We had a party this weekend and decideded we needed something different. Spring rolls !! Your local Asian grocery shop will supply you with ready to cook spring rolls……thats is…… if you like spring rolls stuffed with soggy vegetables, no seasoning and a skeric of meat if…….. you are lucky enough. Trust me I’ve searched high and low and there just aren’t any good spring rolls available commercially.
So lets begin, its gotta have meat, some nice fresh veggies, seasoning and a delicously light and crispy casing. Sound hard or like its a lot of work ?? Nope. Its easy, lets get started. A quick phone call to Mum in Hong Kong confirmed my thought with the ingredients. She laughed wondering who was gonna sit there and roll 75 spring rolls !
From that same Asian grocery shop, pick up a packet of spring roll skins. They will come frozen and all you need to do is thaw them out. Seperate the skins but keep them moist with a moist towel or they’ll dry out and go rigid.
For the vegetable component, I blanched some bean sprouts and squeezed once they were refreshed in cold water. Chinese mushrooms are a must. Simmer them for 15 mins, cool, remove the tough stem and thinly julienne.
Now for the meat. Graeme from Rumps cooks up a mighty fine pork belly. I used a couple of pieces of the cooked pork belly less the crackling and the top layer of fat, and shredded it with a fork. What a perfect meat accompaniement to include in the spring rolls. We also tried the Luv-a-duck Chinese legs as an alternative and that worked well too.
Now to assemble.
- Lay out the spring roll wrappers diagonally
- Place soem veggies and meat in the middle
- Season well.
- Roll up the spring rolls without leaving any ait pockets. Half way through, tuch in the ends.
- Wet the last corner and press firmly onto the roll sticking it down.
- When ready to eat, deep fry until golden brown and serve with sweet soya sauce loaded with hot chillis !
Enjoy.
Oh, and don’t for a minute think the crackling got wasted :)
Rumps Gourmet Butchery, Shop 2 Meadow Springs Shopping Centre
