Today's
post is about my odyssey to make spring
rolls. It took 7 tries before I
cracked it! The pic above is of my best
effort to date.
1st attempt:
This was an abject failure. I used a rice paper as the wrapper. I soaked the rice paper in cold water for
about 2 minutes. It became pliable but
quite difficult to handle. The filling was made up of cooked shrimp (chopped)
and seasoning.
You can see from the pic that the
rolls were very loosely wrapped.
The rolls just exploded apart in
the pan. I didn't have the heart to take a pic. I had tried to deep fry them.
We resolutely ate the result with some dipping sauce. And I resolved to do better next time.
2nd attempt:
I used the same rice paper rolls
but this time soaked them in barely warm water for only 1 to 3 seconds.
The filling this time was chopped
prawns, coriander, a tiny bit of chilli and seasoning.
I wrapped the rolls much more
tightly and then shallow fried them. As
you can see the results were a bit better but nothing like what a spring roll
should be in my opinion.
3rd attempt:
I used the same technique on the
rice paper wrappers. But after filling
them I let them sit on kitchen paper and dry out a bit before frying them in
hotter oil.
The filling this time was chopped
prawn, chilli, vermicelli noodles, 1/2tsp of black bean chilli paste and salt
and pepper. You soak the vermicelli in
warm water for a few minutes and then let them drain.
4th attempt:
The filling this time was very
tasty – pre-cooked chopped bacon, vermicelli noodles, chopped capsicum, black
bean chilli sauce and salt and pepper.
This time after I wrapped the
spring rolls I put them into the fridge to cool before cooking them.
I fried them in the oil/bacon fat
that I had cooked the bacon in.
Garnished with mint these were tasty.
I believe that these turned out
as well as can be achieved with rice paper spring roll wrappers. I won't be using them again other than for
fresh (ie not cooked) spring rolls.
5th attempt
This attempt marked a break
through. I got some frozen spring roll
pastry from a local Asian grocery store.
The filling this time – chopped
prawns, chopped spinach, vermicelli noodles, salt and pepper, cayenne pepper.
The pastry sheets thawed
quickly. I rolled them up as tightly and
neatly as I could using a single sheet of pastry for each roll.
They fried up well but not
perfectly.
6th attempt:
This time I changed up the
filling to be – prawns, vermicelli noodles, small amount of lemon juice, black
bean chilli paste and fish sauce.
I used a double layer of pastry
and the results were pretty good.
This time I cracked it – 7th time a
charm
I'll be a bit more detailed about
this attempt – because it was successful.
Ingredients:
Thawed Spring roll pastry
wrappers
Corn flour (cornstarch)
Water
Oil – mix of garlic oil and
sunflower oil
Filling – sautéed pork mince
(cooled completely), carrot grated and excess liquid squeezed out, vermicelli
noodles and seasoning
I used a single layer of pastry
but brushed each one around the edge with a mixture of cornflour and water –
this was a fantastic innovation – it acted like glue and held the rolls
together really well.
I prepared quite a large number
of spring rolls and then froze them on a tray in a single layer with them not
touching. Once they were frozen I just
popped them into a plastic bag.
These pre-frozen spring rolls
fried up magnificently – and in almost the same amount of time! They held together well and tasted fabulous
with a dipping sauce.
My dipping sauce varies each time
I make one – it is usually some combination of fish sauce, soy sauce, sweet
chilli sauce, pepper and a little water.
Sometimes I add ginger or plum sauce or hoisin sauce. Whatever floats
your boat.
Was it worth all the effort –
absolutely. Next time I'll whip up a big
batch and freeze them – you can just pull a few out at a time for a tasty
snack/starter.
