The Cryptic: Recipe Time

Spring Rolls

After staring down the barrel of yet another craving, I sifted my way through many references, dug through cookbooks, navigated websites and picked my own brain to try and come up with what I considered to be the perfect spring roll. Unfortunately, no 1 recipe had me sold or convinced that it would be that harmonious blend of savoury, sweet and spicy.

That being said, I decided to walk blindly into the grocery and guide myself through a list of seemingly obvious ingredients to just see what I could come up with. The result was, in my opinion, a spring roll tasty enough to warrant an entry. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and opinions.

The ingredients are easy to find, quick to prepare and fun to eat. So Without further ado, here is my creation:

What You Will Need (makes 4 spring rolls, great appetizer for two)

6 24-30 shrimp, (meaning there are 24-30 shrimp per pound), peeled and de-veined

2 medium sized carrots, finely grated

2 green onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup cabbage, shredded

1 cup bean sprouts

2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp ginger, minced

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

4 spring roll or egg roll wrappers

1 tbsp peanut oil

Vegetable oil for frying

Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Start by cutting the shrimp into small pieces, I like to leave them a little bit chunky so I know what I'm eating when I bite into it later. Next, boil the bean sprouts for one minute, drain, and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, heat the peanut oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the shrimp until they just turn pink, remove them from the pan and leave aside for now.

Return the pan to the burner, toss in carrots, cabbage and green onions, saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add in the garlic, ginger, oyster sauce and sesame oil, saute for another minute, then return the shrimp and bean sprouts to the pan, season with salt and pepper. Mix together well, transfer the mixture to a colander and allow to drain and cool.

For the sauce:

In a small sauce pan, bring the vinegar just to a boil and add in the sugar. Once dissolved and clear, add the garlic and pepper flakes, reduce heat to minimum and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a nice bowl for dipping.

Back to the rolls:

Divide the mixture evenly amongst the wrappers and fry in vegetable oil for about 30 seconds or just until the wrappers turn golden brown (remember, they will continue to brown after you remove them from the oil so don't over do them!) Drain on paper towel, dip into sauce and be happy.

And that's it! Not much to it but the results it yielded left me quite content.

Again, I'd love any feedback from attempts at this recipe, I hope it finds you well.

Cheers!

Phil