One of the things I love about fall is making spring rolls. We fry them out in the garage to avoid the greasy, smelly mess they can leave in their wake. Here in Wisconsin, it is too hot and humid in the summer and way too cold in the winter, so we stock up in the fall and spring and make them by the boatload. When I first started making these, I was very confused. Are they made with raw pork? What is with the wrappers–are they rice paper wrappers? What kind of noodles do I need in them? How do I deal with Asian ingredients, when the directions are not in English? I consulted various websites, but unfortunately today none of the links work anymore. What you will find here is a combination of some of those recipes with my own ideas, tricks and tweaks to create the ultimate spring roll guide. Well, maybe ultimate is going a little too far, but I hope to take some of the confusion and disasters away that I faced when beginning to make them.

Tips:

1. If you are making the full 150 that this recipe calls for, try and spread the tasks out across 2 days. Do the shopping and sauces one day and the rolling and frying the next day. The frying alone takes 3.5 hours. This ends up being an all day event so make sure you have the time and try to con your friends and family into helping you.
2. It is very important to make sure that all of the ingredients get evenly mixed. Instead of mixing everything together at the same time, I have found that it is better to slowly incorporate each ingredient into the mixture.
3. Do not roll the spring rolls too far in advance. If the wrappers get too moist, they will not fry properly and start to break open and brown too quickly. The salt will start to draw out moisture from the filling and make the wrappers too soggy to work with.
4. These freeze and reheat wonderfully if done correctly. See tips for freezing at the end.

Makes approximately 150 Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

• 14 ounces Bean Thread Noodles
• 150 frozen Spring Roll Wrappers
• Dried Shitake Mushrooms
• Dried Wood Ear Mushrooms or Black Fungus Mushrooms
• 2 pounds Shallots
• 5 pounds Carrots
• 5 pounds raw Ground Pork
• 4 cups Cilantro (2 cups chopped and packed)
• 8 teaspoons Soy Sauce
• 8 teaspoons Kosher Salt
• 3 teaspoons fresh Cracked Black Pepper
• Corn Starch
• Peanut Oil for frying

A few Notes on some of the ingredients:

• Wrappers: Make sure that you use the frozen spring roll wrappers, not the thicker wonton / egg roll style wrappers. I have used Banh Trang (rice paper), but they do not fry up as well and turn out much more greasy. These frozen spring roll wrappers are light and flaky and have a pastry-like quality.
• Noodles: I have made these spring rolls with both rice vermicelli and bean thread noodles (they are also called bean vermicelli, cellophane noodles or glass noodles). I prefer the transparent bean thread noodles.
• Dried Mushrooms: Scared of something called dried black fungus? Awww… it’s okay, they won’t bite! They are actually quite mild in flavor. With the small amount called for in this recipe along with chopping them up very fine, you won’t even know they are there. They do add a nice flavor to the spring roll so I recommend you at least try them this way.
• Oil for frying: I prefer to use peanut oil. I find that the spring rolls come out very crispy and not oily. Peanut oil also has a very neutral flavor so you do not taste the oil.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and let the mushrooms soak off of the heat for 30 minutes. I used about 1/2 of each of the 2.5 ounce bags shown above.

While the mushrooms are re-hydrating, peel and grate the carrots, and finely mince the shallots.

For the noodles, bring a pot of water to a boil and soak the noodles off of the heat also, but only for 3 – 5 minutes or until done. Rinse them under cold water so they are completely cooled off, and let them drain for about 5 minutes — do not let them clump together. Drain and finely mince the mushrooms.

Throughout this mixing step, slowly add 3 teaspoons of fresh cracked pepper, 6 teaspoons of soy sauce and 6 teaspoons of kosher salt. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the shallots, carrots, cilantro and 1 and 1/2 cups of the mushrooms together. When the veggies have been mixed together, roughly chop the noodles and work them into the mixture.

Combine the pork with 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of fresh cracked black pepper.

Throughly combine the meat and veggie mixture.

