Roll out the spring rolls

Pin It

I have wanted to make spring rolls for a long time now, but had somehow talked myself into believing it was such a hassle. Especially the deepfrying part, as I don’t have a deep fryer and would thus have to use an ordinary skillet and lots of oil (come to think of it, that is pretty much the same deal as with a deep fryer…).

But, i was playing with an idea of making mini-sized pies, and I thought about using spring roll wrappers. Well, mini-sized pies did not happen, but spring rolls did (and some spring packets as I played around with shapes).

The first batch got a korean-inspired filling, while the second batch got a more traditional vietnamese filling. Both were super-duper yummy!!!!! I will definitely be making these again. And as I discovered that they get just as crunchy when baked in the oven, I don’t even have to mess around with all that oil and skillets and stuff…

Korean inspired spring roll filling

• 300g beef
• 1 large onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
• 6 medium size mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon of Thai curry paste
• 1 dl sourcream
• Sugar, salt, and pepper to taste

Chop beef, mushrooms, and onion into small pieces.

Put sesame oil, dark soy sauce, and grated garlic into a skillet. Let simmer on low-medium heat until thickened. Turn up the heat and add the beef, mushrooms, and onion. Fry until mushrooms and onions turn soft. Add Thai curry and sourcream. Let it simmer for a bit, and then season it with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

More traditional vietnamese spring roll filling

• 500g minced pork
• 500g minced shrimps
• 1 section bean thread vermicelli, soaked and drained
• 6 medium sized mushrooms, chopped
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely grated
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• Salt, sugar, pepper, chili to taste

Mix everything well. To check taste, take a small lump of the mix and pop it into the microwave for 30 sec or so. Adjust seasonings if needed.

Then, take out your spring roll wrappers. It is normally sold frozen, so need to defrost on the counter before use. After defrosted, separate and keep under a damp towel.

Take one wrapper and add some filling closer to the corner. Don’t be too greedy, it is not a burrito. One tablespoon, or slightly more, is enough, you want to be able to roll it.

Then fold the bottom corner over the filling, roll once, then fold both sides in, and finish the roll. Very easy.

Put on a baking tray with seam down, and pop in the oven on 175-200 for 30 minutes or so. You might want to turn them over once after 20 minutes to get them crisped up all over. Serve with sweet chilisauce, or other condiment to you liking. Enjoy!!

Spring rolls don’t keep their crunch in the fridge, so either make only what you are going to eat in one sitting, or expect to eat slightly chewy spring rolls later (they are still yummy though).