Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs.

Spring rolls

Vietnamese spring rolls are something that I can’t pass by calmly. I always buy them and definitely some extra 😂

I dreamt to cook them myself!

I thought it was very difficult and even impossible. But chef Andrey Velichko taught me how to work with rice paper (thanks to him!) and now I can wrap them up in no time 😍

Spring rolls are a perfect meal for warm spring or hot summer days that are coming soon (not long left). It’s a suitable snack for a short trip, for a picnic or the beach: rice paper is food and a strong transparent envelope at the same time.

Filling can be various, as well as sauces (be careful, Andrey’s sauce is a taste bomb!). And to aesthetes I recommend to use edible flowers together with vegetables – it is very beautiful and ‘instagrammable’. Spring rolls can easily be cooked as vegetarian or nutritious, fruity or savoury as the British say. You can taste them with chopsticks or just with your hand, with or without sauces. Prepare a basic recipe and then create without limits!

  • Prep time: 30 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Serves: 4
  • Difficulty: medium
  • Course: appetizer
  • Cookware: knife, manual mandoline slicer
  • Cuisine: Asian

Ingredients

  • 12 round rice paper wraps
  • 1 mango
  • 18 tiger prawns, peeled
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 cucumber
  • ½ bunch of coriander
  • 100 g cream cheese
  • 50 g rice

For the sauce:

  • 20 g fresh ginger
  • ¼ chili pepper
  • ¼ red onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 sprig of coriander
  • 100 ml soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • juice of ½ lime
  • zest of ½ lime
  • 1 tbsp honey

Cooking method

Step 1

For the sauce. Peel the ginger with a spoon and cut into small cubes. Peel and chop chili pepper, onion, garlic and coriander as finely as possible. Place in a bowl and mix. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, lime juice, and lime zest and stir. Set aside.

Ingredients for spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs. Cook sauce. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs. Sauce. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs.

Step 2

Cook rice. Add rice into a small saucepan, pour cold water in a ratio of 1:2, add salt. Put on a high heat and bring the rice to boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer rice until cooked. During the cooking process do not interfere. Remove rice from the heat and put aside.

Step 3

Cook prawns. Remove the tails and intestines. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the prawns and lightly fry them over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Cool and cut each prawn in half lengthwise. Set aside.

Step 4

Peel the mango, slice thinly. Transfer to a plate. Separate coriander leaves from the stems. Peel the carrot and cucumber, cut in half and cut into small strips. Transfer to a plate.

Mango and sea food. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs. Chopping. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs.

Step 5

Pour cold water into a large bowl. Place one rice paper in water for 2-3 seconds and remove when the paper is not completely transparent and slightly rigid. Put the paper on the work surface. Stepping back a little from the edge arrange in layers rice, cucumber, carrot, cream cheese, mango, coriander on the bottom of the paper. Place 3 prawns halves, sliced sides down, on the centre of the sheet. The volume of the filling should be such so it is comfortable to fold the roll, completely sealing the filling. First fold the roll away from yourself, then fold the sides in, and roll upward. Try to fold tightly. Lightly sprinkle the roll with water from a spray bottle and transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve spring rolls with sauce.

Paper for rolls. Rice paper. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs. Filling for rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs. Folding. Spring rolls. Cooking tips from famous chefs.

My tips and tricks:

The sauce we made for the spring rolls can become a wonderful Asian-style chicken marinade. Try marinating chicken thighs in it. I promise it will be delicious! Spring rolls can also be deep-fried, or simply cook them on both sides in a frying pan with a lot of oil in it. If you like rice noodles, add them instead of rice. You can use any seafood and herbs: different salad leaves, parsley, spinach. You can also play with vegetables: use fennel, fresh zucchini, red cabbage, radish, avocado. Rice paper is very neutral to taste, so you can make spring rolls and serve them as a dessert, using a fruit filling. The main thing is to remember the golden rule: only one of the fruits should sound loudest in this orchestra. And the best sauce with this dessert will be honey with lime juice.

Spring rolls
 
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Author:
Recipe type: appetizer
Cuisine: Asian
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 12 round rice paper wraps
  • 1 mango
  • 18 tiger prawns, peeled
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 cucumber
  • ½ bunch of coriander
  • 100 g cream cheese
  • 50 g rice
  • For the sauce:
  • 20 g fresh ginger
  • ¼ chili pepper
  • ¼ red onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 sprig of coriander
  • 100 ml soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • juice of ½ lime
  • zest of ½ lime
  • 1 tbsp honey
Cooking method
  1. For the sauce. Peel the ginger with a spoon and cut into small cubes. Peel and chop chili pepper, onion, garlic and coriander as finely as possible. Place in a bowl and mix. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, lime juice, and lime zest and stir. Set aside.
  2. Cook rice. Add rice into a small saucepan, pour cold water in a ratio of 1:2, add salt. Put on a high heat and bring the rice to boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer rice until cooked. During the cooking process do not interfere. Remove rice from the heat and put aside.
  3. Cook prawns. Remove the tails and intestines. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the prawns and lightly fry them over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Cool and cut each prawn in half lengthwise. Set aside.
  4. Peel the mango, slice thinly. Transfer to a plate. Separate coriander leaves from the stems. Peel the carrot and cucumber, cut in half and cut into small strips. Transfer to a plate.
  5. Pour cold water into a large bowl. Place one rice paper in water for 2-3 seconds and remove when the paper is not completely transparent and slightly rigid. Put the paper on the work surface. Stepping back a little from the edge arrange in layers rice, cucumber, carrot, cream cheese, mango, coriander on the bottom of the paper. Place 3 prawns halves, sliced sides down, on the centre of the sheet. The volume of the filling should be such so it is comfortable to fold the roll, completely sealing the filling. First fold the roll away from yourself, then fold the sides in, and roll upward. Try to fold tightly. Lightly sprinkle the roll with water from a spray bottle and transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve spring rolls with sauce.
My tips and tricks
The sauce we made for the spring rolls can become a wonderful Asian-style chicken marinade. Try marinating chicken thighs in it. I promise it will be delicious! Spring rolls can also be deep-fried, or simply cook them on both sides in a frying pan with a lot of oil in it. If you like rice noodles, add them instead of rice. You can use any seafood and herbs: different salad leaves, parsley, spinach. You can also play with vegetables: use fennel, fresh zucchini, red cabbage, radish, avocado. Rice paper is very neutral to taste, so you can make spring rolls and serve them as a dessert, using a fruit filling. The main thing is to remember the golden rule: only one of the fruits should sound loudest in this orchestra. And the best sauce with this dessert will be honey with lime juice.