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Spring Rolls

Introduction & method

If you've only ever had spring rolls from a cheap Chinese restaurant or takeaway, these will be a revelation - they are crispy and fresh-tasting, and you'll actually want to eat them! You can make them with chicken or beef, or leave out the meat entirely for a vegetarian version.

Spring Rolls Recipe

For the Spring Rolls


Chop the pork into very small pieces. Fry in some of the sesame oil at high temperature for 2-3 minutes. Drain the meat and set aside.

Julienne the carrot and celery (juliennes are very fine sticks, about 2-3mm (one-eighth inch) square), finely chop the spring onions (but keep some of the tops for the dipping sauce and garnish) and shred the cabbage. Stir-fry the vegetables in sesame oil for 2 minutes, stir in the fish sauce and cook for another minute, then drain and set aside. You meat and veg should be quite dry, otherwise your spring rolls will be soggy.

For the Dipping Sauce


Mix the vinegar and soy sauce. Finely chop the ginger and chilli and add to the sauce. Set aside until needed.

Make the Spring Rolls


Mix 2 tsps flour with 2 tsps water - this will be the glue for your spring rolls. Take one sheet of spring roll pastry, and place it on your work surface at an angle of 45°. Spread 2 dessertspoons of filling in a horizontal band near the bottom corner of the pastry. Pick up the bottom corner and roll it over the filling. Roll it over one time, and then take the left corner of the pastry and fold it over the filling towards the centre. Do the same with the right-hand corner - you should now be looking at something that looks a bit like an envelope. Make sure the two edges are parallel to each other. Now roll the pastry a couple more times until you have a triangular flap left at the top. Spread glue on this, and then roll the spring roll over the flap. You've just made a spring roll! 

Cook the Spring Rolls


Spring Rolls are normally fried in lots of oil in a wok. I guess it's possible to bake them, but I can't imagine that being very pleasant.

Heat several inches of vegetable oil in a wok or pan to a temperature of about 180°C (335°F). Carefully lower the rolls in the oil, and cook until golden - about 4-5 minutes. Remove from the oil and dry on kitchen paper.

Serve


Serve them with the dipping sauce in a small bowl and garnish with finely-chopped spring onion.

 



The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Spring Rolls on YouTube.

 

Ingredients & Info


SPRING ROLLS
 150 grams pork shoulder
 1 packet spring roll pastry
 1 carrot
 1 stick celery
 6 spring onions
 100 grams white cabbage
 2.5 cms fresh ginger
 2.5 cms red chilli
 1 tbsp fish sauce
 1 tbsp sesame oil
  DIPPING SAUCE
 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
 1 tbsp soy sauce
 1.5 cms fresh ginger
 1 cm red chilli

PLUS

Vegetable oil for frying.


UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Makes about 15 spring rolls
Prep time: 20 minutes.
Cooking time: 10 minutes.
Total time: 30 minutes.