How To Make Authentic Chinese Spring Rolls

Never imagined spring rolls being a wish for prosperity? There are certain dishes eaten during the Chinese New year for their symbolic meaning. Spring rolls are one of seven dishes which is believed to bring good luck for the coming year.Chinese spring rolls or chūu juān has been very popular around the world. But did you know how did they authentically originate? According to records, before the Tang Dynasty in 618, people made a shade of thin pancake with flour on the beginning of spring. The “spring dish” was decorated with carrot, salted meat, chives etc. They were sent to friends and relatives as present and blessed. With culinary revolution, the traditional pancakes got rolled into mignon spring rolls. They were not only liked by commons but we’re equally famous in the palace and was even served as one of the nine main pastries amongst the 128 dishes put together during the Qing Dynasty's -Manchu Man Imperial Feast. Now, spring rolls have many delicious varieties which are better than ever before.

It’s no surprise that at beginning I wasn’t aware of the two distinct types of authentic Chinese spring rolls- Cantonese version and Shanghainese version. It happened during the initial years of my college and since then it has become my favourite food.

Use this homemade spring roll recipe for making lip-smacking Cantonese version of spring rolls.

• Recipe of pork and marinade.

The first step is to marinade the pork. For this we need to assemble eight ounces finely shredded pork loin(225 grams), quarter teaspoon salt, half teaspoon sesame oil, quarter teaspoon salt, half tea spoon sesame oil, one teaspoon Shaoxing wine, half teaspoon corn starch and quarter teaspoon white pepper.

Mix the finely shredded pork with marinade ingredients and set aside for 30 minutes.

• Receipt for the filling

Meanwhile, mince the one clove of garlic allumette two medium carrots, one cup bamboo shoots, one

small Napa cabbage and soak-slice ten shittake mushrooms. Make sure to cut all of the vegetables of approximately same size so that each ingredient blends together. Further brown the pork over high heat in two tablespoons of oil. Add the garlic, mushrooms and carrots, stir fry them for 30 seconds before adding bamboo shoots, Napa cabbage and a tablespoon of Shaoxing wine. Adjust the heat to simmer,when Napa cabbage starts to release a lot of moisture. Stir it in two tablespoons light soy sauce, a teaspoon sesame oil, salt and white pepper to taste and quarter teaspoon sugar.

TIP: in case you like strong mushroom Flavours, at this point of time add quarter cup of the decanted water from soaking the dried mushrooms. this is purely according to preference. In this case you may have to simmer the filling a little longer to reduce the extra water.

Continue cooking the filling until the Napa cabbage becomes limp through heat. Add two tablespoons of corn-starch and stir until it becomes thick and no standing liquid is left.The mix is prepared. Transfer it into a large shallow bowl and let it cool.

TIP: place the filling into the refrigerator at least for an hour as cold filling makes easier wrapping.

• Recipe to make wraps

Assemble a cup of all purpose flour, three tablespoons of corn-starch and a quarter teaspoon salt. Whisk the ingredients properly. Further add one and a quarter cups water and continue whisking until you get a smooth and watery consistency of the batter without any lumps.

TIP: if it is runny on the pan ,then batter is thinner. In that case add all purpose flour according to requirements.

Heat a non-stick pan on a low flame. Apply oil if required. Lift the pan above the stove,add two tablespoons of batter in the pan and spread it. On low flames cook it till sides start curling up and the pancakes become shade of translucent. It needs no flip. Finally place the spring roll wrapper in a tray with cooked side facing you. You can start using them once they reach room temperature.

• Folding a spring roll

Place the spring roll wrapper on a flat surface with corner facing towards you. Use two tablespoons full of mixture and place it a little about the closest corner. Roll it over once like a burrito, bring the edges together, golf it further to give a cylinder like shape. Brush corn-starch in the end to seal it.

TIP: it can be now zip-locked in an air-tight container and kept in refrigerator for future use.

• Frying a spring rolls

Fill a small deep pan with oil. Let it heat and then generally add rolls one at a time. Cook until golden brown and then transfer then to a plate with paper towels to soak oil.

• Dipping sauce for spring rolls

Shanghai and Cantonese bands prefer different dipping sauces. The Shanghai serves with vinegar while the Cantonese mostly serves with the old-classic worcestershire based dipping sauce.

The recipe takes about 01:20 hours and makes about 18-20 spring rolls.

Serve the homemade spring rolls hot with dipping sauce to taste the flavours of China within comforts of your homes.

“Food is an ingredient that brings us all together.”