Recipe: Crispy Yuba Rolls with Lime-Mustard Dipping Sauce

the appetizer:

Lucid Food: Cooking For An Eco-Conscious Life by Louisa Shafia, includes recipes like Tofu Banh Mi Sandwiches; Crispy Yuba Rolls with Lime-Mustard Dipping Sauce; and Ash-e-reshteh (Persian New Year's Soup with Beans, Noodles, and Herbs).

Cookbook

Crispy Yuba Rolls
with Lime-Mustard
Dipping Sauce

Serves 4 to 6

Yuba, also called tofu skin, is sturdy and easy to work with. Its crisp texture when baked makes it an ideal wrapper for spring rolls. Find dried or frozen yuba sheets at Japanese food stores.

4 tablespoons olive oil
8 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
1 large carrot, julienned
1 large burdock root, peeled and julienned (see page 48 of the book)
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 cups firmly packed shredded napa cabbage
Salt
10 sheets yuba, each about 6 by 4 inches, reconstituted
according to package directions and drained

Sauce

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large saute pan and add the shiitakes. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then add the carrot, burdock root, ginger, garlic, maple syrup, soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 1 minute more. Remove from the heat and let cool. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and season with salt.

In a bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Spread out a sheet of yuba on your work surface. Spread a scant 1/2 cup of the vegetables on the yuba sheet in a line 1 inch wide along the long edge of the sheet. Tightly roll the yuba sheet around the vegetables, as if you were rolling sushi. Place the roll on the prepared baking sheet, seam side down. Repeat with the rest of the filling and yuba sheets. Brush the rolls with the oil mixture and bake until the rolls are crisp and golden, about 15 minutes.

To make the sauce, whisk together all of the ingredients. Season with salt to taste. Serve the rolls hot, sliced in half on the diagonal, with the dipping sauce.