Chinese Spring Rolls
Spring rolls
In Chinese cuisine, spring rolls are savoury rolls with cabbage and other vegetable fillings inside a wrapped cylinder shaped thin pastry. From areas such as Zhejiang in eastern China, and northern China, they are usually eaten during the Spring Festival in China, hence the name. The first spring rolls featured fresh vegetables from the harvest; meat was added later. Meat varieties, particularly pork are also popular.
The Chinese name for spring roll is 'Chun-juen', which is a literal translation - 'spring roll.' They are also known as spring pancakes or thin pancakes. It is said that in the olden times, Chinese people used to make thin flour pancakes with vegetables and fruits on the first day of spring. People would send this dish to their friends and relatives to welcome spring.
The word ‘egg roll’ is a translation of a Chinese word Jīdàn juǎn. Though the origin of egg roll is unknown, several Asian countries have claimed it, and many say that the spring roll led to its creation.
Spring roll wrappers are thinner than their American cousin, the egg roll wrapper which is made with eggs in place of oil. Spring roll wrappers are made only with flour, water, oil and salt. The Philippino "lumpia," which are similar to spring rolls, have wrappers made from either rice paper or wheat flour and corn starch, but no egg.
This recipe can be made with Chinese barbequed or roasted pork, cut into matchsticks, shrimp, tofu, or other protein in place of the chicken.
Brian and I usually make our egg and spring rolls with the pork and shrimp filling in the Egg Roll recipe. We have not made the version below made with chicken.
Chicken and Vegetable Spring Rolls
Recipe Courtesy of Ching-He Huang, 2008
Filling:
1 tablespoon groundnut oil ( peanut)
1 (7 ounce) skinless chicken breast, cut into pea-sized pieces
4 dried Chinese mushrooms or dried shitake mushrooms or dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted in hot water for 20 minutes, drained and finely chopped
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon five-spice powder [use much less?]
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 ounces bean sprouts
2 large spring onions, finely sliced lengthwise
1 small carrot, julienned [or grated]
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1/2 tablespoon light soy sauce
Sea salt and freshly cracked white pepper
Spring Rolls:
12 large or 24 small spring roll wrappers, thawed, if frozen
1 tablespoon cornstarch, blended with 1 tablespoon hot water
Groundnut oil, for frying
For the filling:
Heat a wok over high heat, and pour in the groundnut oil. Add the chicken pieces, and reconstituted mushrooms, and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, then season with the soy sauce and five-spice powder. Remove the contents from the wok, and set them aside to cool for 10 minutes. Clean the wok.
Add the ginger, bean sprouts, spring onions, and carrot to a bowl. Then, add the chicken and mushrooms, the oyster and soy sauces and stir to mix. Season with sea salt, and black pepper, to taste.
For the spring rolls:
Spoon 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center of the wrapper. Brush each corner with the blended cornstarch slurry. Bring the 2 opposite side corners of the wrapper together and, keeping your finger on those edges, bring the bottom corner up towards the middle, then roll the pastry with the filling towards the top corner. Tuck the top edge in, and seal it with the cornstarch slurry. Repeat until the remaining ingredients are used up. Place the spring rolls in the refrigerator to chill until ready to fry.
Heat a wok or heavy-bottomed pan over a high heat, and fill it to a quarter of its depth with enough groundnut oil. Cook's Note: Ensure your wok is stable before deep-frying.
Heat the oil to 350 degrees F, or until a cube of bread dropped in it turns golden brown in 15 seconds.
Deep fry the spring rolls until golden brown, turning frequently, and then transfer them, using a slotted spoon, to drain on an absorbent kitchen towel.
Yield: 6 large or 12 small spring rolls
