Chinese Spring Rolls
These spring rolls turned out to be sensational at one of our family meals - everybody was fighting over them, the kids liked them so much and the adults had the same thought... Extraordinarily good, tender, crispy, flavourful, they are relatively easy to cook. I wouldn't recommend replacing the shiitake mushrooms, they have a great garlic flavour and I believe that one of the charms of these spring rolls comes from this particular taste.
I decided to wrap them in pie dough, not in rice wrappers - they are easier to roll up, they are crispy, they look golden and exemplary.
Besides, this filling with vegetables and rice noodles is so tasty that you can make even without the rolls. I cook it very often now as a healthy and interesting side dish for other foods. You'll notice in the pictures that I've made more than I needed for the spring rolls. I did it on purpose, to have it as a side dish once the spring rolls are finished.
Before starting preparing the veggies, pour cold water over the shiitake mushrooms.
Soak for 30-40 minutes.
When they are ready, drain the mushrooms with your hands and use a knife to remove the woody stem - it's not edible.
Cut the mushrooms into thin slices.
Chop the cabbage and the carrots as finely as possible.
Cut the spring onions into 2cm long sticks.
Prepare the glass noodles according to the directions on the package.
I pour hot boiling water over them and let soak for a few minutes.
Then I strain them through a sieve and cut them with the kitchen shears. They are too long, which makes it hard to stir when the veggies are added.
Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sesame oil over the drained noodles, mix for a while and set aside for now.
Heat the sunflower oil in a skillet, place the carrots, onion and cabbage.
Stir frequently and cook for 5 minutes over high heat.
After 5 minutes, add the mushrooms, mix and cook for another 2 minutes.
Sir in the rice noodles.
Mix thoroughly, add 2 tsp soy sauce - not too much, though, we don't want the filling to be runny!
Taste and add salt and pepper if needed, turn off heat.
Allow this mixture to cool down.
Thaw the phyllo sheets in advance.
Take 2 sheets at once, overlap and cut them into 4-6 big squares.
Brush the sides of each square with raw egg white.
Spoon 1 tbsp of veggies and rice noodles filling into one of the corners.
Start rolling up the corner.
Bring the opposite edges toward the centre.
Keep rolling the pastry up.
Repeat the procedure for all the sheets - overlap 2 sheets, cut into 4 squares, spoon filling into each square and roll up.
Heat a little sunflower oil in a skillet and lower the spring rolls into the oil.
Fry on all sides over a high heat, this way, they won't soak up so much oil.
Remove from the skillet and drain on kitchen paper.
They are perfect warm, but I noticed they were crispy and tasty as well when cold.
They make an interesting appetizer or snack.
Enjoy!
