Ingredients
Spring spring rolls
- 500 g pork mince
- 300 g prawns peeled and deveined
- 20 g dried wood ear/black fungus mushrooms
- 50 g dried bean-thread glass noodles
- 1 medium carrot peeled and grated
- 1 small brown onion finely diced
- 3 spring onion finely chopped
- 2 clove garlic minced
- 20 g ginger (fresh) grated
- 2 tbps fish sauce
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 tps salt
- 1/2 tps pepper
- 10 Vietnamese rice paper sheets
- neutral oil for frying
Instructions
- Prepare the noodlesPlace the 50 g dried bean-thread glass noodles in a bowl and cover them with warm water. Leave them for approximately 10 minutes, or until flexible but not completely soft. Drain them thoroughly, then use kitchen scissors to cut them into pieces around 1-2cm long.
- Prepare the mushroomsIn a separate bowl, soak the 20 g dried wood ear/black fungus mushrooms in warm water for 15–20 minutes, or until fully expanded. Drain it, trim away any hard centres and chop it finely. I make sure both the noodles and mushrooms are properly drained before adding them to the filling. Wet ingredients create wet filling, and wet filling creates soggy wrappers. Nobody has ever gathered excitedly around a plate of soggy spring rolls.
- Chop the prawnsPat the 300 g prawns dry with paper towel, then chop them into small pieces. Chop them fine enough to mix evenly through the pork but still large enough that we can taste little pieces of prawn in the finished spring rolls.
- Chop and mince remaining ingredientsPeel and grate 1 medium carrot, finely chop 1 small brown onion, chop 3 spring onion, mince 2 clove garlic, grate 20 g ginger (fresh).
- Mix the filling in a bowl and add seasoningAdd all the ingredients along with 500 g pork mince into a bowl, crack 1 medium egg into the bowl and mix as thoroughly as possible. Add 2 tbps fish sauce, 1/2 tps salt, 1/2 tps pepper. Use your hands and scoop the mixture from the bottom of the bowl and bring it to the top, and ocassionally squeeze the mixture through your fingers to ensure the seasoning is evenly distributed.
- Wet the rice paperGive a sheet of rice paper a quick dunk into some luke warm water and transfer it over to a plate or a board quickly before it gets soft. Let it sit for 5-30 seconds to soften
- Roll the spring rollsAdd 1 heaped tablespoon of the filling mixture a third way down the rice paper. Don't over fill it, you will get a feel for how much after you have made a couple. Tightly roll the rice paper around the filling until you get to the halfway up then fold in the side and continue rolling upwards until you get a nice round spring roll.
- Heat the oilUsing a wok, dutch oven or a heavy bottomed pot, power enough oil to cover the spring rolls. Heat the oil to 165-170c. Either use a thermometer or use the chop stick test. Stick the tip of a WOODEN chopstick into the oil and if it starts to bubble within 2 seconds then the oil is hot enough.
- Deep fry spring rollsFry the spring rolls in batch so the oil temperature does not drop too much. This is particularly important for rice paper spring rolls because they will blister the second they hit the hot oil and they have the tendency to stick to one another during the frying process, therefore you want to give them plenty of space to bluster and bubble. I usually fry 4 spring rolls at a time. They will take around 7-9 minutes to cook through and become crispy. Drain on a rack and let them cool slightly before enjoying!
After grating the carrot, squeeze out all the water from the carrots before adding it to the mixture. All that excess moisture will make the spring rolls soggy and fall apart.
Notes
Fry in small batches. Crowding lowers the oil temperature and runs the risk of the spring rolls sticking.
Double-fry when serving with vermicelli. The extra crunch holds up better once the nuoc cham hits.
Keep the filling dry. Squeeze the noodles and mushrooms well, and don’t add watery vegetables.