FOODIE FRIDAY #14 - 🌯Homemade Crispy Spring Rolls🥡

I have a confession to make... I am addicted to Asian food. Not just one kind... I mean, all of it! And as much as I love ordering in, the drive in me to master the skills it takes to make things myself usually takes over. We started ordering Vietnamese on a fairly regular basis, but from different shops each time, in search of someone who makes spring rolls just the way we like them... and though each place had something delicious to offer, none of them quite stacked up, so I decided it was high time to try making them myself.

I had a browse through the web, comparing so many recipes, and taking notes, before attempting them for myself. The first couple of times I used rice paper wrappers, and still fried them, to get the crispness I was looking for. They were pretty good, and a great gluten free option, but they don't offer the flakiness that I love in the regular spring roll pastry. So this time, I decided to break those out, and boy, am I one happy lady.

Perhaps, in the future, I'll become even more ambitious and attempt to make the wrappers myself as well, to make the entire thing from scratch (as is my way), but the assembly can take a bit of time, so for now I am perfectly happy to leave out a couple of steps. 😉

The whole process is really not too overly complicated, though, as I just said, the assembly can be a bit time consuming. To me, it's worth it. Not only do I end up with immensely satisfying results, but we end up with loads of spring rolls, which freeze beautifully. This means I only really need to put the whole thing together about once out of every 4 times we eat them. That's not to shabby, in my opinion! I've even successfully baked these babies, from frozen! So if you're nervous about/not into the idea of deep frying, that is definitely an option. (Just be sure to brush them with a little oil before popping them into the oven.) The fryer will get you the ultimate crisp-factor though. Just sayin'.😁

Let me show you how simple they are!

And remember that my food blog posts are IMAGE HEAVY! 😘

---

---

Alright, so the first thing you're going to need to do is gather all your ingredients: carrots, onions, garlic, cilantro, bean sprouts, green onions (aka scallions), ground pork, vermicelli noodles (we like the cellophane/glass noodles best), and an egg.

So many beautiful, fresh, tasty things!

Set your noodles in cold water to soak for about 15 min, and get to work chopping/grating your veggies.

Once all your veggies are chopped, put them into a large bowl, and when the noodles have softened, drain them, give them a rough chop, and put those into the bowl as well.

Then add the pork and egg, and a little splash of white wine, or as I decided to try, some crisp beer.

Oh, and don't forget to season the mix! You can use regular old salt and pepper, but I am spoiled, and slightly obsessed with our homemade smoked garlic salt. I seriously use the stuff in all my cooking. (It's also heavenly on popcorn.)

I wish we all had "smell-evision".

Give everything a thorough mix through. You could try doing this with a spoon, but it may be an act in futility. I've personally found that any time I'm trying to mix ground meat, the very best tool for the job is my hand. I get that some people are really put off by the thought of touching raw meat and/or raw eggs, but trust me, it'll make your life so much easier. Plus, that's what soap is for. 😜 Hell, you could even slap on a glove!

Now for the "tricky" bit: wrapping.

Get yourself a little bowl/cup with some cold water in it, and a damp cloth to keep over your wrappers, so they don't dry out. And a pan to put the spring rolls into, of course.

Now, scoop up a spoonful of filling, press it into a "log" shape with your hand, and with the wrapper in a "diamond", place it across the lower half.

Fold the bottom corner up, over the filling, then fold over the 2 side corners, so it looks like a little envelope.

Roll it up slightly, then dab your finger into the water, and wet the edges of the top corner, before rolling it all the way. The wet edge will cause the wrapper stick to itself, and thus, seal!

dab of water

swipe it across the edge

all rolled up, and ready to go

Continue this process fifteen million times until all the filling is used up. As you can see, I've got a couple dozen spring rolls to show for my efforts.

Once they're all rolled up, you can heat your oil for frying, or if you're prepping them ahead of time, go ahead and pop them into the fridge to cool completely, before popping them into the freezer. I would recommend throwing a layer of parchment paper between layers, or laying them out flat on a sheet pan to freeze them, then you can pop them into a freezer bag, and take out as many or as few as you'd like once you're ready to eat!

I'm using vegetable oil, which I've heated to about 350°F (175°C). Fry a few at a time, so that you aren't over-crowding the pan. (If you over-crowd, not only is it difficult to flip them, but you also risk dropping the oil temperature. That means soggy/greasy food, instead of crispy. No one wants that.) Fry them about 3-4 min, until golden-brown, then flip and cook another 3-4 min.

You can see that one of them split on the side while frying. I may have wrapped that one a little too tightly, not leaving enough room for the steam to expand in there. It didn't make much difference, as the filling stayed inside, so it just looked funny. I've only done about 3 batches so far, so I'm still learning how to perfect my roll... they need to be tight enough to seal, and not let the filling spill out everywhere, and they need to be loose enough to allow for steam expansion. Practice makes perfect!

Place the cooked spring rolls onto a rack, over some paper towels, and allow them to drain a minute or 2 before digging in. Trust me, as someone who once blistered the entire roof of my mouth on a freshly made spring roll, you do NOT want to bite into one too soon... 😖

They're great as a side, to go with your own noodle bowls, or as an accompaniment to any appy night. We have done both, and believe me, I've never heard any complaints.

I hope you'll give them a try!

And of course, I'll share the actual recipe, should anyone ask.

---

---

---

As summer (and the end of the school year) approaches, things are getting a little crazy. I'm working on finding ways to keep the kidlets busy, and it's going to take some adjustment, so I hope everyone will be patient as I figure out the "new normal" for summer.

We also have Father's Day this weekend, and hubby's birthday next week, so I'll probably have a few goodies up my sleeve to share with you guys in the coming weeks.