On to the wrapping. Remember how I mentioned that you need to con family and friends into helping? Well, the wrapping is done by Kris, so she’ll take over the instructions for it.

Make sure that you have thawed out the spring roll wrappers 30 minutes prior to use. I also pull each one apart to make for quicker wrapping. Once you are ready to begin, mix together corn starch with water in a bowl (I don’t really measure, just dump a little corn starch into the bowl and add water and stir). The corn starch will be your glue. Have the meat and veggie mixture in front of you. Put a wrapper onto your work surface, and place about a tablespoon of the meat and veggie mixture onto the wrapper as shown below. Fold the bottom over the mixture, and then put the corn starch mixture all along the remaining three edges (I find it easiest to use my fingers – much quicker than using a spoon). Fold over each side, then roll the wrapper up.

Before you get busy with rolling and frying, STOP! Do a test run of 2 or 3 rolls. Make sure they get thoroughly cooked at your planned time and temperature. I normally fry 5 rolls for 7 minutes at 375 degrees, but you may need to adjust this. You also need to make sure that the seasoning is correct and adjust it accordingly as needed. This is important! Don’t go making 150 under-seasoned and undercooked spring rolls!

A couple of sauces to serve this with:

• Spicy Sweet and Soy Dipping Sauce
• Sweet and Sour Sauce

Tips for freezing and reheating:

1. When the spring rolls have cooled off to room temperature, lay them out, one layer deep on a sheet pan and freeze them for 3 – 24 hours.
2. When they are completely frozen solid, seal them with a vacuum food sealer. By sealing them frozen, we avoid squishing and crushing them.
3. You can place them completely frozen in an non-preheated oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or thawed in a preheated oven for 8-10 minutes at 375 degrees.

I am still amazed at the wonderful treasures we can find at our Farmer’s Market! Today, we scored a pint of the elusive ground cherry. What are those I asked? The vendor gave us a sample and went on to explain that it was something that her grandfather had always grown on the farm. These sweet little packages look like tiny tomatillos, but when the papery husk comes off they are yellow when ripe and are not sticky to the touch like a tomatillo is. The texture is like a small cherry tomato, but the taste is sweet and complex with hints of melon, tomato and strawberry. We kept on eating them trying to put a finger on what they reminded us of, and before we knew it we had burned though half of our stash. The vendor told us that they had used them in pies and jams, but I wanted to capture this unique flavor without cooking them.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pint of Ground Cherries, each one halved
• 1/4 Red Onion, diced
• 1/4 jalapeno, diced
• Cilantro, chopped
• Red Bell Pepper, diced
• Very *small* squeeze Lime Juice
• Roughly a teaspoon or two Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Very *small* pinch Salt

Mix everything together and let sit for 30 minutes so the flavors can come together. Do not overdue it with the salt or lime; the small amount of salt is only needed to draw out liquid from the cherries so they can macerate with the olive oil and lime juice.

We have been making this potato salad for about 4 years and it is very good. I like to use a combination of purple and red potatoes for a nicer presentation. Purple potatoes are slowly becoming more popular here, as they are showing up in our grocery store every so often, and they are even at our local Farmer’s Market. Be careful when cooking purple potatoes, as they are not as forgiving as red potatoes and can turn mushy very quickly if overcooked.

Ingredients:

• 12 – 14 Potatoes, combination of red and purple
• 1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
• Cilantro leaves, roughly torn
• Toasted, salted Pine Nuts, for garnish

For the Dressing:

• 1/2 cup Mexican Table Cream (Crema Mexicana)
• 2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Juice of one Lime
• 3/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• 1/2 cup finely chopped Cilantro

Boil the potatoes for 15 – 20 minutes in salted water or until fork tender, and let them cool. Be sure to check the purple potatoes sooner as they cook quicker. I like to boil them whole with the skins on as I find they get less waterlogged. Also, I bring the water up to a boil with the potatoes in the pot to make sure they cook evenly.

Mix the dressing ingredients together.

