Spring Rolls

Ingredients

Wrappers

• 24spring roll wrappers, about 20 cm square
• 1 tablespoonplain flour
• 2 tablespoonswater, for the paste

Filling

• 300 gpork shoulder, finely shredded
• 400 gChinese cabbage, finely shredded
• 150 gbean sprouts
• 100 gcarrot, cut into fine matchsticks
• 6dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced
• 50 gglass noodles, soaked and cut short
• 3spring onions, finely sliced
• 2cm ginger, finely chopped

To season

• 2 tablespoonslight soy sauce
• 1 tablespoonShaoxing wine
• 1 teaspoonsesame oil
• 1 teaspoonsugar
• 1 teaspoonsalt
• white pepper

To fry

• neutral oil, for deep frying

To dip

• black vinegar with shredded ginger
• or chilli sauce

Directions

1. Keep the stack under a damp cloth once it is opened. They dry out and crack within minutes in open air. Shred the pork as finely as you can with a sharp knife. Freezing it for twenty minutes first makes this much easier. Cut the cabbage and carrot into fine even shreds. Soak the dried shiitake in hot water for thirty minutes. Squeeze them out and slice them thinly, keeping the soaking water.
2. Soak the glass noodles until soft and cut them into short lengths. Toss the shredded cabbage with a teaspoon of salt. Leave it in a colander for twenty minutes to draw out water. Then squeeze it hard in a clean cloth until it is dry.
3. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok over a high heat. Fry the pork until it has lost all its pink colour. Add the ginger and the mushrooms and stir them through. Tip in the carrot and cook it for one minute only.
4. Add the squeezed cabbage and the bean sprouts. Stir-fry everything hard for two minutes over high heat. Pour in the soy sauce, the wine, the sugar and the pepper. Stir in the noodles and the spring onions at the very end.
5. Take it off the heat and taste it for seasoning. It should be slightly saltier than you would eat on its own. Spread it out on a wide tray to cool quickly. Warm filling steams inside the wrapper and softens it.
6. Drain off any liquid that collects in the tray. Rolling them takes a little practice and goes fast after that. Mix the flour and water into a smooth thin paste for sealing. Lay one wrapper on the board as a diamond, point toward you. Put two tablespoons of filling in a line across the lower third. Do not overfill, which is the commonest mistake by far.
7. Fold the near point up and over the filling. Roll it once, tightly, to trap the filling in place. Fold both side points in toward the middle. Keep rolling upward, keeping the whole thing tight. Brush the far point with the flour paste and press it down. Set each finished roll seam side down on a tray.
8. Cover them with a cloth while you work through the rest. Frying them needs hot oil and a little patience. Pour oil into a deep pan to a depth of six centimetres. Never fill the pan more than halfway with oil. Heat it to 170C and check it with a thermometer. A wrapper scrap dropped in should sizzle immediately. Fry four or five rolls at a time and no more.
9. Turn them gently as they colour to brown them evenly. They need about four minutes to reach deep golden brown. Lift them out onto a wire rack rather than kitchen paper. A rack lets steam escape from underneath and keeps them crisp.
10. Let the oil come back to temperature between batches. Fry once at 160C, rest them, then fry again at 180C. The second frying takes barely a minute and drives out oil. Pile them on a platter and put the dips on the table. Fry them from frozen, adding two minutes to the time.

Technique

• The rolled and fried spring roll is one branch of a much older custom.
• The other branch survives as the thin unfried spring pancake still eaten in northern China and as popiah in Fujian, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
• Both go back to the same seasonal platter of fresh spring vegetables.

Substitutions

• Prawns, chicken or shredded firm tofu can replace the pork.
• A wholly vegetable filling is common and needs no other change than leaving the meat out.

Variations

• Cantonese restaurant rolls are often smaller and filled mainly with pork and bamboo shoot.
• Shanghai rolls are frequently filled with pork and pickled mustard greens.
• Sweet versions filled with red bean paste are sold at some bakeries.

History

Descended from spring pancakes eaten at Lichun to welcome the season, recorded in Jin-dynasty writings and later rolled and fried crisp.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spring Rolls?

Spring Rolls is a snack from China: crisp fried rolls filled with shredded vegetables and pork. Descended from spring pancakes eaten at Lichun to welcome the season, recorded in Jin-dynasty writings and later rolled and fried crisp.

How long does Spring Rolls take to make?

Spring Rolls takes 1 hour of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 24 rolls. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Spring Rolls?

Yes, within limits. Prawns, chicken or shredded firm tofu can replace the pork. A wholly vegetable filling is common and needs no other change than leaving the meat out.

What is the most important thing to get right in Spring Rolls?

Drain off any liquid that collects in the tray. Rolling them takes a little practice and goes fast after that. Mix the flour and water into a smooth thin paste for sealing. Lay one wrapper on the board as a diamond, point toward you. Put two tablespoons of filling in a line across the lower third. Do not overfill, which is the commonest mistake by far.