Once you’ve tried these homemade pork spring rolls, you’ll be hooked for life. These are way better than the average frozen one’s that you buy at the supermarkets.
Made with a few simple ingredients, this recipe for spring rolls is easy to make. What you get is a roll that is crispy on the outside and moist and full of flavour on the inside.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- This recipe makes 50 medium sized spring rolls - about 9 - 10 cm long.
- The pork spring rolls can be prepared ahead of time, frozen and cooked when needed.
- Serve the spring rolls as a hot finger food for parties.
- They are inexpensive to make.
What Do These Spring Rolls Have In Them?
Spring rolls can be filled with just about anything. The fillings can be raw or cooked. These pork spring rolls have a cooked filling made from; minced (ground) pork, cabbage, onion, garlic, fish sauce and oyster sauce.
How to Make The Spring Roll Filling
This recipe makes about 1.24 kg of filling so, you will need a very large fry pan or very large wok. If you don’t have any of these, you could use a large deep saucepan or divide the recipe into half and make two separate batches.
Start by heating some oil in a wok, add the onions and fry until translucent, add grated garlic and fry for about 1 minutes. Add the pork mince cook until it is no longer pink, as the pork mince cooks break it into tiny pieces with a wooden spoon or spatula.
Next, add the shredded cabbage and stir fry until it wilts, then add oyster sauce, fish sauce and chicken stock powder mixing well.
Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, by adding a little more oyster sauce and or fish sauce.
I like to make the filling a tiny bit saltier than I would normally like, because I find they lose "saltiness" when deep fried.
Finish the filling, by mixing two heaped teaspoons of cornflour with half a cup of cold water (mix until smooth), pour this over the filling and mix well over medium/high heat, once the filling has thickened turn off the heat.
It is important that you thicken the filling with cornflour so don’t skip this step. It gives the filling a nice “silky smooth” texture when deep fried. it also helps to evenly distribute the flavours throughout the filling.
Allow the filling to completely cool to room temperature before wrapping.
The filling can also be made one to two days in advance and stored covered in the fridge, before rolling in the spring roll pastry.
Which Pastry for Spring Rolls?
I use TYJ spring roll wrappers that are 19 cm square and come in a pack of 50. These are usually frozen and need to be defrosted before using.
If you can’t get the 19 cm square wrapper, use whatever size is available and adjust the filling accordingly. Place more filling in a larger wrapper and less in a smaller one.
Just be aware that if you purchase smaller wrappers, buy extra as you will get more than the 50 this recipe makes. And if you buy larger wrappers you will get less because, more filling is used in them.
To defrost, place the unopened pack on the kitchen bench for several hours and allow to thaw. Once thawed remove from the packet.
The wrappers are compressed together and each one needs to be carefully peeled away from the bundle before use.
To start with, peel off about 10 at a time and lay them back on top of the pile, separating more when needed. Cover the wrappers with either a damp clean tea towel or paper towel to stop them from drying out. Remove one wrapper at a time and start rolling the spring rolls.
When you become familiar and comfortable with the rolling process, you can work with 4-6 wrappers at a time.
How to Roll A Spring Roll For Frying?
1. Lay one spring roll wrapper on a diagonal, so that a corner point is facing you. Place about 1 heaped tablespoon of cold filling on to the centre of the wrapper, just below the halfway point.
2. Pick up the tip of the corner closest to you and fold it over the filling.
3. As you fold the wrapper over the filling, gently but firmly, pull back on the filling and roll it back and then forward to tuck the wrapper under the filling. Doing this will ensure that the wrapper is nice and tight around the filling.
4. Next fold the left side over toward the middle. Try and keep the folded edge at a 90-degree angle. Hold the folded edge down with your left hand as you do the next step.
5. Next fold the right side over toward the middle overlapping the left fold. Try and keep the folded edge at a 90-degree angle. Hold the folded edge down with your right hand.
6. Tightly roll the filling up towards the top corner and seal in place. To seal the spring roll, brush the top corner with a little beaten egg and gently press onto place.
7. You want the spring rolls to look something like this. The wrapper needs to be nice and tight around the filling, with no tears or holes.
Tips For Filling The Spring Roll Wrappers
1. Allow the wrappers to completely thaw before using.
2. Separate the wrappers by carefully peeling away each layer. Try and avoid tearing the wrappers.
3. If you do get a tear and depending on how big the tear is, you may be able to use it. Just make sure the tear is rolled inside the wrapper and is completely covered when the roll is completed.
4. Make sure that the filling has completely cooled, before placing on the wrapper. If you don’t the warmth from the filling will cause the wrapper to soften and tear and you won’t be able to deep fry it.
5. Don’t over fill the wrappers, overfilling will make it difficult to roll.
6. Don’t spread the filling too far out toward the edges. A good overlap is required to keep the filling from seeping out from the ends.
7. Try and to have the edges even all the way up, as you roll the spring roll (this will take some practice). It just looks nice and neat.
8. Brush some beaten egg on the tip of the wrapper, to seal and hold it in place.
9. Fry the spring rolls in oil at the correct temperature.
How To Fry Spring Rolls
1. The spring rolls need to be deep fried. The amount of oil you use will depend on the type of pan or saucepan you are using. Choose one with high sides, as this will help reduce the oil splatter on your stove, and fill with enough vegetable or peanut oil so that will cover the spring rolls when you fry it.
For example: If you are using a medium size saucepan fill it with about 2 - 2 ½ cups of oil. This should be deep enough for deep frying.
2. Heat the oil over a medium/high flame. Carefully test the oil temperature by dipping the handle of a wooden spoon (or place a small piece of bread) into the oil. If the oil rapidly bubbles around the handle (or bread) it is hot enough. You could even dip one end of a spring roll into the oil.