You can leave the potato skins on or off; personally, I like to take them off. It is fairly easy to just peel them off now that they have been cooked. When the potatoes have cooled down, cut them in approximately 1 inch cubes (or whatever size you like) and carefully mix them with the dressing, onions, and the roughly chopped cilantro. You may not need all of the dressing so start with half and go from there. Be sure to taste, as chances are good that it will need a little more salt. Garnish with the toasted pine nuts and a little fresh cracked black pepper.

Ingredients:

• 1 Mango, cut up
• 1 very ripe Plantain, cut up
• 1 jalapeno, cut up
• 1 tablespoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher Salt
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• Cilantro
• Juice of 2 oranges

Put the of all ingredients except the cilantro & orange juice in a foil pouch. Roast on indirect heat on the grill for 30 – 40 minutes. Add the contents of your foil pouch along with the cilantro & orange juice to a food processor and blend until smooth. Sauce will be thick like guacamole.

This sauce was served with Caribbean tacos.

Ingredients:

• About 12 Cherry Tomatoes
• 1 ripe Peach
• 1 slice of a Red Onion
• 1 tablespoon Honey
• Pinch of Kosher Salt
• 1 Serrano Pepper
• 1 tablespoon of Fresh Cilantro
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for brushing

Brush the tomatoes and peach with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place them all on a hot grill.

Never mind the picture of corn in there, that’s another story, but I did slip some in the salsa and it was great!

The peach will need to come off first after about five minutes.

The tomatoes and onions will come off after ten minutes of total grilling time. Give them all a nice charring. The times I give you are just an approximation, so go by what the food looks like, not your stop watch.

Blitz all of the ingredients in the food processor.

All done!

Ingredients:

• Tomatillos, about a dozen
• Anaheim Pepper
• jalapeno
• Onion
• Roasted Garlic
• Cilantro
• Juice of one Lime
• Salt to taste

If you have never used tomatillos, they have a papery husk on the outside. When you peel it off their skin is sticky until washed.

You need need to peel the tomatillos and rinse them with water with the peppers.

Coat the tomatillos, peppers & onions with olive oil. I normally just pour a little olive oil in a plastic bag with the veggies and shake it up and dump them out on the grill.

It’s okay to pretty much char them because you want that. The onions should be taken off the grill first since they have high sugar content and will burn quickly.

Peal the skin off of the anaheim pepper; it should slip right off. If you can’t get it all that’s okay, since a little charred skin adds nice flavor.

Whiz all of the ingredients in a food processor.

All Done!

Ingredients:

• 6 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs

For the marinade:

• Juice of half a Lemon
• Zest of a whole Lemon
• ¾ cup of Coconut Milk
• 1 Serrano pepper
• Approximately 2 inches/nubbins of Ginger, peeled (size like your thumb, a nubbin!)
• 4 cloves of Garlic, peeled
• 1 Shallot, peeled
• ¼ large Red Onion, peeled
• Approximately 1 cup fresh Cilantro
• 1 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
• 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

Place all of the ingredients for the marinade into a food processor.

Blend until everything has been minced up well. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the marinade to use as a sauce later (do not place reserved sauce with raw chicken).

Marinate for about 4 hours if you’re using the thighs.

Tip: Don’t do like I did and just dump the bag of chicken out on the grill, you’ll have a mess.

Strain out all of the solids from the reserved sauce so that it is smooth and lump-free.

Ingredients:
8 Tomatoes
1/4 Red Onion
1 bunch Cilantro
1 Serrano Pepper
1 Lime
Salt
Sugar

The Ingredients….

Add the tomatoes to a food processor and blend until somewhat smooth. Place puréed tomatoes in a sieve or colander.

Squeeze out excess liquid. This step will prevent the salsa from becoming soupy when we add the lime juice.

Add the red onion, serrano and cilantro to the food processor and give it a whirl.

Pour the contents of the food processor into a bowl, and add pureéd tomatoes in as well. Add lime juice, then salt and sugar to taste. Mix by hand.

This will come to its full flavor when it has had time to rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

• Boneless (I’m using 2 here)
• ¼ of a Pineapple, cubed.

