Delicious Spring Rolls For Any Season - Chinese Southern Belle

Spring Rolls for Any Season

Enjoy these healthy, light spring rolls perfect for any occasion: Christmas, New Years, birthdays, even picnics! These light, non-greasy appetizers are perfect for weight watchers and time savers. If you're a home chef looking to spice things up the healthy way, you'll enjoy these spring rolls!

Homemade spring rolls are so good, it’s worth the effort! Directly translated from Chinese Mandarin, “spring rolls” often marked the end of the long winter and the beginning of spring and warmer weather. Spring rolls served during Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. Also filled with baby spring onions, cabbage and other seasonal greens. Our restaurant, Egg Rolls By Keng, was the first Chinese restaurant in the area and served traditional handmade egg rolls (versus frozen versions that most restaurants serve now) with the thicker skin, topped off with our own sweet and sour dipping sauce, similar to My Sweet Hottie sweet chili peach.

A food processor speeds up the veggie prep but we usually do by hand to avoid the minced cole slaw effect. Deep fry or pan-fry in a nonstick pan and mix and match seasonal ingredients to keep it less oily and healthier, but it’s may be hard to resist the deep fried crunchy version. Make your own or use our family sauces for dipping the rolls (my favorite part!). Mix ‘n’ match, add a spicy kick with chili oil or Sriracha!

Prep Time:

40 min

Cook Time:

15 min

Feeds:

4-6

Ingredients:

Wrappers: 1-2 packs of spring roll skins, 10-25 in a pack (frozen section, very thin, not traditional “egg roll dough” type.) Thaw out one hour before making rolls

Essential seasonings: minced green onion, fresh garlic, grated fresh ginger

Filling:
Meat
Ground pork/beef/turkey (can mix or use one; optional)
Marinate meat with soy sauce, salt, black pepper

Fresh vegetables
Finely chop/grate:
Green onion (1/4 c), fresh ginger (2T), garlic (2T)
Cabbage (4 c), onion (1/2 c), celery, carrot (1/2 c each)
Seasonal/optional veggies: chopped kale, chard, zucchini, red pepper (1/2 c each)
Handful of fresh bean sprouts (add at the end)

Other Ingredients:
Dried Chinese Black Mushroom (1/2 c, softened/chopped)
Cellophane Noodle (a.k.a. bean thread, glass noodle, 2 c)
Seasoned, scrambled egg/strips (salt, garlic powder, black pepper) (1/2 c)
Chopped preserved radish (optional, 1-2 T)
Soy sauce (3 T in meat marinade, 2 T in filling)
Cooking oil (1 c), Asian sesame oil (1 T), salt, white pepper (1/2 T)

Instructions:

1. Soak/soften cellophane/glass/bean thread noodles in hot water. Soak/soften dried black mushrooms in hot water. Make seasoned egg strips. Finely chop all vegetables.
2. Cook the meat (separately):
Heat 2-4 tsp cooking oil and stir-fry 3 key ingredients (reserve ½) for a minute: Green Onion, Ginger, Garlic. Add meat and stir-fry, separating clumps, cook until done, set aside
3. Stir-fry Vegetables:
Heat 2-3 Tsp cooking oil, stir-fry remaining ½ of chopped green onion, ginger, garlic. Cook/put in vegetables, this order: white/yellow onion, carrots, celery, cabbage, egg strips, chopped softened black mushrooms, softened cellophane noodles, preserved radish. DO NOT OVERCOOK! Mix for 2 minutes and add salt, white pepper, soy sauce to taste.
4, Add fresh bean sprouts (optional), sprinkle in sesame oil and toss. Add cooked meat and mix well.

Quantity depends on if you're serving 1-2 as appetizer or a meal 3-4 rolls, and how much energy and time you have to roll!
5, Wrap and deep fry or pan-fry (CSB demo). Serve hot. If you refrigerate/freeze the rolls, defrost in microwave and pan-fry to re-crisp.