I used to think that all spring rolls were just crispy deep fried parcels. However, when I went to Vietnam I discovered a whole array of healthier and tastier fresh spring rolls filled with beautiful green herbs and delicious morsels of crispy fish or meat. Spring rolls are like a mini wrap sandwich and what you put in them is entirely up to you. I adapted this recipe from a restuarant in Hanoi called Highway 4 who are famous for their catfish spring rolls. I think this is a pretty great combination – Crispy Cod and Dill Spingrolls with Wasabi and Lime dipping sauce.
Spring rolls look really impressive as a starter and taste really moreish. They are not hard to make, but they do take a little time to prepare.
Heres how:
Spring rolls
Dipping Sauce
Dipping Sauce
Begin by making the dipping sauce. Mix the lime juice and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Then add the wasabi paste and oyster sauce. Taste and add more wasabi if necessary. Done.
Fish Goujons
For the fish pieces, roughly chop about a tablespoon of dill. Put the dill into a bowl along with the chili powder. Add your fish to the bowl and mix. Then add the cornflour and finally the flour. Mix together with your hands. Then take one of the strips of fish and fold together and squeeze until it is half the size but twice the thickness. Continue and make small batons from the remaining strips of fish. Place them back on the flour mixture and leave in the fridge until you are ready to fry them.
To fry the fish, I reccomend using a wok filled with oil or a deep fat fryer. I used a wok. Heat the oil until it reaches about 150 -180 degrees celcius. You can test the heat by placing a tiny piece of fish in the oil, it should sizzle straight away and float to the top. Once the oil is hot enough slowly and carefully add your fish. Fry until lightly golden. Remove the fish pieces with a tongs and place on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
To prepare rice paper – follow the instructions on the back of pack. I dipped the dried rice paper in hot water for about two minutes and it then became pliable enough to work with. Spread rice paper on a plate. Smear a dollop of mayonnaise onto the rice paper. Add a few sprigs of fresh dill. Put one fried fish goujon on top. Fold one side of the rice paper over the fish. Then fold the bottom over, then close with the other side of the rice paper. Seal will a small blob of mayonnaise. Once you have completed all your spring rolls, place on a clean serving plate along with a ramekin of your dipping sauce. Eh Voila! It ‘stasty spring rolls.
What worked:
These spring rolls brought me straight back to Vietnam, they really are an authentic taste of the Far East.
Much tastier than your average take-away, deep fried spring roll.
What didn’t work:
It’s not really something that didn’t work, but something I would like to improve on is the crunchy texture of the fried fish. I think next time I might dip the fish pieces into flour, then into a little beaten egg and finally into panko breadcrumbs. Panko breadcrumbs are readily available in Asian markets and are used in a lot of Asian coooking. Panko is made from bread without crusts, and it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of western breadcrumbs.
