Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Vietnamese spring rolls


It's been a while since my last recipe post, and I did promise Cheesecake Boy for his birthday this year that I would cook more of his favourite foods and that we would eat at home a bit more frequently.  I may not cook at home as much as I used to, but I'm hoping to change that soon.  However, when I do cook, they are mainly Cheesecake Boy's favourites, so I did keep half of the promise, if not the other half yet.  

Vietnamese spring rolls are my favourite type of spring rolls, to the point that I actually came up with this recipe so that I could whip up a batch at whim and just to my liking.  However, as this recipe does make around twenty spring rolls, I always make sure that we have guests over when I make these and there are usually never any leftovers.  I'm thankful that our friends like to eat as much as we do.


Ingredients for the filling

30g black fungus finely diced
6 large rehydrated shitake mushrooms finely diced (soaked overnight and then drained)
500g pork mince
60g dark palm sugar grated
2 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 tablespoon of light soy sauce
1 spring onion finely diced (the actual onion and not the shallots)
1 small to medium to large carrot grated
50g of hydrated and roughly chopped bean thread noodles (soaked for at least 15 minutes and then drained, before chopping)
1 egg to bind all the filling together
A dash of white pepper and salt to season

Ingredients for wrapping and cooking

20 spring roll wrappers (I used Spring Home brand, TYJ Spring Roll Pastry 215mm x 215mm)
Lightly whisk one egg
Vegetable oil for frying
 

Method for the spring roll filling

Once all the ingredients have been prepared and measured out as described above. Place all the ingredients for the filling all in one bowl.  Lastly make sure that you crack the egg to bind all the ingredients together, and season with salt and pepper accordingly and place in the fridge for at least thirty minutes.  The mixture will be quite moist.

Method for wrapping the spring rolls

As the sugar content for the spring rolls are quite high, you will need to use the relatively large 215mm x 215mm spring roll wrapper to wrap each spring roll.  Otherwise, when frying the spring rolls will look quite caramelised.

  1. To start make sure that the spring roll wrappers have been defrosted, and then proceed to separate each spring roll wrapper in the stack.
  2. When proceeding to roll your initial spring roll, make sure that the square wrappers are turned to resemble a diamond shaped wrapper.
  3. At the base of diamond about a third up, place two large tablespoons of spring roll filling onto the wrapper horizontally.
  4. Take the bottom tip of the diamond, and fold it over the filling.
  5. Then take the right tip of the spring roll skin and fold this tip over the spring roll filling.  Repeat this process for the left end of the spring roll wrapper as well.
  6. Now you can roll your wrapper until the top tip meets the rest of the spring roll.
  7. To seal the spring roll, dab a bit of whisked egg onto the top tip of the wrapper and press gently against the spring roll skin to seal both parts together.
  8. Put aside and repeat this process for the rest of the spring rolls.
Method for frying the spring rolls
  1. Once you have finished wrapping up all your spring rolls, heat up a wok. 
  2. When the wok is hot, pour vegetable oil until the wok appears two-thirds full.
  3. Wait until the oil is hot and ready to go.  Some people use wooden chopsticks to test this, so when you place your chopsticks into the oil and small bubbles appear around it, then you are ready to start frying.  My own  method is a bit dangerous, so will not mention it here.
  4. My magic number seems to be seven minutes for a batch of about seven spring rolls at at time.  However, my wok is quite large, so times may differ.
  5. When the spring rolls are cooked through, strain them and place on paper towel to soak up excess oil. 

      Serve with dipping sauce (nouc cham), and if you want something different then wrap your spring roll up with a lettuce cup and some sprouts and herbs.  This time round I added some peanuts and rice noodles as I was going for a vermicelli rice noodle bowl, but did not want to overdose on noodles.


      Cooking away, Dumpling Girl. 

       

      21 comments:

      gastronomous anonymous said...

      wow... that springroll looks superb!! i love wrapping it with lettuce.. makes it a tad healthier!

      joey@forkingaroundsydney said...

      Looks great! I think Thai and Vietnamese spring rolls are the best!

      Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

      Wrapping these in the salad and noodles is really genius-plus I think they're fun to eat that way too! :D

      thang@noodlies said...

