Chinese Chicken Spring Rolls Part 2

I ended up making these springs rolls two different ways.  Thanks to the advice of my good friend, Joan, I tried baking these spring rolls instead of deep frying them.  A few suggestions-- finely shred your ingredients and don't sauté your cabbage mix before putting the mixture in the wrappers.  The extra moisture will make your spring roll wrappers too soggy.  I brushed the tops with olive oil and baked them at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  I would have liked these to come out a little more crispy-- maybe I need to brush them with a different type of oil to achieve the crispiness that I would like.  Overall, I really liked the taste.  I will definitely try the baking method again.  I just need to figure out how to make them more crispy.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to do this, please comment below. 

Cabbage mixture

 

 Getting ready to roll the wrappers

 

 

All ready for the oven

 

The second way I made these rolls is by wrapping them in egg roll wrappers instead of spring roll wrappers and frying them in a pan. I put more filling in these wrappers which is why they don't have a round shape to them.  If you decide to use this method make sure to sauté the mixture.  I think I like these better in the egg roll wrappers and fried.  I'm not ready to give up on the baking method.  I just need a little more practice.

Egg roll version

The homemade sweet & sour sauce turned out to be delicious!  The only changes I made to the recipe is adding some red Chile pepper, shredded carrots, and fresh garlic. I also used Splenda instead of sugar.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

  Sauce simmering on the stove 

On the side, I served rice and spinach soup.  I got this delicious yet easy soup recipe from my sister-in-law, Nanako. Bring water to a boil, add a chicken bouillon cube, a small bag of organic spinach, and desired amount of soy sauce.  I used just a couple shakes of low-sodium soy sauce.  Let boil for one minute, remove from heat, and serve.  

Baked spring rolls with sweet & sour sauce sauce, and a side of rice

Spinach soup

Chinese Crispy Fried Chicken Spring Rolls w/Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce

I found the following recipe for Chinese Crispy Fried Chicken Spring Rolls on the Food.com website.  This recipe was featured on the UK television series Rhodes Across China with chef Gary Rhodes.  He was taught to make these spring rolls by local executive chefs in Hong Kong.   

Chinese Crispy Fried Chicken Spring Rolls 
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 small cabbage, shredded
100 g mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 6 medium size Baby Bella mushrooms)
200 g cooked chicken, shredded (about 1 small boneless, skinless chicken breast)
pinch of white pepper
3 teaspoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons cornflour
30 spring roll wrappers
vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
1.) Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large frying pan.  When hot, stir fry the carrot for 1 minute.  Add the cabbage, mushroom, and chicken and fry for another minute, stirring all of the time.

2.) Season with a little pepper; add the sugar, both soy sauces and the sesame oil.

3.) Combine 2 teaspoons of the cornflour with about 3 tablespoons of water and stir into the filling while still on the heat.  Any juices will soon thicken.  Remove from heat and leave to cool.

4.) Combine remaining cornflour with enough water to make a thin paste.  Lay out a spring roll wrapper and put 1 tablespoon of filling across one end.  Brush the edges of the wrapper with cornflour liquid to help it stick.

5.) Fold the two opposite edges of the wrapper over part of the filling and roll it into a tight cylinder.  Pinch the edges together to form a good seal.

6.) Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

7.) Heat the vegetable oil in a pan or deep fryer, and cook rolls in batches until golden and crisp.

Sweet and Sour dipping sauce can be found in just about any grocery store, but in a moment of hubris I decided I would to try making it from scratch.  After searching online for what I thought would be the best sauce, I found a recipe on the allrecipes.com website.  This recipe looks promising, but I think I will probably make a few changes--possibly adding shredded carrots and using Splenda instead of sugar, for example. 

Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
2 cups water
2/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (8 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained
3 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together water, distilled white vinegar, white sugar, tomato paste, pineapple tidbits, and cornstarch.  Cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until mixture reaches desired color and consistency.

I'm really looking forward to chowing down on these spring rolls.  I'll let you know how the rolls and sauce turn out in my next post.