The origin of spring rolls is distinctly Chinese. The roll, as all of us have come to understand it, originated during the Jin Dynasty, 266-420 D. Originally the term “spring roll” indicated a wrapped roll filled with spring vegetables and was a celebratory dish when spring arrived. The concept has spread around Asia and most Asian cultures have some version of the Spring Roll that is popular. Spring Rolls labelled Cambodian, Vietnamese, or Philippine are the regional takes on the original Chinese roll. These can be rolled either in flour skins, rice paper, tofu skins and even lettuce. The following recipe is Cambodian and has a distinctly Cambodian flavor. From my perspective any spring roll is delicious, and I eat as many as I can get. These are delicious and don’t need a dipping sauce. But a recipe for the sauce follows.
The wrappers make a big difference in taste, texture, how they cook and look. Note the two finished rolls below. The one on the left is a thicker wrapper (Dynasty Egg / Spring Roll Wrapper) and the one on the right a much thinner wrapper. The thinner wrapper is a bit harder to use and you use less filling. The egg roll wrapper being thicker takes a bit more time to cook, and will hold more.
I recently took a plate of these great deep fried spring rolls to a church coffee hour, they went very quickly. They were highly praised and I didn’t provide a dipping sauce.
Cambodian Fried Spring Rolls
Ingredients
Filling
- 10 grams Dried Shrimp, rehydrated and minced
- ½ cup Dried mushrooms, rehydrated and minced
- 5 Garlic cloves minced
- ½ cup Finely chopped shallots
- 1 cup Grated peeled Daikon root
- ¾ cup Grated carrot
- ¾ cup Finely chopped/minced pork
- ¼ cup Rice Wine vinegar
- 2 TBSP Oyster Sauce
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Honey
Assembly and Cooking
- 1 package Spring Roll Wrappers Flour
- Cooking Oil, Canola or similar.
- 30 grams Meifun noodles
Instructions
Filling
- Soak the shrimp for about 15 minutes until softened then drain. Finely chop the shrimps.
- Soak the mushrooms until softm, drain well.* Finely chop the mushrooms.
- Combine the shrimp, mushrooms, garlic, shallots, daikon, and the carrot and mix well.
- Once the vegetables are well mixed, add to the pork. Mix well with your hands.
- In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, place the vinegar, oyster sauce, salt, pepper and honey. Whisk and mix well.**
- Add the liquid mixture to the pork mixture and mix well. Again, the best is with your hands.
- Once well mixed take a spoonful of the mixture and fry it until cooked. Taste! If well seasoned set aside the filling. If needing further spices, add as needed.
Assembly
- Soak the meifun noodles in warm to hot water until they are pliable.
- Place one wrapper on a floured flat clean surface.
- Add a few meifun noodles to the middle of the wrapper. I actually cut these with a scissors. The amount you add is purely preference. I love these noodles so I add about 10 strands the length of the center of the wrapper.
- Add about 1-2 TBPS of the filling on the edge of the wrapper, on top of the noodles, and wet the edges of the wrapper.
- Fold the two edges over, and then roll the wrapper closed. Seal well with the farther edge. Place the uncooked spring roll on a parchmentt covered cookie sheet. These can be frozen and placed directly into hot oil. They will take a bit more time to cook, but will be fine. If you are going to wait to cook these (anything beyond an hour or so) the best option, in my opinion, is to freeze them. Otherwise the skins will rip due to the moisture of the filling.
Cooking
- Set up your deep frying as discussed in my blog, (https://wrapitupfood.com/tips-for-deep-frying-in-oil/).
- When the oil is at the righ temperature, place 4 or 5 of the rolls in the oil. Do not crowd. Obviously this depends on the size of the pot. Keep the temperature between 350-375 degrees F.
- Fry the rolls until golden brown. Remove from the oil and place on a metal screen. Once cool enough, place on paper towels.
- These can be served immediately, or at room temperature. They can also be frozen and vacuum packed for later consumption.
- These can be served with a dipping sauce, see the recipe that follows. However, I think they are delicious all by themselves.
Notes
Nutrition
Once these spring rolls are done, you may want a dipping sauce. There are numerous dipping sauces that you can find in books and on-line. The following goes very well with the Cambodian spring roll recipe above. However, quit frankly, I find these delicious without the need for the sauce.
Cambodian Fried Spring Roll Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Water
- 2 tsp Honey
- ¼ cup Fish sauce
- ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
- 1 garlic clove finely minced
- 1 shallot, very finely chopped
- ½ cup Finely grated carrot
- 1-3 tsp Garlic chili sauce Add the garlic chili sauce to your taste.
Instructions
- Place the honey and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a quick boil. Then reduce the heat.
- Add the fish sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, shallot, and carrot. Simmer for a few minutes, then turn off the heat and let it cool.
- Serve at room temperature.
