These Cantonese Spring Rolls are crispy, juicy, and easy to make. Each spring roll is filled with juicy minced pork and plenty of crunchy vegetables.
Can't get enough of Cantonese food? Try my Sweet And Sour Pork next!
๐ฅก About This Recipe
Spring rolls are one of the most popular appetizers served in dim sum restaurants and Chinese restaurants in North America. They're most commonly filled with pork, napa cabbage, and crunchy vegetables like bamboo shoots or carrots.
This recipe is based on one I tried during my trip to Hong Kong in 2019. It was from a small shop in the Central & Western district. The shop specialized in traditional Chinese BBQ foods like roasted duck and char siu, but it was also known for its spring rolls.
I recreated the recipe, and I think I got it pretty close to the original! I've made these for a few potlucks, and my friends can't get enough of them.
๐ Tips For The Best Spring Rolls
- Don't overfill the spring rolls. This is super important for two reasons. First, less filling equals less moisture, so the spring rolls will be crispier. Second, with less filling, more of the wrapper will overlap itself as you roll. These overlapped sections come out EXTRA crispy.
- Keep Your Wrappers Moist. This is so important because spring roll wrappers get really hard to seal if they dry out. I recommend covering them with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying.
- Use old frying oil. And by that, I mean oil that you may have used previously for other foods. This is how restaurants get so much flavor when they deep-fry. They use the same oil for frying everything, so every time they fry a new item, it gets a little flavor from the foods before it.
๐ง Ingredients
- Ground Pork: Use full-fat ground pork for an extra juicy filling! Thinly sliced pork loin or pork shoulder can also be substituted.
- Spring roll wrappers: You can find these in the freezer section of most Asian grocery stores. They usually come in small and large sizes. I prefer the small ones because smaller spring rolls come out crispier.
- Vegetables: Dried shiitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, bamboo shoots, and scallions.
- Seasonings: Soy sauce, white pepper, and salt.
- Egg: Used for the egg wash to seal the spring roll.
- Oil: Any neutral-flavored oil with a high smoke point. As I mentioned earlier, used oil will give a better flavor.
๐ช Instructions
STEP 1: Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl it around the wok. Add ground pork and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove to a plate.
STEP 2: Reheat the wok, add 1 tablespoon of oil, then stir-fry napa cabbage, bamboo shoots, and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms for 1 minute. Add cooked pork, salt, soy sauce, and white pepper, and stir-fry for another minute. Turn off the heat, add sliced scallions, transfer to a bowl, and cool for 10 minutes.
STEP 3: Place spring roll wrappers next to your work surface and loosely cover them with a damp towel to prevent them from drying out. In a small bowl, whisk an egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
STEP 4: Place a spring roll wrapper on your work surface with the corner facing away from you. Add 3 tablespoons of filling 2 inches from the corner and sides. Roll from the nearest corner and fold in the sides when the bottom corner covers the filling. Roll tightly, dampen the edge with egg wash, and seal before reaching the end. Transfer to a baking sheet or plate, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
STEP 5: Heat 1 inch of oil in a Dutch oven, high-walled pot, or wok until the oil reaches 375ยฐF. Fry 6-8 spring rolls at a time until golden brown, moving them back and forth and turning them for 4-5 minutes. Remove them with a metal spider and transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels.
STEP 6: Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until thickened. Enjoy!
๐ฅก Freezing Instructions
You can freeze Cantonese spring rolls for up to 3 months! After wrapping them, put them on a tray with parchment paper, leaving a little space between each one.
Freeze for about 2 hours until they're semi-firm, then transfer them to a ziplock bag for long-term storage.
To reheat, simply fry them for an extra minute or two. Since the filling is already cooked, it just needs to be reheated.
๐ Recipe
Cantonese Spring Rolls
Ingredients
Filling
- 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (divided)
- 500 g ground pork
- 2 cups napa cabbage (shredded)
- 1 ยฝ cups bamboo shoots (julienned)
- 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt (use half the amount if you're using table salt)
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons soy sauce
- ยผ teaspoon ground white pepper
- 4 scallions (thinly sliced)
Sweet Chili Sauce
- ยผ cup rice wine vinegar
- ยผ cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 ยฝ teaspoons sambal oelek
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
Wrapping
- 1 large egg
- 1 package spring roll wrappers
Frying
Instructions
Filling
- Soak dried mushrooms in 1 cup of boiling water in a medium bowl for 15 minutes. Remove and discard the tough stems. Cut the caps into thin slices.
- Heat a wok over high heat until smoking. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and swirl it around the wok. Add ground pork and stir-fry for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove to a plate.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil, then stir-fry napa cabbage, bamboo shoots, and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms for 1 minute.
- Add cooked pork, salt, soy sauce, and white pepper, and stir-fry for another minute. Turn off the heat, add sliced scallions, transfer to a bowl, and cool for 10 minutes.
Sweet Chili Sauce
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat and cook until thickened.
Wrapping
- In a small bowl, whisk egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
- Place a spring roll wrapper on your work surface with the corner facing away from you. Add 3 tablespoons of filling 2 inches from the corner and sides. Roll from the nearest corner and fold in the sides when the bottom corner covers the filling. Roll tightly, dampen the edge with egg wash, and seal before reaching the end. Transfer to a baking sheet or plate, seam-side down. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Frying
- Heat 1 inch of oil to 375ยฐF. Fry 6-8 spring rolls at a time until golden brown, moving them back and forth and turning them for 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to drain excess oil.
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