It’s Chinese New year this weekend, the year of the Rooster and what better way to celebrate the coming of a new Spring with these lovely Spring rolls. They also are meant to represent wealth by looking like “Gold bars”.
I started to create these recipes by using one wrapper per spring roll which they do work like that, however will either break or go a little soggy after a short period of time. So because I have done smaller sized ones, I simply doubled up on the wrappers and they work wonders!
If you are celebrating the Chinese new year or want to be involved these are incredibly so simple to make.
If you wanted to do a vegetarian version, simply leave out the prawns and pork (obviously) and then add in maybe some beansprouts and chestnut mushrooms.
I don’t normally deep fry a lot of food so this recipe is a true treat. It makes a great starter to a meal or just simply a great snack for other times of the year.
Here is a link where you can hear me on BBC Radio Leicester with Ben Jackson and simply going through how to make them for you! http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04qz7r3
Ingredients:
( Serves approximately 24 spring rolls )
Filling:
- 250g Pork Mince chopped/bashed down again with a meat cleaver or strong knife.
- Half a bag of 225g Frozen king prawns ( defrosted ) and then chopped as fine as you can get them. – These are still great flavour to fresh but cheaper in price.
- 1/2 227g tin of water chestnuts chopped
- 1-2 carrots depending on size, into strips using a veg peeler.
- 2-3 leaves of Chinese cabbage/lettuce or you could use pak choi shredded.
- 2-3 spring onions finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
- 2 thumbnail size amounts of fresh ginger grated
- 1 tsp of Chinese five spice ( I used Spice Kitchen’s blend )
- a handful of fresh coriander chopped
- a good pinch of caster sugar
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce.
– 1 packet of spring roll wrappers/pastry, defrosted. ( I used 250g weight ones but any other size, you can cut them down.
– 1ltr bottle of vegetable oil or groundnut oil.
– 2 tbsp of cornflour mixed with a little water for your “Glue”
– A wok to deep fry in!
Method:
- Place a damp towel over your spring roll pastry to keep them moist.
- Put all ingredients for the filling into a mixing bowl and mix through.
- Heat your oil in the wok. Pop in a piece of bread to see when it is ready for deep frying.
- Onto a plate take two of your wrappers and place the square into a diamond shape, so as a corner is facing you.
- Take a tablespoon of your mixture and place it in the centre of your parcel, making a rectangular shape.
- Fold the corner into the middle which is nearest to you, then fold in the outer corners to the centre of the spring roll. A bit like an envelope.Tuck in and roll to the centre. Place some of your cornflour mixture around the top corner to form a ” glue” and roll into your spring roll.
- Pop into hot oil and cook for about 5-7 minutes or until golden brown.
- Take out with a slotted spoon and drain onto kitchen paper.
- Simply serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.
ChezJ9 