Chinese Spring Rolls - Great authentic taste and easy to follow instructions. Suggestions for chicken, vegetarian, or pork fillings. You choose! Here's a delicious recipe for you. We've got step-by-step instructions on how to fold the spring rolls, and what fillings you can put in them. 

The recipe is easy, just follow the step by step photos and your spring rolls will be perfect!

The trick with making any Chinese food and it's guaranteed success is to prepare everything beforehand. You need to get all your ingredients together, chopped, diced, marinated, sauces prepared in little bowls, absolutely everything that belongs in a recipe must be at hand before you turn on the heat!

There are many variations to Chinese Spring Rolls throughout the Far East, with different names, such as lumpia, and also with differing wraps, some made from rice paper, as in the Vietnamese types, and gives a transparent appearance, or egg-based wraps, similar to that of filo pastry. It goes without saying, the fillings will also vary from region to region.

The Chinese Spring Rolls we are going to make today are often found in Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong, particularly in the Dim Sum eateries, and is often served with a dipping Worcestershire Sauce and or sweet chili sauce.

The beauty of these spring rolls is that you can make them with whatever filling you desire. These are great for making if you have leftovers too! Just remember to keep the filling ingredients chopped small so it all fits in the roll. I will list the common ingredients used, and you can adapt to your taste.

These spring rolls are also freezer-friendly, so if you wanted to make up a batch and freeze BEFORE cooking, that makes it very convenient if you're planning ahead for say a party or gathering. They take a matter of minutes to cook, so you can be prepared and ready for your guests!

So come along to the Far East and let's make some Chinese Spring Rolls!

Ingredients

7 Spring roll pastry sheets, each measuring 8 in x 8 in ( 20 cm x 20 cm)

For the Filling

2 mushrooms, chopped small
1 Spring Onion / Scallion
5-6 stalks of coriander/cilantro
1/4 inch or 1 cm thick piece fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
1 cup or 70 g beansprouts
4 fresh Prawns (optional)
6 oz or 170 g pork or chicken fillet
Vegetable oil for deep frying. (use a small pan)

The marinade

1 Teaspoon cornflour / cornstarch
1 Teaspoon sugar
1 Teaspoon Chinese rice Wine
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Chicken stock powder
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon Oyster Sauce
2 teaspoon cold water

You can buy Spring Roll Pastry from Asian shops, if you have some left over, put in a zip lock bag and freeze. Once the pastry comes into contact with air, it will dry quickly so have a damp cloth to place over the pastry whilst you are preparing the rolls.

TIP

The main thing we need to do is get everything ready before we start cooking.

Please be aware, that your Spring Roll Pastry will dry out as soon as it makes contact with the air so please use a damp tea towel to cover it whilst you are preparing everything.

These Spring Rolls will be made roughly the length of your finger. You can make them bigger if you wish, adjust the amount of filling accordingly.

Instructions

Prepare the Vegetables

First we will prepare all the vegetable items and place them on a plate.
1. Chop mushrooms (1/2 cm sized pieces)

2. Chop cilantro/ coriander, and Spring Onion/scallion shred (see picture) Cut it across into 1 inch lengths and then shred.

3. Finely chop ginger and garlic.

4. Place beansprouts on plate (no need to chop)

Prepare the meat

Now to prepare the meat. You need to cut it very fine like matchsticks. Watch the photos to get the idea.

1. Cut meat finely. Start by cutting your fillet in half horizontally

then vertically slice down to make matchstick sizes

2. Place in a bowl and add the wine, cornstarch, chicken stock, water, sesame oil.

3. Stir very well to get everything combined.

4. Slice prawns horizontally in half then cut into 1cm pieces. Place in a separate bowl

Cook the meat & mushrooms

1. Add 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil to a pan. Add mushrooms, ginger & garlic. fry until all soft.

2. Add the pork. Stir fry until cooked. Transfer to your mixing bowl and allow to cool.

Once the meat has cooled, add all the other ingredients together with the oyster sauce and combine very well.

Making the wraps.

These wraps are a standard size so we need to cut them into quarters otherwise your spring rolls will be huge!

Follow the pictures step by step and you will get the idea. You will need a little bowl of water to wet the sides so they stick.

Make ahead tip

Once you have made the wraps, it is at this point you can freeze them and simply take out as many as you wish and cook as the instructions below.

TIP: 

Work with 2 or 3 squares at a time. cover the rest with a damp tea towel.

Put enough vegetable oil in a saucepan, I prefer to fry 4-5 rolls at a time. When hot enough, add the rolls and cook until golden.

(The first roll on the left of the photo I had the oil too hot. If yours go brown too fast, turn the heat down a little. The second roll from the left is the correct color!)

Remove and drain on some kitchen paper, and serve with Worcestershire sauce or sweet chili sauce for dipping.

And there you have my Chinese Spring Rolls. these are always popular anytime, and great if you want to make ahead and store (uncooked) in the freezer. You can just get a few out and cook, from frozen and they will still be delicious. Please enjoy!

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our Chinese Spring Rolls recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

Try these delicious Vietnamese Spring Rolls from Manila Spoon. Yum! They use rice paper sheets instead of pastry, a nice alternative!

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