough to fill the coconut milk can
1 tbsp green curry paste (or to taste, but you want it to be spicy)
dash fish sauce
salt
2 long strips canned papaya, cut into thin strips
8 jumbo shrimp, sliced lengthwise
1 small kohlrabi, carrot, or daikon, cut into tiny dice (this is just for texture, so you could use any nice crunchy vegetable)
Handful mung bean sprouts
8 spring roll wrappers
In a small sauce pan, combine about 1/4 cup of the coconut milk with the curry paste and the fish sauce. Stir to combine, and then pour into a rice cooker; add the remaining coconut milk along with one can of water and one can of rice; sprinkle with salt. Cook until rice is soft; stir in the kohlrabi or other vegetable, and then spread on a plate and allow to cool to room temperature (do not refrigerate, as this makes the rice hard).
Have ready a shallow bowl full of warm water; plan on wasting at least one spring roll wrapper if you have never used one before (you can see from the picture that my spring roll was not a shining example of perfection, but I promise it tasted good). Spray a plate with cooking spray to use as your rolling area. Soften one wrapper in the warm water for about a minute and then carefully lay it on the plate. Add 1/4 cup rice, forming it into a rectangle. Place a few papaya strips on one side, 2 shrimp halves on the other side, and some mung bean sprouts on top. Roll tightly, as if you were rolling a burrito. The edges will seal automatically. Serve at room temperature. This would probably also be nice with cilantro, if you like cilantro. I don't, so I didn't use any.
