Spring Rolls (春捲)

While most of my interpretations of Pei-Mei dishes are quite obscure from an American point of view, spring rolls are one of the most iconic Chinese dishes. In addition to being a classic dim sum item, they are also popular in other parts of Asia, such as Thailand and the Philippines. Fillings vary greatly. Pei-Mei's version has a mix of pork, cabbage, and shrimp which would also be great on chow mein (omit about half the corn starch). The Chinese name chunjuan does translate directly as spring (the season) roll. These spring rolls are tasty and crispy, and a good traditional example of the dish.

Let's dig into some specifics of the recipe. Pei-Mei recommends using "lean pork" and cutting into strings. I honestly misread the recipe and used ground pork, which was perfectly fine. For the vegetables, the recipe just says "cabbage" on the English side. On the Chinese side, baicai can be either what we call napa cabbage or bok choy. Napa is what we had, and I think it's probably the better choice, since its a bit thinner. Like a lot of Pei-Mei's recipes, this one involves soup stock. This is made relatively easily by simmering chicken and/or seafood with a little green onion and ginger. I make mine with shrimp shells I save every time we eat shrimp. Western-style stocks usually involve onion, carrot, and celery and will have a different flavor, but should work in a pinch.

For the skins, we found frozen ones at a Chinese store and defrosted in the refrigerator the day before. Pei-Mei says the recipe makes 20 spring rolls, we only got 14 out of it. I think we could have stretched that to 15, but definitely not 20. Pei-Mei is fairly vague about the rolling procedure, but it read to me as rolling straight-on, whereas most recipes I've seen online roll diagonally (Woks of Life, for example). In retrospect, I would do the diagonal fold next time, as the way we did it, you get twice as much wrapping on the ends as in the middle. They still fried up perfectly fine, though, so it's rather forgiving. Overall, they turned out well, but were a little too salty for my taste. As such, I've marked the added salt in the sauce as optional. 

Ingredients

Pork

• 6 oz. pork (ground or pork loin cut into thin strips)
• 1/2 Tbs. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. corn starch

Shrimp

• 5 oz. shrimp (I used 7 large shrimp)
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. corn starch

Vegetables

• 1/2 lb. napa or bok choy
• 2 oz. (3-4 pieces) green onions

Sauce

• 1 Tbs. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. salt (optional)
• 1/2 cup Chinese soup stock (shrimp or chicken)
• 1 Tbs. corn starch
• 1 Tbs. cold water

Everything else

• Vegetable oil
• Spring roll skins (14-15)
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 1 1/2 Tbs. water

Instructions

If using pork loin, cut into thin string shapes. Combine pork with marinade (soy sauce and corn starch) in a bowl and set aside. Remove shrimp shells and slice shrimp into small pieces. Combine shrimp and marinade (salt and corn starch) in another bowl. Pei-Mei does not say how long to marinate, so I let them stand while preparing all other ingredients. 

Slice cabbage into thin strips. Slice green onion into thin strips. First, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces, then slice lengthwise into shreds.

Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Stir fry the pork until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Stir fry the shrimp until cooked through. Remove from pan and add to the pork. 

Add oil as needed, and stir fry the cabbage about 30 seconds, then add the soy sauce, salt, and stock for the sauce. Cover and continue cooking on high heat for 2 minutes. Combine corn starch and water for the sauce in a bowl and stir into a slurry. 

Return the pork and shrimp, along with the green onions, to the pan. Toss together for 30 seconds. Add the corn starch slurry. Stir fry until well thickened. Remove to a bowl and set aside to cool a while.

Before making the spring rolls, mix flour and 1 1/2 Tbs. water into a paste. To form spring rolls, place 2 Tbs. of filling near one edge. 

Start rolling until filling is covered. Fold in the sides, about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

Continue rolling up into a tight roll. Spread flour paste on the last edge, and fold over to seal. Set aside, seam side down. 

Heat oil in a wok or other pan to about 350 degrees F. Deep fry the spring rolls in batches until golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes. 

Serve with a mix of light soy sauce and black vinegar, the same dip used with potstickers. Spring rolls can be frozen. Freeze on a sheet pan, then transfer to a Ziploc bag.