Pictorial: Spring rolls

[shengcai]

Question about when to add the prepared starch slurry...I'm assuming it's added right before the pork and shiitakes are both done?

[Kent Wang]

Question about when to add the prepared starch slurry...I'm assuming it's added right before the pork and shiitakes are both done?

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Oops, forgot to mention that. Yes, at the very end. There's no need to cook it -- in fact, you run the risk of burning the starch if you keep cooking it for too long.

[Dejah]

I just noticed that Kent pan fried his spring rolls. I find that deep drying gives a lighter finish to the wrapper.

The American/Canadian egg rolls use the big yellow wrappers that are more pastry-like. If your oil is at the right temperature, and the filling is not wet, you can get a nice blistered crispy egg roll. If the wrapper gets wet from excess liquid in the filling, or if they sit too long before deep frying, then the wrapper will end up chewy in spots. The ideal is the blistered look.

[hzrt8w]

The episode #7 of the Kylie Kwong show has a really nice small segment on making Hong Kong style spring rolls. I wanted to say "authentic" but let me just say it's a different "style".

They said the key is to use thin wrapper. Most of the egg roll wrappers I found in the USA are thicker than what I like. If you look at the packaging, for equal weight packges the one with more sheets would be thinner (better). The best is to see the wrapper being very translucent.

Second tip is the filling should be dry. If the filling is moist, the spring roll skin will not get crispy.

The third tip (from me) is the temperature of the frying oil must be right: not overly hot and not too "cold". When the spring rolls get dropped in the oil, they should start bubbling (but not explosively). Applying even heat (through the hot oil) outside the spring rolls is the key to making an evenly browned, crispy skin.

[Kent Wang]

Second tip is the filling should be dry.  If the filling is moist, the spring roll skin will not get crispy.

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Good tip. Sometimes the filling will be a little moist for various reasons: napa released too much water or starch slurry was not thick enough. The solution is to just dump the filling onto a colander right after it finishes cooking.

[I_call_the_duck]

Second tip is the filling should be dry.  If the filling is moist, the spring roll skin will not get crispy.

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Good tip. Sometimes the filling will be a little moist for various reasons: napa released too much water or starch slurry was not thick enough. The solution is to just dump the filling onto a colander right after it finishes cooking.

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I actually refrigerate the filling prior to wrapping the spring rolls. I do have to be careful about not making it too wet, but I love how it turns out.

[Kent Wang]

Eat-My-Heart-Out on Flickr suggested just baking the spring rolls instead of frying. I tried it and liked it. The skin doesn't brown as much but it does get quite crisp. I think I still prefer frying for most situations as the oil is tasty, but baking is easier, less messy and healthier.

[dave s.]

I've been experimenting with eggrolls/springrolls quite a bit lately. My favorites are not very traditional-I use a filling of coarsely ground or chopped pork or pork and shrimp stirfried w/ a little nuoc mam (vietnamese fish sauce), black pepper and a tiny bit of 5-spice. I prefer using the chopped or ground meat because that way when you bite into the roll it all doesn't pull out as w/strips. I use a "slaw" that is not cooked-jicama, cabbage, daikon,whatever-shredded and very lightly tossed w/a sort of pan-Asian vinaigrette which changes constantly. I like also to add rice noodles , Vietnamese style. Wrappers are either Vietnamese banh trang(rice "paper") rehydrated in warm water-Nicole Routhier says dissolving sugar in the water makes the rolls brown better and get crispier. I must say however that in my opinion regular commercial eggroll skins have a really nice crunch much nicer than the authentic kind-and they stay crunchier in the fridge the better to be eaten cold in the middle of the night...

[Prawncrackers]

I always tinker with my spring rolls, i don't think i've ever made two consecutive batches the same. My favourite variation so far is crab and prawn, especially in the Vietnamese style rice-paper skins. Oh, and they MUST be deep-fried imo!

[Sony]

Does anyone happen to have a great recipe for a vegetarian filling? Eggs are OK (so is dairy, but I doubt that typically goes in spring rolls )

[v. gautam]

Here is one that will horrify the experienced and traditionally-trained members but was born on a closet-emptying day!

Not going to give exact quantities, use your own tastes and judgment!

Spring roll skins, large size

Big mixing bowl

bean threads, 1-2 of the little skeins, soaked, snipped to manageable length

grated carrot

grated zucchini [i like it, you may omit]

Napa cabbage leaves, if you want or have

sliced, or thinly shredded scallions, use a light hand [save roots, if any, to make scallion oil]

dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked, squeezed and julienned [save water for soup]

"baked" tofu, [tofu-kan?] brown cakes, julienned, your choice

several flavored seitan slices marketed now, including with shiitake, your choice

But keep the veggies and bean thread high in proportion to the goodies-- the bean thread will absorb all the released water--- just a thought.

fried gluten in a small green can, in a sweet oily liquid, I like it, you may not! I hred the gluten, and mix the liquid with vegetarian oyster sauce. This becomes the seasoning, with some white or black pepper, whatever you choose. Or you may save the liquid for a fried rice and use just the oyster sauce or just Aminos.

Use soy, wine - I don't know, the experts here will guide you better. The above is what ignorant me does!

Mix all nicely with hands and let sit a bit.

Roll according to the method. You can fry. You may also choose to microwave under a cover. You get a cross between a wonton and a Vietnamese fresh roll, but nice with Sriracha, or vinegar/soy, very few fat calories.

g

[Sony]

Thanks v. gautam! I went ahead and, like you, experimented. My concoction:

shredded cabbage

shredded carrot

chopped shitake mushrooms

julienned red bell peppers

sliced scallions

chopped cilantro

grated ginger

minced garlic

hoisin sauce

dark soy sauce

rice wine

toasted sesame oil

Cooked to get off as much liquid as possible before rolling and frying. It turned out great! Next time, I might add a little cornstarch to bind the inside mix just a tiny bit more....

[v. gautam]

Sony,

The reason I stopped precooking the mix as in traditional Chinese style was that I worked as a cook in a Lao-Thai restaurant where their fried spring rolls were pretty close to what i described, with the addition of fish sauce.

Lots and lots of bean thread though, understandable from the economics of that small business; but these rolls were and are extremely popular; and not even so many ingredients, just cabbage, carrots, bean threads!

Also, just my feeling, precooking and discarding the "juice" seems to remove at least some of the nutrients that came from the vegetables, leaving more of a textural delight behind and less of a nutritional one??

Anyway, glad your inventive "juices" [!!] were sufficiently evoked !! You could also consider adding some soaked, chopped mu-erh, wood-ear fungus, for their texture/crunch next time, sometimes vary with bamboo shoots?

gautam

Edited September 16, 2007 by v. gautam (log)