      Yeah, for the love of Vietnamese spring rolls.. thousands can't tell the difference with Chinese.. but glad you're a convert!

      rockahenry said...

      These look really good, might have to give it a go on the weekend!

      now.. i'm really intrigued as to what your 'finding out if the oil is ok' method is.. definitely needs a mention.. i usually flick some water in and jump back

      Tina@foodboozeshoes said...

      Vietnamese spring rolls are my fave too - thanks so much for the recipe. Now to get my friend's mum's recipe for nuoc cham.
      Would love to know your dangerous method for checking oil heat :D

      Jen said...

      These look like they would have the perfect crunch! Yum!

      Dumpling Girl said...

      Aww thanks GA. Yeah the lettuce makes us feel better about eating them.

      Thank you Joey, I agree with you about the Thai ones too.

      Hi Lorraine, that really sweet of you thanks. I love interactive food as well.

      Hello Thang, actually my father is Vietnamese, so it was really love at first bite from a young age, I just can't believe it took me this long to get around to making them myself, instead of always ordering them at restaurants. You're right though, not many people can tell the difference.

      Hey rockahenry, thanks. I hope the work out for you. Lol, ok but anyone else reading this do not do this at home...I initially just put my hand near the oil and feel how much heat is generating, if I think it's close to being hot enough I wash my right hand and let it dry slightly and then give my fingers a flick. I don't stand back, I mean it's bound to get me one day. If it makes a crackling sound, I know that it's ready. Lol, I am no way liable if you hurt yourself trying to do this, but it's not dissimilar to your own method. Oh I do have a safe method too, throw in a prawn cracker, I do that sometimes as well so I know when the oil is ready. Anyway, let me know if this recipe works for you.

      Hi Tina, no problem, as I was getting frustrated with finding a recipe that worked for me. Lol, my dangerous method is highly detailed in my reply to rockahenry. I hope you enjoy this recipe, it is on the sweet side as I like my food sweet.

      Hello Jen, it's nice to hear from you. Hope you're well. Thanks, I guess there's nothing worse than a soggy spring roll :)

      Anonymous said...

      Can you make me some for Christmas? -Dumpling sister :)

      Von said...

      when I first saw the picture, I thought it was another restaurant review!! haha.... Your spring rolls look so beautiful! :)

      Lucy @ Lucyeats said...

      What a brilliant recipe -I love spring rolls! How great that you wrap them in lettuce as well!

      Dumpling Girl said...

      Hello little sis, lol I want to, but not everyone in our family eats pork :p

      Hey Von, that is too kind of you thank you so much. I am trying to be good and cook more :)

      Thanks Lucy :) The lettuce makes the spring rolls a lot more refreshing.

      Hotly Spiced said...

      I love the look of these rolls. These would be wonderful to serve with drinks - fabulous for this time of year.

      Dumpling Girl said...

      Hello Hotly Spiced, thank you. Never thought of serving these with drinks, but there's a thought :) They've always been starters in our home.

      sugarpuffi said...

      never tried spring rolls wrapped in lettuce before! usually its peking duck 2 way

      JasmyneTea said...

      When I first tried vietnamese spring rolls, I didn't even know what the lettuce was for and didn't eat it, lol. Looks great!

      Vivian - vxdollface said...

      I love you for posting this recipe <3 <3 <3
      I ALWAYS order Vietnamese spring rolls when I eat at a Viet joint :) they taste soooo much better than the Chinese style ones at yumcha!
      I tend to trick myself into thinking it's healthy cause I'm wrapping it with lettuce!

      Shoutforfood said...

      i love spring rolls.. but nowadays my teeth are getting very weak.. so i prefer dumplings instead.

      Dumpling Girl said...

      Hello sugarpuffi, you should definitely give it a try, it's not at all like san choy bow.

      Hi JasmyneTea, thanks so much.

      Hey Vivian, lol you are welcome, hope you enjoy the recipe as much as Cheesecake Boy does :) I know what you mean about the ones at yum cha, there is just no comparison.

      Hi Loveforfood, I love dumplings too and they tend to be healthier than spring rolls :)

      b. said...
      This comment has been removed by the author.
      Dumpling Girl said...

      Thanks geebambino. Normally I would use only lettuce too, but had a moment that night and decided to add noodles to make a meal of it.