Spring rolls traditionally mark the coming of spring in China, although they are eaten all year round. I grew up on spring rolls in my parents’ restaurants in Bonn, Germany, where giant sized ones were served, almost a meal in themselves. I’ve not seen them so large anywhere else! My friend in Hong Kong Lau Wing Suan Joycelyn sent me this recipe to try. I finally tried making these for the first time, and also made a vegetarian version for the husband, using the same ingredients, but using chopped bamboo shoots and vermicelli instead of pork and prawns. He ate twenty spring rolls in one sitting…
Ingredients: (makes 15 to 20 spring rolls)
- packet spring roll wrappers (these are square-shaped and very thin)
- 125g lean pork
- 125g prawns
- 26g dried Chinese mushrooms
- 200g Chinese cabbage
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- salt and white pepper
- vegetable oil
- cornstarch
What to do next:
Soak Chinese mushrooms in warm water until soft. Finely chop Chinese cabbage and Chinese mushrooms. Roughly mince pork using a knife (you can also buy minced pork if you like). Peel prawns, removing the dark veins and finely chop.
Mix ingredients in a bowl with the seasoning – dark soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, salt and white pepper – and stir-fry in a wok or large pan. Leave to cool. I waited about 15 minutes.
Place a large tablespoonful of filling down the centre of a spring roll wrapper. Dab top and bottom edges of wrapper with a little paste made with cornstarch and water (prepared in a separate small bowl). Roll and seal with a little more paste if needed. I started by just pressing the ends down, using more paste, but I also tried tucking the ends in. I think the first version looks a little prettier, but the second version is more traditional.
Heat plenty of oil in a wok. Deep-fry spring rolls on a low heat in batches until golden-brown (when I made mine, I actually avoided deep-frying and shallow-fried them in a frying pan instead. The spring rolls weren’t golden-brown all over, but still very tasty. Next time I’ll be braver and try deep-frying them). Drain excess oil on kitchen paper.
Serve while hot and crispy. We ate ours with Lingham’s sweet chilli sauce.
Enjoy! Let me know how your spring rolls turned out…
If you like this, you might want to try Lau Wing Suan Joycelyn’s other recipes:
- How To Make Chinese Fried Rice Noodles
- How To Make Chinese Mango Pudding
Click for all Chinese recipes on Lay The Table
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