add to shopping list Ingredients

2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp sesame oil
10 oz. pork, cubed to 1/4 to 1/2 inch
1 tsp chinese 5 spice
1 serrano (or similar pepper), chopped
1 tbsp chopped onion
1 tsp ginger, minced (or 1/4 tsp powdered)
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1/4 cup each of carrots, celery and bell peppers, sliced
1 cup napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup pea shoots (or other sprouts)
2 water chesnuts, julianned
Dozen spring roll wrappers

Preparation

Prep everything before you start cooking. Actual cooking time is 6-8 minutes.

In a skillet about 10 inch round, place 1/4 inch water and heat until warm. Leave on stove.

Pork:

Cover the pork with the spices.

In a separate skillet, combine the olive oil and sesame oil with the garlic and heat over medium-high heat until the garlic begins to turn brown. Remove the garlic and add the pork. Saute for about 2 minutes, then add the onions , ginger and peppers. Saute for another 4-6 minutes.

Veggies:

While the pork is cooking, in another pan combine the oil and soy sauce over medium heat. Drop in the hard vegetables for about three minutes (you want them still quite firm). Remove and drop in the cabbage for a minute, moving constantly (you want it only slightly wilted).

Now the fun begins. Place a spring roll wrapper in the water. The instructions on my box say to leave it in about 3 seconds. I found 5-8 worked better. Either way, don't leave it in until it's "done," because then it will just shred on your plate. It should still be firm when you pull it from the water (it will get more pliable).

Put the wrapper on a plate and dish out some veggies (raw and cooked) and meat. Roll it like you would a tortilla, but close both ends. So, if your food cuts across the diameter of the wrapper like this: (-----), you're going to fold the ends over thusly: )---( and then roll.

Mix up some Sriracha and soy sauce, or Chinese mustard and teriyaki, or peanut sauce, or whatever floats your boat for dipping. Consider adding mushrooms to the cooked vegetables and lemon grass to the raw vegetables and substituting watercress or bean sprouts for the pea shoots. You could also make this with chicken (maybe cook a minute longer) or shrimp (cook a couple minutes less).

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Reviews

1/14/10

Theresa111 says:

There you go with spicy and hot! Well for someone with the constitution of an iron stomach, which I do not possess, this looks like a really exciting spring roll. Well done.

1/14/10

ThomasMorris says:

Actually, they're not really hot (but then, I order extra jalapenos on my nachos).

You could cut the serrano and Sriracha, of course, and just use ginger and soy.

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