Spring Rolls

Day 154: Friends are becoming accustomed to hearing me say, "Smells like a Chinese restaurant in here." Today's project? Spring rolls! What goes in a spring roll? Let's open the fridge and find out!

We'll start with cloud-ears, absolutely. Something cabbage-y...napa, using both the white and green parts of the leaves. Little green onions, because spring isn't complete without little green onions, and carrots for colour. Meat? Ground pork or char siu (barbecue pork)? Ground pork won the toss. And then to fill out the wrappers and bind it all together, softened rice noodles cut into manageable lengths of 1-2".

Heat oil in a frying pan or deep-fryer to 375 degrees. A cooler temp wouldn't make the spring rolls as crisp. Fry the pork and set it aside. Grate the carrots, slice the mushrooms into "fingernail-paring" strips, chop the white part of the napa up in 1/4" cubes or short slices, finely shred the green part and put it in another bowl to be added last in the cooking. Chop up the LGOs (that's how "little green onions" is denoted on my grocery list). Combine the veg except for the napa greens and stir-fry in a little oil until carrots and napa "white bits" are almost tender, then add the greens and continue frying just until they're wilted. Pour all the ingredients in a big bowl with the softened noodles, add a splash of sesame oil, some soy sauce (regular) and an equal amount of oyster sauce. Stir well to combine and your filling is done. Lay out egg roll wrappers three at a time and roll about 1/4 cup of filling inside each one, starting with the bottom point of the diamond shape. Seal the final point with beaten egg. Make no more than six at a time, and fry them until golden brown and crispy. Drain on a wire rack and serve with your favourite dipping sauce. In this case, I used garlic-infused chili oil and dark soy sauce. Leftovers can be frozen, then thawed and reheated under the broiler, but be careful not to let them burn. Dang, it smells good in here!