If the oil appears smokey it is too hot. Turn down the heat and allow it to cool down to the correct temperature.
3. Deep fry about 3-4 spring rolls at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Use tongs or a metal slotted spoon to turn the spring rolls over several times to ensure even browning.
Cook until they just turn light golden brown. Try not to get them to brown, because they will continue to darken when removed, and could end up looking almost burnt.
Remove from the oil with tongs or slotted spoon and allow to drain on a cake rack lined with absorbent paper.
Deep frying frozen spring rolls
Deep fry the frozen spring rolls as above, with just one difference. After adding the spring rolls to the oil, turn down the heat a little. Because, they are frozen you will need cook them a little longer, and you want the frozen filling to heat through. If you don’t do this, the outside will be brown before the filling has heated.
FAQ
Yes, spring rolls can be frozen after rolling and before deep frying. Place the prepared spring rolls in a single layer and not touching, onto a baking tray that will fit into your freezer. Once frozen transfer the spring rolls to freezer bags. It’s OK to have a double layer of spring rolls on the tray, just make sure the layers are separated with some baking paper. They can be cooked from frozen.
Yes, these pork spring rolls can be made a day ahead. After rolling, place the prepared spring rolls in a single layer and not touching, onto a baking tray that will fit into your fridge and cover with plastic. It’s OK to have a double layer of spring rolls on the tray, just make sure the layers are separated with a sheet of baking paper. When needed the spring rolls can be deep fried cold straight from the fridge.
Once rolled and not deep fried, these spring rolls can be kept covered in the fridge for up to two days. For longer storage time they are best frozen. See the above two questions on how to store in the fridge and freezer.
Yes, spring rolls can be baked, brush the wrappers all over with oil, place on a wire cake rack that is on a baking tray. Bake in a preheated 200°C (400°F) oven for about 30 minutes or until golden brown.
The difference between baked and deep fried is, the baked ones don’t seem to colour as evenly as deep fried and the skins become a little firmer.
Deep fried spring rolls are never nice when cold and are best eaten hot, warm and are OK at room temperature.
To reheat left over cooked spring rolls, place on a wire cake rack that is on a baking tray. Bake in a preheated 180°C (350°F) oven for about 10 - 15 minutes or until crispy.
Never cook or reheat them in the microwave. The uncooked wrappers will never go crispy and golden and, if you reheat cold cooked spring rolls they go soggy and oily.
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Pork Spring Rolls
Ingredients
Filling
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 150 grams onions finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves grated or finely mined
- 700 grams pork mince
- 500 grams cabbage finely shredded
- 4 tablespoons oyster sauce level
- 4 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoon chicken stock powder level
- 2 heaped teaspoon cornflour + 3 teaspoon water
Spring Rolls
- 50 spring roll wrappers 19cm x 19cm
- 1 beaten egg for sealing the rolls
- Oil for deep frying
- Sweet and sour sauce for dipping
Instructions
Making the Filling
- Heat oil in a skillet or work over high heat. Add onion and stir fry until translucent. Add garlic and stir fry for about 1 minutes.
- Add the pork. Cook, breaking it into small pieces as you go, until it changes colour and is no longer pink.
- Add the shredded cabbage. Cook and stir for about 5 - 8 minutes until the cabbage has wilted and become soft.
- Add the oyster sauce, fish sauce, chicken stock powder and stir well.
- Push the meat to one side and tilt the pan, you should see some liquid run off. Taste the liquid it should be slightly salty to taste (but not too salty) if not add a little more fish sauce or oyster sauce.
- Mix well and taste the liquid again, it should be a little saltier than you usually cook.
- Place the cornflour in a small mixing bowl add a small amount of the water and mix to a paste.
- Pour the cornflour mixture into the hot pork filling and mix very well on high heat, this will thicken the filling.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before wrapping the rolls.The filling can be made and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before filling the wrappers.
Rolling the Spring Rolls
- Lay one spring roll wrapper on a diagonal, so that a corner point is facing you. Place about 1 heaped tablespoon of cold filling on to the centre of the wrapper, just below the halfway point.
- Pick up the tip of the corner closest to you and fold it over the filling.
- As you fold the wrapper over the filling, gently but firmly, pull back on the filling and roll it back and then forward to tuck the wrapper under the filling. Doing this will ensure that the wrapper is nice and tight around the filling.
- Next fold the left side over toward the middle. Try and keep the folded edge at a 90-degree angle. Hold the folded edge down with your left hand as you do the next step.
- Next fold the right side over toward the middle overlapping the left fold. Try and keep the folded edge at a 90-degree angle. Hold the folded edge down with your right hand.
- Tightly roll the filling up towards the top corner and seal in place. To seal the spring roll, brush the top corner with a little beaten egg and gently press onto place.
- You want the spring rolls to look something like this. The wrapper needs to be nice and tight around the filling, with no tears or holes.
- Pour enough oil into a deep pot or saucepan so, that it is more than double the height of the spring rolls. Heat the oil over a medium/high heat. Dip the end of a wooden spoon into the oil, if it bubbles rapidly around the wooden handle the oil is hot enough.
- Deep fry about 3-4 spring rolls at a time, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Use tongs or a metal slotted spoon to turn the spring rolls over several times to ensure even browning. Cook until they just turn light golden brown. Try not to get them to brown, because they will continue to darken when removed, and could end up looking almost burnt. Remove the spring rolls from the oil with tongs or slotted spoon and allow to drain on a cake rack lined with absorbent paper.Serve hot or warm with sweet chilli sauce.
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