Fried Spring Rolls (Video #135)

Regular readers of this blog would know I made my first cooking video last week. So why is this video #135 instead of #2? Heh . . . heh . . . heh . . . . Because I'm following a Chinese custom.

In the old days far, far away in China, an abundance of male heirs to carry on the family name was considered good fortune. So much so that if someone had only one or two sons – which was tantamount to a tragedy – he'd say he had 11 or 12. IOW, it was how many he actually had, plus 10. Hence, the eldest son became #11, and the second son #12. Note that the creative accounting applied to sons only. It was perfectly alright to have only one daughter, or even none at all.

Since we're inflating the numbers – COOKING the books! – why stop at 10, right? OTOH, if I said I've made 34,347,595 videos, no one would believe me. So I'm going for something that's impressive but within reason. I reckon 135 sounds good.

Jokes aside, here are a few tips for making fried spring rolls (not that you need any, or that spring rolls are difficult to make):

 When buying turnip, pick the smaller ones. These tend to be younger and, hence, sweeter and less fibrous starchy than the big ones. They're also easier to peel and cut if you have small hands like me.

If you're using a grater, make sure it's razor-sharp. Otherwise, the turnip will be mushy.

 You don't need a lot of oil to stir-fry turnip because it's sweet and crunchy, not bitter or fibrous.

The filling should be crunchy. Don't overcook the turnip.

Drain the filling well before wrapping. If it's too wet, the spring roll pastry will tear.

Use the maximum heat possible for stir-frying the filling. If the wok isn't hot enough, the juices from the turnip won't evaporate and will have to be drained off. That'll be a waste of the flavour.

 To keep spring rolls for frying the next day, put them in the fridge, uncovered on a wire rack, so that water doesn't condense on or underneath the pastry. Or you could do the wrapping just before frying.

You might be tempted to embellish the filling with dried mushrooms, fresh prawns or fried beancurd. But it's really not necessary if the turnip is cooked with good quality dried prawns, and a good amount of sugar and ground white pepper. That's my mother's recipe, btw.

Frozen spring roll pastry comes in various sizes. The Goldilocks size – not too big; not too small – is 19 x 19 cm (7½ x 7½ inches).

You don't have to make spring rolls with the filling. It's delicious eaten with rice or porridge, or you can use it to make soon kueh.

POPIAH (SPRING ROLLS; 薄饼/春卷) (Recipe for 20 pieces) 40 g dried prawns (⅓ cup) wash and soak in 2 tbsp hot water till soft, about 15 minutes; squeeze dry, reserving the water; chop roughly 1 kg turnip (aka 沙葛, jicama and yam bean) wash and peel, leaving about 900 g; cut matchstick size 120 g carrot cut matchstick size wash and peel, leaving about 100 g; cut matchstick size 3 big cloves garlic peel and mince finely vegetable oil for stir- and deep-frying 2 tbsp light soya sauce 4 tsp sugar ¾ tsp ground white pepper 19 x 19 cm frozen spring roll pastry thaw to room temperature; separate 20 pieces and cover till ready to wrap; refreeze unused pastry Prepare dried prawns, turnip, carrot and garlic as detailed above. In a very hot wok, heat 2 tbsp oil till just smoking. Add dried prawns and fry over maximum heat till lightly golden. Add garlic and fry till nicely golden brown. Add turnip and carrots. Stir-fry till heated through. Add light soya sauce and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Drizzle with water used to soak dried prawns. Stir-fry till evaporated. Turnip should now be cooked but still crunchy. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then sprinkle with ground white pepper Mix through and turn off heat. Push everything to one side of wok to drain off sauce. When cool, transfer filling to a bowl, minus sauce. To wrap, spread out pastry in a diamond shape. With a Chinese soup spoon, place 1 heaped tablespoonful filling (40-50 g) near bottom corner. Fold bottom corner upwards, then left and right corners. Roll upwards tightly. Set aside, seam side down. Repeat with remaining pastry. Heat oil in a wok till just smoking. Deep-fry spring rolls over medium heat till golden brown. Drain. Serve immediately.