Folks LOVE that crispy-awesomeness that comes with egg rolls, spring rolls, deep fried wontons, etc. I mean, you grab yourself a cocktail, a plate of crispy pork rolls and wonton strips, and you got yourself a good time, right? Well, I can definitely tell you that making these at home are not just delicious, but you can enjoy these at a fraction of the cost!
In Chinese New Year, Chūnjuǎn are crispy spring rolls with ground pork, a variety of vegetables, sometimes beansprouts, vermicelli, etc. These addictive crunchy dimsum of goodness are made different every region of China, along with different cooking techniques as well. They are absolutely delicious, pair well with your favorite dipping sauces, and definitely have that moreish behavior! LOL!
Spring rolls are best served as hot as possible. These delicious rolls are are meant to symbolize bars of gold. Along with other Chinese New Year dishes, they are also meant to bring prosperity and wealth for the coming year.
The how-to video can be found on my Youtube channel.
PLEASE NOTE: You can also add mushrooms, chopped vermicelli. and beansprouts to this mix. If you are looking for a vegetarian version, use finely chopped mushrooms instead of the pork and use vegetable soup base powder instead of chicken.
Ingredients:
1lb (453g) Ground pork (80/20) 8oz Shredded or finely diced vegetables
4oz Tamari 4oz Water 3 TB Chicken soup base powder*
1 1/2 TB Garlic, pureed 1 1/2 TB Ginger, puree 1 TB White pepper 1 Egg, large Vegetable oil - enough for shallow frying 1 Pkg Spring roll wrappers*
Where we are creating a spring roll mixture, everything in the recipe that is added to the ground pork needs to be small diced or small strips.
VEGETABLE OPTIONS: The classic options for spring rolls are cabbage, carrots, onions, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and chopped/cooked vermicelli. You can pretty much use whatever you want. Just be mindful about keeping them extremely small or shred them.
Either with a gloved hand or a freshly washed hand, mix everything together by mashing the ingredients with your hands first. Then, you will want to use a circular motion in mixing the spring roll filling in a vigorous manner. This can take a good five minutes to get this well-incorporated. If the ground pork continues to look like it was when it came out of the package, you are not done yet. Continue to mix this together by using circular motions with your hand. You will start to see changes in the mixture by seeing these fiber-like threads. You are developing myosin, and that is what we want to see.
Gather your equipment: small plate, a cup/shot glass of water, a spoon, your spring roll mix, and the spring roll wrappers. Get a pan with a lid set up at your stove, and set up a separate plate lined with paper towels to the side.
FOLDING DIRECTIONS: Place your spring roll wrapper on a cutting board as a diamond. From your spring roll mix, take approximately 3-4oz and place just below the middle of the wrapper (Refer to video). Take the corner from the bottom and roll over the mixture until you have the corner directly in the middle of the wrapper. Gently tuck the corner under the mix and slowly roll slightly backward to tighten the mixture. Roll to the middle of the wrapper and stop.
Wet the length of this roll. Grab the left corner of the wrapper and wrap over to the middle of the roll. Wet the length of the roll again and bring the right corner over the same way. At the top of the wrapper, lightly wet with water. From the rolled section, begin rolling this upward while making sure this is wrapped tightly, but not too firmly. Rest the wrapped roll off to the side and repeat until all of the mix has been used.
COOKING TIMES: Cooking times are automatically going to vary. Whether you are using an electric, natural gas, propane range or even an induction, you cannot walk away while frying the spring rolls on the stove. Start with medium to med-high heat, add your vegetable oil. After about three to four minutes, test the oil with the handle of a wooden spoon. If you start to see rolling bubbles, that means the oil is hot enough to work with.
Arrange a plate with paper towels on top and set it close by, but away from the stove to avoid catching fire. Use tongs to start placing the rolls into the pan of hot oil. Depending on the size of your pan will determine how many rolls you can cook at one time. Be mindful that you do not want to overload the hot oil as you will lose the temperature. Generally large pans can take six to eight rolls, depending on size of the rolls. Allow the rolls to fry for approximately four minutes, making sure they do not stick to one another. Check for color changes in the wrapping. Rotate the rolls in the hot oil and wait another three minutes.
The size and girth plays a role in how long the rolls take to cook. Long and slender, these can cook in about four minutes. Short and wide, can take five to seven minutes. Once you see the rolls have almost a universal color change, carefully begin removing them with your tongs to the paper-towel covered plate. Continue to cook the rest of the rolls the same way. Make sure you shot off the heat and move the pan off of the hot burner to let it cool down.
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*SIDE BAR NOTES:
LEFTOVER WRAPPER SKINS: The best way to use up any leftover spring roll wrappers is to roll them up and slice them up into strands. Once you are done cutting, unravel the wrapper bands and fry them up in your oil. These only take just a couple of minutes to fry up. You will clearly see a fast color change. Remove one wrapper and test for doneness. Immediately remove the cooked wrapper skins and onto that paper-towel lined plate. Shut off the heat, and remove the hot pan from the burner to allow it to cool. Sprinkle on your favorite seasoning to the wrapper skins while they are fresh out of the oil. Enjoy on soups, salads, or simply snack on them. MSG: Monosodium Glutamate - this is available at both Asian markets and traditional grocery stores that have an Asian section for ingredients. MSG is not only already being manufactured in the human body, but it is also naturally occurring in things like tomatoes, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese. It is up to you if you want to use MSG or not. It has less sodium than standard salt, which is confirmed healthier, and offers an amazing umami flavor to Asian cuisine.