Hoi Jor (Shellfish Rolls)

Having never worked with fresh bean curd sheets, these were probably one of the trickier Thai foods I’ve made and it can take a bit of practise to get the amount of filing and the role shape correct but I’m pleased with the outcome. What we’re looking at here is a pork mince and crab filling, rolled up in a bean curd sheet, steamed, sliced and then deep fried. They make a great appetiser to a healthier Thai main meal or would be perfect served alongside some other Thai snacks such as Tod Mun Pla (Fishcakes) or Po Pia Tod (Spring rolls) for canapes/buffet food. If you don’t have access to an Asian supermarket and can’t get bean curd sheet, use filo pastry instead and skip the steaming stage, making closed parcels rather than open ended rolls with the pastry.

For around 15 rolls (not all will be equal in shape) use:

• a packet of fresh bean curd sheet (roughly 2/3 A4 sized sheets)
• 100g of fresh or tinned crab meat (shredded/ chunks/white/brown it’s all good)
• 200g of pork mince
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 tablespoons of rice flour
• a small handful of coriander (stalks are ideal)
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• a teaspoon of black peppercorns
• 4 spring onions, very finely chopped
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of Chinese rice wine (Xiaoxing/ Shaoshing or sherry)
• vegetable oil for frying
• Sriracha sauce for serving

Start by pounding the pepper, coriander and garlic into a paste in a mortar. Add the paste to a bowl along with the pork, crab, egg, flour, spring onions and liquids. Beat together well. The mixture should have the consistency of a loose meatloaf/ sausage meat before cooking.
Lay a sheet of bean curd in front of you (landscape). Divide the mixture equally between the amount of sheets of bean curd you have and place one portion of the mix in the middle/bottom part of the bean curd sheet. Spend a bit of time getting it into a roughly even sausage shape, leaving about 2 inches free from either edge. Fold the sides in first, then roll the whole thing up, leaving the seam underneath the roll. Repeat to use up the rest of the bean curd/ mixture.
At this point you’re supposed to start tying the roll into sections, like a Christmas cracker- for me it didn’t work. Even using wide thread slowly cut through the soft bean curd like a cheese wire before the roll got anywhere near tight enough.
Instead, for this next step, I recommend just keeping the rolls seam side down. Heat a steamer/ colander over a boiling pan of water. Gently place the filled rolls into the steamer and allow to slowly cook in the steam for 15 minutes. Check the water levels in the pan periodically to make sure it hasn’t boiled dry.
When the time’s up, remove the steam cooked rolls, leave them to cool for a while and then use a very sharp knife to cut them into 1 inch long slices- be careful to keep those loose ends tucked under for now.
Heat a frying pan with oil to a depth of ½ inch. It needs to be hot but not smoking. Carefully lower in the rolls, cooking in smaller batches if needed. The bean curd bubbles up and goes brown and crispy fairly quickly. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, gently turning the rolls over on all sides until all the bean curd,and the filling is golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper before serving.
Feeling lazy after all this effort, I served my hoi jor with a dipping bowl of Sriracha but by all means, make/use a chilli sauce of your choice.