by Jamison Godfrey •
These have to be one of my favourite hot starters to pass around while having a few quiet ones with family and friends.
Apart from rolling spring rolls, there really isn’t much to them, once you have mastered the rolling, it’s endless to what you can put into them. I have used bug tails for this particular recipe, but crab, prawn or fish is fine. Remember that the filling shouldn’t be too wet otherwise the wrappers will tear leaving the insides of your spring roll through the hot oil, which isn’t pretty.
For the dried shitake mushrooms and rice vermicelli, just boil the kettle and pour boiling water over noodles and mushrooms. The noodles will become white looking and not clear when ready, the mushrooms will become soft to touch, then drain off well.
It’s this simple for the filling, place all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix well.
To roll the spring rolls, which will take a little practice, place the wrapper in a diamond shape in front of you, place a spoon full of filling in the bottom corner of wrapper and fold wrapper over mixture.
Tuck the left and right hand sides into the middle and roll tightly until you have just a little pointy part of the pastry showing. Have a bowl with beaten egg at hand and dip the pastry in and stick down firmly. Your spring roll should look not over-filled, but should be firm with no tears. Repeat this process until all your filling and wrappers are gone.
Heat vegetable oil to 180° and cook 3 or 4 at a time, drain on paper towel and serve.
Serve with your favourite dipping sauce, I have used sweet soy sauce in this recipe, but plum or chilli sauce is good too. When purchasing your ingredients, it’s best to visit an Asian grocer as there spring roll pastry is far superior than from your supermarket.
I like the TYJ brand, it’s nice and elastic and not too dry.
Have fun rolling some up for your next get together, get into them!
INGREDIENTS (for 20 rolls)
1 carrot shredded
150g bean shoots
100g shredded cabbage
1 green chilli chopped
¼ bunch spring onions chopped
10 dried shitake mushrooms soaked in water and chopped
125g rice vermicelli soaked and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 tablespoon ginger chopped
½ bunch coriander chopped
300g bug tails cooked and chopped
100ml sweet chilli sauce 100ml sweet soy sauce
50ml sesame oil
1 egg beaten
20 spring roll wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying
This recipe is from award winning chef Jamison Godfrey of the Drunken Admiral restaurant in Hobart, Tasmania. If you’re ever in Hobart we highly recommend visiting the Drunken Admiral and sampling their delicious menu of seasonal, local produce for yourself.
More info: www.drunkenadmiral.com.au
