Thai Fried Spring Rolls with Sweet Chili Sauce

I learned how to make these while studying at the Bangkok Thai Cooking Academy in Thailand. They are quite easy to put together and so flavorful. You can smell their wonderful aroma from street food vendors while walking down various streets in Bangkok, or permeating thru storefronts throughout the day. These were one of my daughters favorite street foods while we were there all together one year, and is still one of her favorites that I make 🙂 .

These spring roll wrappers are filled with ground chicken (although you can use any ground meat you prefer, I’ve also made them with minced shrimp and pork, and with no meat but with extra cabbage, you can also substitute tofu), cabbage, noodles, and other veggies, then deep fried and served with a sweet chili sauce. So delicious that you feel the need to eat A LOT of them…and they are pretty healthy…until you deep fry them 🙂 ! I have also tried baking them…they get almost as crispy but they don’t get as brown as frying them, so if you want to “eat with your eyes”, as the saying goes, then frying them make them look more appealing…but if it’s healthier you are going for then baking them is a good option. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25-30 minutes…until the edges are golden brown.

The chicken we used at the Academy was hand minced/chopped with a butcher knife. I can’t emphasize enough how much tastier the chicken is than buying store bought ground chicken. I do not like the taste of store bought ground chicken anymore, after having the house minced version. To make your own minced chicken (or any meat/seafood), just take a chicken breast (or 2 or 3) and chop it up with a cleaver, or any other type of knife that would work. Chop one way then the other and go back over it until you have real small minced pieces. It’s a great way to relieve some stress 🙂 . If you do this once you will not like store bought ground chicken anymore…be aware!

The noodles used in these are glass noodles. They are also called cellophane, mung bean, or bean thread noodles. They have that transparent look to them. In a bind you can also use rice noodles, but they change the texture/flavor a little. The below recipe has been slightly adapted from it’s original version. It will make about 20-24 spring rolls, depending on how much you stuff them. If you don’t want so many than just proportionally cut the recipe in half or fourths.

If you want to make these vegetarian just leave out the ground/minced meat and instead of oyster sauce use mushroom sauce.

You will need:

• 4 tablespoons canola/vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 coriander roots, chopped (or 16 two-three inch pieces of cilantro stems)
• 1 cup chicken, minced/ground (leave out and add more cabbage, or use tofu, for vegetarian)
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 1 cup green cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup carrots, shredded or finely julienned in 1″ or so slices
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce (or mushroom sauce for vegetarian)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder (ground)
• 1 cup softened glass noodles (aka cellophane, mung bean, bean thread), pre-softened to package directions
• 2 tablespoons flour plus 1 tablespoon water to make a “glue”
• 20-24 six inch spring roll wrappers
• vegetable or peanut oil, enough for frying (or bake at 400F for 25-20 min)
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 coriander root, finally minced (or 4 two-three inch pieces of cilantro stems)
• 1-2 red spur chilies (or fresno), finely minced (depending how spicy you want it)

Steps:

1. In a hot wok, add 4 tablespoons oil then add chopped garlic and coriander root and fry until fragrant (5-10 seconds). Make sure you are tossing it around with your wok spatula or whatever utensil you prefer…you do not want this to burn.
2. Add the minced chicken and fry until it is cooked and most of the moisture has evaporated, again continually tossing it around.
3. Add the vegetables (bean sprouts, cabbage, and carrots) and cook briefly, then add the oyster and soy sauces, sugar, and white pepper powder, stir to combine and stir-fry for an additional minute.
4. Lastly, add the pre-softened noodles, combine and remove from heat to come to room temperature, you don’t want to add hot filling to the wrappers, it will soften them. Also, after the mixture cools, if there is a lot of liquid left in it drain most of it before filling your wrappers. You don’t want them to get soggy.
5. Mix your flour and water to make a paste, you will use this to seal the end of your wrapper to itself.
6. Take a wrapper and lay it down (rougher side facing up so you won’t get bubbles on the outer side when it cooks, more for presentation) with points facing straight up and down and add about 2-3 tablespoons of filling to the bottom third of the wrapper and roll in from the bottom a little then bring in the two sides and roll almost all the way. Right before rolling all the way, use your finger and dip into the flour paste you made and run it on the whole open top point and then finish rolling.
7. Do this with the rest of the spring rolls and then start heating your oil to 350F and fry until golden. *See note
8. To make the sweet chili sauce, combine the white vinegar, sugar and salt and bring to a boil, then lower to simmer until most of the vinegar smell is gone, about 15-20 minutes. Add the minced garlic, coriander root/cilantro stems, and chili’s. If you have a mortar and pestle you can roughly pound them instead of hand mince. Continue to simmer until the sauce has reduced and is slightly thickened. It will thicken more as it cools. Completely cool before using. You can make this a day or two in advance and have it ready.

Note: You can make these a day ahead of time by putting them in a sealable container and between each layer add a piece of wax paper. Add another piece of wax paper on top and then a damp cloth or paper towel on top of that and seal with plastic wrap and then the container top. The next day, heat your oil and fry. You can also freeze them right after you roll them to take out at a later date to fry at 375F. Just make sure that they are not touching each other when they freeze. Then just take them out and fry them from their frozen state, in smaller batches since the cold will lower the oil temperature, for about 6 minutes or until golden and warmed through.