Spring rolls in ...
February 25, 2007 at 2:22 PM
by Ashleigh
I wish Spring really would roll in.
In the meantime, here' s a tutorial on how to make spring rolls or, as we call them in Holland, loempias.
When I first made them I searched all over the internet for guides on how to fold a spring roll wrapper. There are quite a few how-to guides on the internet, like this one, but they use the round rice paper wrappers. I use the square wrappers as found in the toko in Holland. Obviously the folding method for the square ones is similar to the round ones, but it's nice to have pictures to show you exactly what to do.
The wrappers are frozen, come in packs of 40 sheets and you just defrost however many you need to use. I made up a whole batch to go in the freezer and we had some for lunch today.
For the filling this time I used julienned carrot, thinly sliced white cabbage, thinly sliced shallots and red pepper, pre-spiced tofu, wok noodles, and mushrooms. I stir fried them over a high heat and added about 2 tablespoons of sweet soy sauce, a tablespoon of ketjap manis and the same of sweet chilli sauce at the end of the cooking time.
If my kids were pickier I would probably just leave the soy sauce and the chilli out.
I've also made them using sprouts which is great and I think Karen has made them with cooked egg in the filling. For me this is a great way to use up some of the ever-present cabbage in my vegbag subscription!
I don't have a deep fryer, so I shallow fry mine and I haven't noticed much difference in the flavour.
So, here's my guide to wrapping a spring roll.
Lay out one spring roll wrapper so that the point of the square is toward you. You can dampen them with water to make them more malleable if you've let them dry out accidentally. Add your filling in the centre. Not too much, about a tablespoon and a bit. I have too much filling in this spring roll, as you will see later.
Turn up the bottom edge of the wrapper.
Fold in the sides into an envelope shape.
Roll from the bottom upwards until you are left with a flap at the top.
Moisten the flap with water and fold it down. See how mine split a bit here? That's because I have too much filling in it. It'll be ok to fry like this, but you don't want it to happen to all your spring rolls, so err on the side of caution when deciding how much filling to use.
Turn it over and ta, da .. a spring roll!
Six spring rolls ready for frying.
And in the pan. See how little oil I use? I have a healthy aversion (haha) to deep frying, so I never do it. They work pretty well this way too. Fry for a couple of minutes only, you don't want them too crisp.
The final product, accompanied by a salad and chilli dipping sauce (out of a bottle - I'm not so Type A that I've made my own ... yet).
You can view a spring roll slideshow at flickrhere or bookmark the flickr set for later here.
Happy rolling!
Comments
I never knew you good fry them in a pan like that!? I have some 'loempiavellen' in our freezer...so this is a great idea. It goes on the (big) pile of things-to-make-some-day.
Even the picture looks like spring with all those fresh colours!
I like it a lot!!
Thanks for that. I have never been brave enough to try spring rolls at home before. I might give them a go now!
Wow, you're so brave to make them yourself. I pop by our local Vietnamese whenever I go to the market.
Thanks for e-mailing!
Oh, those look divine, although I prefer the deep fried variety.
No wonder I'm having a hard time losing weight! Your food pics are a feast for the eyes that transfers to my hips, lol!
OMG, I had no idea it was really possible to make these at home! I love loempias!!!
February 25, 2007 6:47 PM