Spring Rolls Made With Love
I emphasize that they were made with love because their appearance only a mother could appreciate.
Hey all you hunker downers! Yesterday I was craving some authentic egg rolls but not a complete Chinese dinner meal. I miss Chinatown so so so much. So, being that I have nothing but time & opportunity I decided to make an afternoon project out of them.
I’ve made crab meat & cabbage spring rolls once before but chose a different filling this time. I also used the wrong kind of roll wraps last time which I realized when shopping for these ingredients & boy was it a game changer! My original plan was to make them vegetarian but I had pork loin that needed to be used so I just added them with the mushrooms, carrots, bean sprouts & Napa cabbage.
First, mix the marinade ingredients with the protein & let it sit for 45ish minutes. While that sits you can cut all the vegetables. Be mindful that all of these things will be rolled up into a wrapper so make sure everything is small & bite size.
Ingredients:
For the protein and marinade:
1 lb of pork (or whatever protein you like)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sesame oil
3 tsp rice wine
1 ½ tsp cornstarch
1 tsp pepper
For the filling:
2 tbsp oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
8-10 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 cup of carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup of bean sprouts
1 scallion
2 cups of Napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp salt
fresh pepper
2 tablespoons cornstarch
For the dipping sauce:
2 teaspoons honey (or whatever sweetener you have)
a dash of hot water
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
Mix the pork (or other chosen protein) with the marinade and set aside for about 45ish minutes. In the meantime, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cut all of the vegetables to approximately the same size. You want everything the same size so each ingredient blends together.
Brown the pork over high heat in 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic, mushrooms and carrots. Stir fry for a minute or two then add the bean sprouts, scallion, napa cabbage and rice vinegar. Continue stir-frying for a few more minutes. Adjust the heat to simmer the mixture, as the napa cabbage will release a lot of water.
Stir in the soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and pepper.
Continue simmering the filling for another 3 minutes until the napa cabbage is completely wilted and stir in the corn starch in small spoonfuls to thicken. How much you add depends upon the wetness of the filling but there should be no standing liquid at all.
Transfer the filling to a large shallow bowl and let cool. Place into the refrigerator (or freezer to cool quickly) until completely cooled. It’s easiest to wrap when the filling is cold. The key to wrapping spring rolls is making sure that they’re tight, yet not overstuffed.
Place the wrapper on a flat surface so that a corner is facing toward you. Use about two spoonfuls of the mixture per spring roll, and spoon it about 2 inches from the corner that is closest to you. Roll it over once, and, like you’re making a burrito, fold over both sides. Continue rolling it into a cigar shape. With your fingers, brush a bit of the cornstarch water onto the corner of the wrapper that is farthest from you to seal it. You can also use a egg wash to seal but it "stains" the spring roll.
Place each roll on a tray. Depending on what roll paper you use you can have between 12-18 in total. If you make too many for one sitting you can freeze them in a zip-lock bag for future use!
You can fry these bad boys but I chose to bake. I’ve been dying to get my hands on a air fryer for instances just like this! That would have been perfect. I coated each roll with a generous amount of oil and baked for 25 minutes at 425 degrees, flipping over half way through.
Prepare the dipping sauce by adding all ingredients to a small sauce pan. Mix and heat until just simmering and pour into a small bowl.
Serve the spring rolls hot with the dipping sauce!
Enjoy!
