Crispy Rolls vol. 2

We did it! We got the crispy rolls to be crispy, and they were absolutely fantastic - even Elinor was somewhat satisfied (she dug the crispiness, but still fought with the seaweed). A reader named Kim, whose blog I unfortunately couldn't find, sent me this video that turned out to be a crispy-roll-life-turning-video-event. Here are some of the important tips we got from the video:

1. you don't need to struggle with closing the ends with nori - the batter + tempura flakes alone does the trick.
2. Which leads me to the second tip: find tempura flakes in your local Asian market! They taste fantastic and stay crispy for a looooong time. If the package doesn't say "Tempura flakes" look for something that says something with bread crumbs.
3. roll the maki in flour, then batter, then tempura flakes. If your in a naughty mood, try doing it twice!

What I wouldn't recommend from the video, though, is the whole sauce-orgie in the end. It doesn't look appetizing at all, but does bring out vulcano-pictures as promised, just not pretty ones.

 Last thing about crispy rolls: leave eggs out of the batter. It doesn't seem necessary and gives it a bit too cake-like taste. Just stick to icecold water and flour, whisk it just a little to keep some of the lumps of flour; they add to the general crispy-flaky-feeling.

 A very different topic: Just discovered this project today - check out the war scenes with barbie dolls and the whole story behind them.