Sauce:

• 2 small Red Peppers, not too spicy like wax or cherry
• 1 handful of Cilantro
• ¼ red Onion
• ½ Banana
• Juice of one Lime
• 8 ounce can of crushed Pineapple
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
• 1 tablespoon Fish Sauce
• ¾ cup Coconut Milk
• 2 teaspoons kosher Salt

Blend all of the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor.

Cut the pork into large cubes.

Place the pork and pineapple cubes in a disposable tin suitable for using on your grill.

Cover the pork & pineapple with the sauce. You should have some extra sauce left over. The sauce that will be in with the pork will be excellent but will contain a lot of fat. If this bothers you, cook the remaining sauce separately and serve that.

Cover tin with foil and cook indirectly on your grill for about 3 hours at 300 degrees.

About 3 hours later the pork should be tender…try some!

Pick out the pork pieces and grill them for about 5 minutes. Set the pineapple pieces aside.

Serve with rice and some of the sauce. I like to just mix it all up.

Served with: guacamole and fresh tomato salsa.

I marinate the chicken in olive oil, salt and pepper; keep it simple so it does not compete with the condiments for flavor. Marinate for a few hours.

Place the chicken on to the grill.

Grill the peppers and onion; the onions will need to come off first.

Grill the chicken until it’s done.

Spray the tortillas with cooking spray and grill them very shortly until pliable and warmed through.

Serve chicken with tortillas, grilled vegetables, and other condiments.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of thinly sliced Skirt Steak or Flank Steak

Marinade:

• 4 tablespoons of Peanut Oil
• 2 stalks of Lemon Grass, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of Garlic, thinly sliced
• About 20 Kaffir Lime leaves, julienne
• ½ Serrano Pepper (or to your taste)
• 1 cup Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup Brown Sugar, loosely packed
• 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

For the salad:

• Rice Stick Noodles (I am using fresh ones today)
• Julienne of Carrot
• Bean sprouts
• Green Onion, chopped
• Chopped mixed herbs such as Cilantro, Mint and Thai Basil
• Limes and peppers to garnish

Heat a pan up with the peanut oil and fry the lemon grass, Kaffir limes leaves, garlic and Serrano’s for about 3 – 4 minutes over medium heat. This will help extract some of their luscious flavors.

Add the vinegar, water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt adding the wet ingredients first to help dissolve the sugar instead of caramelizing it (that will come later on the grill). Lightly boil for 10 minutes uncovered reducing the liquid somewhat. After 10 minutes, pour the marinade into a bowl and let it completely cool down; you don’t want to add the meat to a warm marinade for bacteria reasons.

Whatever cut of meat you use, make sure it’s sliced real thin – this is a key part to help the marinade do its magic and to get maximum charring surface for caramelizing.

When the marinade is cool, reserve about a half cup by straining out the solids to make a smooth sauce. Place the meat in the rest of the marinade, chunks and all. Refrigerate this way for 4 – 8 hours.

Preheat the grill to smoking hot! Prep the salad ingredients and make the rice stick noodles according to the instructions on the package. When the noodles are done, run them under cold water to prevent them from sticking to each other and to cool them down to stop the cooking.

Grill the meat directly over an intense fire, scraping off any solids from the marinade while laying down the beef.

Let the meat caramelize well. Note: There is a thin line between caramelized and burnt!

Assemble the salad as shown or however you like. Serve the reserved sauce on the side as sort of salad dressing. Everything can be served cold but if the meat if warm that’s okay.

Ingredients:
Flank Steak

For marinade:
Juice of Lemon
Zest of Lemon
Juice of Lime
Zest of Lime
1 Serrano Pepper
¼ cup Soy Sauce
¼ cup Fish Sauce
2 cloves Garlic
1 Green Onion
2 teaspoons ground Coriander
Handful of Cilantro
3 tablespoons dark Brown Sugar

Place all of the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Slice flank steak across the grain into thin strips.

Place the slices of flank steak in a bag along with the marinade. Marinate for a few hours.

Weave the strips of beef onto some skewers.

They should cook up very fast.