Today I sent Adriano off with the shopping list which included wonton wrappers. Well, he picked me up 20 minutes late after work because he had been scouring the supermarket from top to bottom for said wrappers – and didn’t find any. I was frozen stiff from standing in the chilling wind which whistles down the main street of Remuera, where I work and in no mood to find out we were without wonton wrappers. I made him pull into another supermarket on the way home and sent him inside in search of the essential ingredient for my dinner menu.
He returned rather chuffed with himself because, even though he couldn’t find wonton wrappers, he had found spring roll wrappers, which he reckoned looked similar. Actually they are not. So no wontons and we had spring rolls instead. I used the same filling and it worked except that the wrappers are paper thin and kept ripping so I had to double wrap them. Lesson learned – don’t place hot filling in spring roll wrappers or they will cause you a headache. Hence 20 wrappers only made 10 spring rolls. And the search continues for wonton wrappers.
You might remember a little while back I went to a food show where we got all sorts of goodies. One of the stalls was selling Lothlorien feijoa wine, which I had tried a few months before and mentioned on this blog and I told them so. Hey, presto I was offered a bottle of their reserve sparkling feijoa wine as thanks. It only got opened tonight to calm my nerves from the wonton/spring roll wrapper confusion and it was even better than the first bottle. The taste of feijoas is pronounced which is delightful but it is still wine and does not disappoint in that regard. I was once again pleasantly surprised by this label.
Disclaimer: I was gifted the bottle of wine but I was under no obligation to say anything nice about the product or even to mention it here and the opinion is mine and mine alone
This is not a low Fodmap recipe.
- 500g minced pork
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 spring onions
- ¼ green cabbage
- 1 red chilli
- 3cm piece of ginger
- A handful of basil leaves
- 1 big carrot
- 3 tbsp soya sauce
- 20 frozen spring roll wrappers - defrosted
- Put the spring onions, cabbage, chilli, ginger, basil and carrots in a food processor and chop small.
- Heat oil and add the pork. Brown a little and add the vegetables. Cook until almost done.
- Peel off one wrapper and lay out on a board. Place some filling across diagonally.
- Fold over one corner almost to the other corner, then fold over the other two opposing corners to meet on top of the filling.
- Roll tightly into a parcel. The wrappers are very thin and the filling could burst through, especially if the filling is hot. If this happens, wrap the parcel in another wrapper in the same way. I double wrapped them all to make 10 spring rolls.
- Heat 1-2 cm of oil in a pan and place the rolls in when it is hot.
- Turn when they are brown on one side and then brown the other side.
- Serve warm with a dipping sauce. I mixed soya sauce and chilli sauce together.
Oh dear. That doesn’t sound good after a long day at work. I find I have to travel to really good Asian supermarkets to make sure I can get everything on the list of an Aisan recipe. It’s hopeless in Western supermarkets. Last week I tried to source yellow rock sugar. Couldn’t get it anywhere as someone had come into the Asian supermarket just before me and bought up the last of it. Took the lot. I substituted with another sugar but it just wasn’t the same xx
I don’t even know what yellow rock sugar is so that would be some search if it was on an ingredients list. I think I have since found where to find wonton wrappers so look out for a recipe soon.
Suzanne
These sound right up my alley. Thai flavours wrapped in a little package. They look delicious and would be worthy of the last of the Thai basil on my back step.
Coriander would work great too but I had none so basil it was.
Suzanne
These look good! I am always disappointed when I buy frozen spring rolls, even if they are from an Asian market. Maybe I’ll try making my own.
They were actually quite simple to make so I would encourage you to give it a go.
Suzanne
I love spring rolls. I stopped going to the regular supermarket to get Asian products. If I need anything from the “east” I go to the Asian market. – Wraps break for a number of reasons: Very often these wraps are freezer burned, so you have look for packages that are tightly wrapped, not expired and have no air build up inside.
Thanks, Frank. I will pass these tips on to my shopper, Adriano.
Suzanne
I don’t do enough with either wonton or spring roll wrappers – and it’s not because they’re unavailable in my supermarket, because they are. I need to use them more because they’re so versatile – great way to make ravioli, for example (I know that’s probably heresy to you!). Good recipe – thanks.
We’ve been living here too long for it to still be heresy. I’m into a good old fusion meal even Asian/italian.
Suzanne