VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS
With Chinese New Year coming up there are always loads of preparation for the big family meal on Chinese New Year Eve.
It would always be a massive feast of stir fried ginger & spring onion lobster with crispy noodles, steamed fish, roast duck, crispy pork, stir fried large king prawns and so many more tasty dishes.
One of the dishes we always have was Vietnamese spring rolls. It has always been my responsibility to make the spring rolls (about a hundred!) but I’d always rustle up assistance from my little helpers…….I’ve taught all my nieces, nephews & even great nephew how to roll these little tasty delights through the years.
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Serves: 40 rolls
INGREDIENTS:
Spring Roll Filling:-
- 500g minced pork
- 300g raw king prawns
- 1 large carrot (grated & pat dry)
- 3 tbsp Chinese black fungus (soaked in hot water for 30 mins, pat dry 7 finely chopped)
- 75g glass mung bean vermicelli (soaked in warm water for 15 mins & pat dry)
- 200g bean sprouts
- 5 tbsp crispy fried onions
- 3 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp shoaxing wine
- 2 tsp ground pepper
- 3 tbsp pork granules
- 3 tbsp cornflour
- cornflour mix (3 tbsp water & 1 tsp cornflour)
- 40 large spring roll wrappers
- plenty of vegetable oil for deep frying
Dipping Sauce:-
- 3 tbsp cider vinegar
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 3 Birdseye chillies (finely sliced – this is optional)
- 3 tbsp water
Mix the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl till sugar dissolves.
METHOD:
If you want to eat the Vietnamese spring rolls as a main meal, it can be served on top of warm vermicelli noodles (thin rice noodles – also known as Bún in Vietnamese), lettuce, coriander, bean sprouts, slices of carrots & cucumber and to finish of the dish you just need to drizzle the dipping sauce into the bowl – this is a great summer dish.
Top tip:- I’ve tried to take out as much liquid as possible from all the ingredients I used for the filling – for example crispy fried onions instead of raw onions, part blanched the minced pork & pat dry all the ingredients. This will help reduce the filling from getting soggy after the spring rolls have been deep fried. It will also stop it from making the wrapper soggy which may cause the rolls to burst. I also prefer to make slimmer rolls so it cooks much quicker and the rolls are much crispier as there’s more pastry covering the filling.
You can freeze the spring rolls after they are wrapped. The best way to do this is to lay them on a tray so that the spring rolls do not touch each other and place it in the freezer for 20 mins or so until the rolls are slightly frozen and the wrapper is dry. You can then put the spring rolls into a bag or container and put them back into the freezer. It can be frozen for a couple of months. You can fry them straight out of the freezer.
(This dish takes about an hour to make – includes prep time.)
