Spring rolls (Chinese New Year Recipe)

spring rolls, chinese new year recipe

Chinese New Year is the biggest festival among Chinese. The new year(2010) coming will be the year of the Tiger! It also coincides with Valentine’s day this year. On chuxi, that is the eve of the New Year, relatives join for the traditional family diner feast. There are various dishes including whole fish/chicken which signifies happiness and prosperity, uncut noodles for longevity, Duck for fidelity and eggs for fertility. One popular dish served on that day is Spring Rolls.

It is also one of my favorite Asian recipes! Vietnamese spring rolls, chinese spring rolls, thai spring rolls….all are almost same and one common ingredient is the rice paper wrappers or also known as spring rolls wrappers. These can easily be found in any asian supermarket. However, although the main ingredient is rice paper wrappers, filo pastry can also be used to make the spring rolls as the thickness is same as the traditional ones used. If you are using the rice paper wrappers, you will need to pre-soak them, one by one, in water and leave them to soften for a few minutes. Then, you will need to leave them to dry one by one on a tea towel. I personally think that using rice paper wrappers can be quite troublesome as you need to pre-soak, then dry and all while taking care they don’t break. I prefer using filo pastry sheets. They are much easier and simpler to use! Check out other Chinese New Year Recipes: Mauritian-Chinese fried noodles , Sweet and Sour Pork Meatballs and Chinese Tea Eggs, Orange Chicken in a sauce, Chinese dumplings with chicken, Vegetarian potstickers.

(Complete list of Chinese New Year Recipes)

SPRING ROLLS (CHINESE NEW YEAR RECIPE)

INGREDIENTS:
24 spring rolls pastry/wrappers/rice paper wrappers/filo pastry sheets
4 chayotes peeled and grated
4 carrots peeled and grated
3 onions chopped
2 tbsp of Coriander leaves chopped
5 chinese mushroom soaked in warm water and sliced
200g pork minced or char siu sliced thinly
200g shrimps shelled and deveined and roughly chopped

SEASONINGS:
2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp wine
50g cornflour
2 tbsp flour mixed with 1 tbsp water
sesame oil
pepper
1/2 tbsp MSG

STEPS:
1.Take out any water from the chayote-carrots-onions. How-to: Place the vegetables in a muslin cloth, add salt and mix. After 10 minutes, close the muslin cloth and squeeze the water out.
2.Saute the mushroom with the soy sauce and wine.
3.Mix all the ingredients in the following order: chayote-carrots-onions-pork-shrimps-sauteed mushrooms-seasonings.
4.Mix in cornflour to make a firm mixture.
5.Make small rolls and keep on a separate plate.
6.Fill each pastry with the rolls.
7.Use flour mixture to seal.

8.Pour cooking oil in heated deep pan.
9.Put spring rolls in the hot oil and deep fry until golden brown.