spring rolls aka lumpia

How To Make spring rolls aka lumpia

• 1

  In a pot of boiling water, add the vermicelli cook for 2-4 minutes or until soft, drain, lightly chop, you want about 1 1/2 cups, an 80 gram packet is fine. It is ok if they are a bit underdone as the rolls get fried later. Set aside.
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  2

  A lot of the prep time is the shredding and chopping. Use a box shredder for the cabbage and carrots, Chop the mushrooms on a board. I doubled the recipe that is why there is so much.
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  3

  Fresh ground pork (I used pork loin for this which is lean, the mushrooms add the juiciness). I also had some shrimp we added, the shrimp were cleaned, deveined, and chopped. The shrimp is NOT cooked with the pork, add the shrimp at the very end if using.
• 4

  Heat the olive oil in a large non stick pan (big pot if doubling the recipe), when hot, add the garlic and saute for a minute until fragrant then add the pork and break up the pork as it cooks until it just turns white, as it will get cooked again.
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  5

  To the pork, add the carrot, cabbage, and mushrooms and saute for several minutes until the veggies are good and wilted. Now mix in the cornstarch, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. Saute for about a minute or until the liquid is steamed off. You want the filling sticky, not watery. Taste and season with oyster sauce as needed.
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  6

  Add the cooked noodles and remove the pan or pot from the heat.
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  7

  Mix in the noodles and cool the filling, a hot filling means your spring rolls may burst (no one likes a sloppy spring roll). So just let the pan or pot cool, or spread the filling on a baking sheet and let cool, or even place in the fridge for 5 minutes.
• 8

  Once the filling has cooled, now make the 'glue' so in a small bowl or cup, mix together the cornstarch and water, set this aside but keep it handy, this is used to seal the rolls.
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  9

  Open the package of spring roll sheets. Carefully pull off one sheet and place smooth side down on a clean counter with one corner of the sheet facing you. Very important, place a damp towel on the unused sheets, if the sheets dry out they are hard to pull apart and will tear.
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  10

  Place a tablespoon or so of filling near the corner closest to you.
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  11

  Fold the bottom (the corner closest to you) up over the filling.
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  12

  Tightly roll, the filling will spread some, that is fine. When the roll is in the widest part of the pastry (left and right corners will be on the sides of the roll) fold each side towards the center. The roll should be about 5 inches long, and should look like an envelope.
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  13

  Continue to roll, and when there is just a pointy section at the end away from you, use your finger and apply some of the cornstarch slurry you made just a few minutes ago to the edges of the pointy section (just like sealing an envelope), continue to roll and seal the edge, and just pat that seam down with your fingers. There, you just made a spring roll.
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  14

  Repeat until you have either used all the filling or all the pastry sheets. 13 more to go.
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  15

  To fry these, heat about 1/2 inch of lard or cooking oil in a pan or pot. When hot, add 4-5 spring rolls at a time and fry, turn often, until golden brown, These cook fast so keep an eye on them. Remove to paper towels to drain and fry the remaining rolls. Perfect color.
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  16

  Let cool for a few minutes then serve hot as is or serve with a dipping sauce of your choice.
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