Vegetable and Mushroom Spring Rolls | A Basic Chinese Dish X The Woks of Life

We’re going to make classic vegetable and mushroom spring rolls with a recipe from the latest cookbook by The Woks of Life, a popular food blog based in the US. Follow along!

 

Craving a quick bite? Try some spring rolls! It’s one of the few dishes that you can order in any Chinese restaurant around the world. They’re made by stuffing ingredients, from sweet red bean paste to pork and vegetables, in wrappers, and then fried. Now you can try making them at home!

We’re giving away a copy of The Wok of Life’s cookbook and you can find more details of the giveaway on our Instagram @goldthread2. Pre-order the cookbook here now if you can’t wait!

If you’d like to follow along, we have the recipe here:

Recipe (serving 4-6 people)

For the filling: 

• Oil for cooking (We use canola oil) x 3 tablespoons
• Hot water x 3 cups (710 ml)
• Ginger x 2 slices
• Medium-sized shallots x 3 
• Dried shiitake mushrooms x 57g (0.1 lb)
• Fresh enoki mushroom x 198g (0.4lb)
• Canned bamboo shoots x 227g (0.5 lb)
• Carrot x 227g (0.5 lb)
• Cornstarch x 1 tablespoon
• Shaoxing wine x 2 tablespoons
• Light soy sauce x 2 tablespoons
• Oyster sauce x 1 tablespoon
• White pepper powder x 1.2 teaspoon
• Toasted sesame oil x 1.2 teaspoon
• Fine sea salt
• For assemble, frying, and serving
• Oil for frying (We use canola oil)
• Rice vinegar for serving
• Cornstarch x 1 teaspoon
• Boiled water x 2 tablespoons
• Spring roll wrapper x 25 sheets

How to prepare the filling:

1. Soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for two hours or overnight until fully hydrated
2. Julienne the carrot, canned bamboo shoot, and ginger
3. Cut the shallots into thin slices 
4. Squeeze the water out from the shiitake mushrooms and remove any rough stems. Thinly slice the mushroom, and reserve the mushroom water
5. Trim about one inch off the end of the enoki mushrooms. Separate the bunch into thinner strands

 

How to cook the filling:

1. Heat up oil in an pan
2. Stir-fry the ginger for 20 seconds until they are caramelized
3. Add in carrots and shallots, and stir-fry for two minutes. When they’re ready, the oil and the shallots should have an orange hue from the carrots
4. Add in shiitake mushrooms and bamboo shoot slices. Increase to high heat, and cook for eight to 10 minutes. The vegetables will release some water at first. Keep stir-frying until they’re dry
5. Reduce to medium heat, and add Shaoxing wine, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper powder, and sesame oil
6. Add in enoki mushrooms and one cup (240 ml) of the mushroom water. Increase to high heat and cook for two minutes. Then season with salt
7. Use two tablespoons of mushroom water with one tablespoon of cornstarch to make a slurry
8. Add in the cornstarch slurry and turn off the heat immediately, and mix well. The filling should look moist but there should be no excess water
9. Let the filling cool completely. You can put it into a fridge to speed up this step

 

How to wrap the spring rolls:

1. Mix one teaspoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of boiled water. We will use this to glue the edges of the wrapper together 
2. Place the wrapper on a surface with one corner pointing at you
3. Put two tablespoons of filling at the corner near to you. Don’t put it too close to the edge and leave around two inches of space
4. Roll one corner over the filling, and tuck the edge of the wrapper under the filling. Press it down gently
5. Fold both sides of the wrappers towards the center
6. Brush the slurry on the edges of the wrapper
7. Once you’ve finished rolling it, place it on parchment paper. Fry the spring rolls or freeze them within an hour. Otherwise the skin will dry up and crack open when you fry them

 

How to deep-fry the spring rolls:

1. Add enough oil in a pan that can cover the spring rolls, and heat the oil over medium heat. Start frying when the oil temperature hits 350°F (180°C)
2. Fry in a small batch for five minutes at a time. Roll the spring rolls a few times. If the oil bubbles too vigorously around the wrappers, it’s too hot. Turn the heat down slightly
3. Place the spring rolls on a plate with paper towels on it or a cooling rack with paper towels at the bottom to get rid of the excess oil
4. Serve the spring rolls with rice vinegar. You can also serve with chili oil if you want to spice things up