I find it strange that I would have to describe what a spring roll is, because I’m pretty sure everyone has had one at least once in their life (I seriously judge anyone that has never had a spring roll before… are you living under multiple rocks?!).
There are many sub-types of spring rolls that contain different types of fillings and wrappings, such as: Egg rolls (China), Lumpia (Philippines/Indonesia), Chả giò (Vietnam) and Summer Rolls (Vietnam).
The recipe I have today is a common Chinese dim sum style spring roll, filled with vegetables, aromatics and noodles. I mimicked this recipe after ones I had at a fantastic dim sum place.
**feel free to click on the red links for photo references**
Recipe makes approx. 30 spring rolls
- 60 8″ squares of spring roll pastry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 head of medium green cabbage, julienned
- 2 medium carrots, julienned
- 16 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 cup bean thread or rice vermicelli noodles, cooked
- 4 green onions, julienned (bulbs & greens)
- 3 large garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 6 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 quart vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup of cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and water)
- In a pan, add olive oil on medium heat. Add green onion, garlic and ginger. Saute for 2 minutes (until soft but not browned)
- Add cabbage, carrots and mushrooms with 3 tablespoons of water. Saute on medium-high for approx. 5 minutes.
- Add cooked noodles, soy sauce and sugar. Cook on medium for another 5 minutes. Make sure noodles do not stick to pan. Add more olive oil if necessary.
- Let mixture cool down slightly. Set up wrapping station with cornstarch slurry, mixture and wrappers all at hand.
- Begin filling and wrapping spring rolls (cornstarch slurry used to seal the wrapper). Add approx. 2 tbsp of filling onto 2 sheets of spring roll wrapper (I use 2 sheets so that they do not go soggy – 1 sheet is fine, if you are eating them right away). They should look like this.
- Heat up 1 quart of vegetable oil to approx. 365°F (185°C). Fry spring rolls for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Cut in half, and enjoy with your dipping sauce of preference. I use plum sauce, but you can also use Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce or whatever else makes you happy.
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