Cynthia’s spring rolls served with Three Feathers Estate 2016 Pinot Noir with view of vineyards in background.
Cynthia has elaborated this variation of spring rolls from a recipe that a Vietnamese friend taught her to make many years ago. Perfect for a buffet, light lunch or hot summer evening meal, these spring rolls are delicious served a watercress, fennel and baby greens salad and a bottle of our first vintage 2016 Three Feathers Pinot Noir.
This recipe serves 9 and makes 75 large rolls that can be frozen before cooking. The shiitake and ginger give these rolls a special punch of flavor that marries well with the fruity aroma of our pinot noir.
Cynthia’s Spring Rolls, Step-by-Step
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- Vermicelli noodles used in Cynthia’s spring rolls
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- Spring roll wrappers
Ingredients
Stuffing
1 pound shelled shrimp
4 pounds ground pork
4 cloves crushed garlic
1/3 cup minced cilantro
8 chopped scallions, including half of the greens
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
100 grams chopped fresh baby shiitake
1/2 cup grated carrots
150 grams vermicelli
Wrappers
75 spring roll wrappers
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Preparation
Place the vermicelli noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water on them. Let sit for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse well with cold water and let them sit until cool.
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- Peeling shrimp
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- Preparation of spring roll stuffing with carrot spaghetti strips for Cynthia’s spring rolls
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- Hand-mixing ingredients for Cynthia’s spring roll stuffing
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- Mixing ingredients
In the meantime, chop, mince and prepare the ingredients for the spring roll filling as specified above. Cynthia prefers to use a peeler to shave the carrots into long paper thin strips, however they can also be grated. Place all of the stuffing ingredients into a large bowl and add the vermicelli. Use your hands to mix the ingredients together thoroughly.
Preparation of spring roll wrappers for Cynthia’s spring rolls
Spread one clean kitchen towel on the counter top and cover the towel with a moist paper towel. Open the spring roll wrappers and place them in a stack on top of the moist paper towel. Cover the stack with second moist paper towel and place a second clean kitchen towel over the whole. The humidity will prevent the wrappers from drying out while you are making the spring rolls.
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- Lightly beaten eggs seal the wrappers of Cynthia’s Spring Rolls
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- Work station for wrapping Cynthia’s spring rolls
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- Taking the first shrimp roll wrapper off the stack
Set up a work station with the moist spring roll wrappers, the bowl of eggs and basting brush, a cutting board surface for wrapping and a receiving tray for the finished rolls.
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- Adding beaten egg to the tip of the first shrimp roll wrapper
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- Stuffing inserted into the first shrimp roll wrapper
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- Turning up the corner on the shrimp roll wrapper
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- First roll of the shrimp roll wrapper
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- Tucking in the sides of the shrimp roll wrapper
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- Subsequent roll of the shrimp roll wrapper
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- Subsequent roll of the shrimp roll wrapper
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- Basting the end corner of the shrimp roll wrapper
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- Completed shrimp rolls on a metal tray
Place one spring roll wrapper on a diagonal on the cutting board as shown above and place a spoonful of stuffing at the bottom corner. Baste the lowest tip with some beaten egg and fold the wrapper over the stuffing, roll once, then fold in the two side corners. Baste the upper tip of the wrapper and complete the roll so that the basted egg catches and holds the roll in place.
Cooking
Heat a large pot, half-filled with peanut oil, to a rolling boil. Place the spring rolls in the boiling oil one at a time avoiding contact with each other. When they float to the surface and are slightly browned, they are cooked.
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- Boiling oil for deeping frying spring rolls
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- Deep frying spring rolls in boiling oil for Cynthia’s Shrimp Rolls
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- Cooked spring rools (foreground) and uncooked spring rolls (background)
Freezing, reheating
These spring rolls can be prepared ahead of time and frozen raw, to be cooked at a later date. Once cooked, they are also delicious reheated in the oven.