Spring rolls are a common dish to be found during Lunar New Year as they resemble gold bars which symbolise wealth. The filling is very simple and full of flavour! They're best deep fried with a squeeze of citrus and dipped in soy or sweet chilli sauce. Spring rolls are a great recipe to get the whole family involved in - one where you can make the filling and then sit around a table and fold them together!
Ingredients
Chicken + Marinade
1 tbsp soy
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or sake
1 tsp corn flour
1/2 tsp white pepper
500g chicken breast, cut into thin strips
Remaining Ingredients
1 brown onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, minced
1/2 white cabbage, thinly sliced
2 carrots, grated
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp soy
1 tbsp corn flour
1/2 tsp white pepper
20 spring roll wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying
Method
Combine the soy, sesame oil, cooking wine, corn flour and white pepper in a bowl and add in the chicken. Stir to combine and let marinate while you slice the veggies.
In a wok, heat up 2 tbsp oil and fry off the chicken in batches. You don't need to cook it all the way through, just seal the chicken. Set aside.
Heat the wok up with a drizzle more oil and add in the onion, garlic and ginger and saute for a a couple of minutes.
Add in the cabbage, carrot and spring onion and continue cooking on medium until all of the juices from the cabbage have evaporated.
Combine the cooking wine, soy, corn flour and white pepper in a small bowl.
Add this into the wok along with the chicken and any juices.
Continue to fry for a couple of minutes, until the mixture is looking sticky and not wet. Season with salt if needed.
Tip the mixture onto a cold baking tray and spread out to cool it down.
To assemble the spring rolls, place the wrapper with a corner facing you so it looks like a diamond.
Place around 2-3 tablespoons of filling on the bottom third of the wrapper in the centre. Shape it into a log that lies horizontally.
Fold the bottom corner, closest to you, over the mixture and roll a couple of turns.
Fold the left corner and then the right corner towards the centre to seal the sides.
Wet the remaining pastry with some water and continue rolling the mixture away from you, until it is completely sealed.
Continue with all of the wrappers until the mixture has been used. You should get approximately 20 spring rolls.
Heat a wok with vegetable oil until it's about 2 inches deep on medium heat. Test if it's hot enough by dipping the end of a spring roll into the oil.
Once the oil is hot but not smoking, add in the spring rolls gently. Add 3-4 depending on the size of your wok.
Cook until golden on each side. Usually around 3 minutes and then turn.
Drain spring roll on paper towel and set aside. Continue cooking, until all are done.
Notes - Try to dry out your mix as much as possible to avoid it splattering when frying. Roll your spring rolls as tightly as possible to avoid any air pockets in your spring rolls. The filling is already cooked, so your just frying them to get the skin crsipy.
