These golden delectables, in the Chinese New Year tradition, are meant to symbolize wealth and prosperity for the upcoming year. That is because they look like mini gold bars. I don’t know about you, but these are the tastiest gold bars ever.
It takes awhile to make all these bad boys, so put on some tunes or an audiobook. Also for a speedier process, try to recruit some ghouls and goblins for an assembly line of epic proportions.
Spring Rolls
Equipment
- 1 Frying pan
- Food Processor (Optional)
- Piping or Ziplock bag (Optional)
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Ground pork Or the ground protein of your choice
- 1 Cup Shrimp (Minced) (An optional added protein choice) (Peel and devein if needed)
- 1 Package Spring Roll or Egg Roll Wrapper (Important - Make sure it is NOT rice paper wrapper!)
- 5 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Small Onion (Or half a medium onion)
- 1 Can Water Chestnuts (Minced)
- 1 Cup Carrots (Minced)
- 2-3 Eggs
- 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 3 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Filling:1. In.a large bowl - Combine thawed ground pork or meat of your choice with the garlic, onion, chestnuts, carrots, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and ONE egg.1 Lb Ground pork, 1 Cup Shrimp (Minced), 5 Cloves Garlic, 1 Small Onion, 1 Can Water Chestnuts, 1 Cup Carrots, 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce, 3 Tbsp Oyster Sauce, 2-3 Eggs
- 2. Mix thoroughly - the most convenient way to combine the ingredients is to, in our humble opinion, use your hands.
- 3. Use a spoon or flat utensil to scoop the filling onto the wrapper. However, another neat option is to use a piping bag or ziplock bag with a hole cut in the corner to pipe the filling onto the wrapper. Tip: Use a cup to hold your bag, so that filling it may be easier.
- Egg Wash:1. Make an egg wash mixture by cracking an egg into a small ball and stirring in 1 Tbsp of water. Set aside.
- Wrapping (See video for an example)1. Take a wrapper sheet and place it in front of you, with one point of the square facing you. It should resemble a diamond.
- 2. Next place about a Tbsp of filling midway on the sheet, horizontally. You want to have filling almost touching the left and right sides of the sheet.
- 3. Fold the point of the sheet facing you over the filling And tuck under. Then take the left and right side points and fold towards the center.
- 4. Using a brush or your fingers, brush egg wash onto the remaining point at the top. This is to seal the roll.
- 5. Next roll up the spring roll so that it looks like a cylinder. Set aside.
- 6. Repeat wrapping steps until all the filling or sheets are used up.
- Cooking:1. Preheat oil in a frying pan to medium - high heat.
- 2. Cook the spring rolls until golden brown.
- 3. Place cooked spring rolls on paper towels or cookie rack to remove the excess grease.
- 4. Enjoy with preferred dipping sauce - ketchup, duck sauce, sweet chili sauce, or even banana ketchup.
Notes
Pro Tips and Notes:
- We used both Spring Roll Pastry Wrappers and Egg Roll wrappers to show the difference in results. From our experience our local groceries are more likely to carry Egg Roll Wrappers. When fried, egg rolls will have a bubbly texture and are chewier. Meanwhile Spring Roll Pastry wraps (NOT to be confused with spring rolls wraps made with rice) when fried, have a smoother, crispier texture. Both make for excellent Chinese spring rolls.
- We had the 12x12 inch spring roll pastry and egg roll wrappers and ended up cutting them so that they made 4 squares per sheet. Keep in mind that since the meat is raw, if you made a larger spring roll, you would need to cook it longer. The outside wrapper may turn brown before the insides cook.
- When taking the wrappers out of their packaging, place on a plate and cover with a damp paper towel. This will ensure that your wrapper doesn’t dry out. Once dried out the wrapper becomes stiff and more prone to breaking when rolled.
- When frying do not overcrowd the pan. Overcrowding leads to a drop in the oil temperature, meaning you will have to leave the rolls in the oil for longer. The rolls then soak up more grease.
- To check if the oil is the right frying temperature one trick is to get a small piece of spring roll wrapper and drop it into the oil. If it starts to bubble right away then the oil is ready.
- If you have extra or think you made too many to cook right away, you can put the uncooked rolls in a freezer bag (one layer) and freeze them until you’re ready for some golden goodness. No need to thaw. Individualize the frozen rolls, meaning make sure they aren’t sticking together before tossing them into hot oil. (Also guard yourself from splattering oil because ice and hot oil don’t mix.)