Spring Rolls

Okay. I attempted to make some Spring Rolls the other night...like the ones I get at a local place, Little Siagon. Then as i was reading the different recipies i noticed that many people were using "Egg Roll" and "Sring Roll" interchangeably. What is the deal with that?

Secondly, For those who still think a Spring roll is rice/sheet paper with romaine, cilantro, bean sprouts, carrot, and noodles with your choice of protein, what are some tips on how to manage them. I found the assembly process tedious and the "rice sheets" hard to work with.

Also, I 've been a bit confused between "Spring rolls" and "Summer rolls"

Haven't heard of autumn/winter rolls, but who knows?

A short visit to Wikipedia.com will answer all of the above questions.

The trick to handling the wrappers is to dip it in warm water for just a little while, then let it soften the rest of the way on your work surface. Try not to fill them too full and don't roll too tightly or the fresh spring roll, or summer roll as it's sometimes called, can split. I've made hundreds of them at work, I have a system down now. It has given me a real appreciation for Asian places that serve beautiful spring rolls for so little money. We can get very nice ones here for $2.50 or $3.00 for 3 with a nice sauce. We make ones for catering with special fillings, which is why we make them. Sometimes I'd much rather order them!

NYNM, winter rolls are stuffed w/ chili, any regional kind will work. Autumn rolls are made with finly chopped green chili stew.

I did a google for...rice paper spring rolls... and there were lots of hints on how to do the rice paper. Advice varied though.

V960, that Wiki guy sure knows about allot of stuff!

Anyone have a favorite recipe using rice paper? Or is there a thread already? I'm mad at the search right now.
Joe
Oh, egg rolls are made with egg roll wrapers. They are way thicker.

Around here, Vietnamese egg rolls are made with wheat spring roll wrappers, then fried. I love them. The wrappers are much thinner than those used for Chinese egg rolls. I love those, too

quote:

Originally posted by PapaJoe8

NYNM, winter rolls are stuffed w/ chili, any regional kind will work. Autumn rolls are made with finly chopped green chili stew.

I did a google for...rice paper spring rolls... and there were lots of hints on how to do the rice paper. Advice varied though.

V960, that Wiki guy sure knows about allot of stuff!

Anyone have a favorite recipe using rice paper? Or is there a thread already? I'm mad at the search right now.
Joe
Oh, egg rolls are made with egg roll wrapers. They are way thicker.

Uh, Papa I think there's also a sort of seasonal roll made with a kind of corn.....'nuf said....

when i was younger and all of the chinese restaurants were chinese-american, egg rolls consisted of meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin egg wrapper, dipped in batter and deep-fried. what is now considered an egg roll is what we used to call spring rolls. fresh vietnamese spring rolls with rice wrappers are a relatively recent thing, and are much healthier :)

I sometimes make eggrolls with a bought wrapper that the package says can also be used to make lasagna. The wrapper is made mosly of wheat (but does have some eggs in it) and IS like fresh refrigerated pasta. I serve the eggrolls hot. Local Vietnamise restaurants serve cold spring rolls in a rice paper wrapper so thin and translucent that a friend was shocked when his daughter compared them to a condom.

quote:

Originally posted by marzsit

when i was younger and all of the chinese restaurants were chinese-american, egg rolls consisted of meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin egg wrapper, dipped in batter and deep-fried. what is now considered an egg roll is what we used to call spring rolls. fresh vietnamese spring rolls with rice wrappers are a relatively recent thing, and are much healthier :)

That's pretty much the way I understood it as well. And Egg Rolls are much larger usually coming in an order of one, whereas the spring rolls were smaller, meatless and coming in an order of 3 or 4.

I'm a big fan of springrolls too.
There was a good documentary called "Anatomy of a Springroll" that aired on PBS a number of years ago. In the doc they wrap the hot springroll in greens (lettuce I believe) and serve them with dipping sauce.
... put the jones in me for a week until I finally went out and bought some.

(The piece was both about making and eating springrolls and also the authors trip back to vietnam which he fled from as a child in 1973.)

quote:

Originally posted by marzsit

when i was younger and all of the chinese restaurants were chinese-american, egg rolls consisted of meat and vegetables wrapped in a thin egg wrapper, dipped in batter and deep-fried.

Battered, huh? Never heard of that but it sounds like it could be good.

When I order Spring rolls, this is what I expect:



with the semi-transparent rice paper wrappers. I know some places fry them, but that's not what I want at a Vietnamese place (as opposed to Chinese).

quote:

Originally posted by zataar

The trick to handling the wrappers is to dip it in warm water for just a little while, then let it soften the rest of the way on your work surface. Try not to fill them too full and don't roll too tightly or the fresh spring roll, or summer roll as it's sometimes called, can split. I've made hundreds of them at work, I have a system down now. It has given me a real appreciation for Asian places that serve beautiful spring rolls for so little money. We can get very nice ones here for $2.50 or $3.00 for 3 with a nice sauce. We make ones for catering with special fillings, which is why we make them. Sometimes I'd much rather order them!

I agree with zataar. Every time I try to make the rolls they rip or wind up looking like they are deformed. As they say---------"for professionals only---do not attempt this at home".
Seriously, though------I think it's a matter of timing, wetting the skins evenly and to just the right amount.

What is the difference between spring rolls and egg rolls?

Sorry but I do not know. Is it the sauce??

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

What is the difference between spring rolls and egg rolls?

Sorry but I do not know. Is it the sauce??

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

There's a version of Spring Rolls that isn't very different, but that's why I posted the picture above to emphasize that a "spring roll" from a Vietnamese place should be cold and have a thin, rice paper wrapper. It is not deep fried (and greasy) like an egg roll whose wrapper is, I think, wheat flour based (with egg, I assume). Also, the filling of good spring rolls is much lighter and with an emphasis on the veggies (raw), usually including cilantro. And rather than pork, the "protein" component is often seafood like shrimp (cooked).

The sauce is certainly different as well. With a spring roll, you shouldn't get mustard or that red-colored "sweet/sour" Chinese-American glop. Maybe a little hoisin, though, but usually something with a little fish sauce and other stuff I can't imagine.

^^^Actually, a little surfing provided one recipe for a spring roll dipping sauce that sounds like it should be similar to what I'm used to (except I don't think I've had it with peanut butter--that sounds good but more Thai than Vietnamese):

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 green (spring) onion, including tender green top, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons unsalted natural peanut butter (optional)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Pinch of brown sugar

Interesting experience tonight. I had a craving for Chinese take-out. There is essentially one place for that here in the newly-frigid Tucson exurbs--a place called the Panda House which seems to mimick a chain I've seen back in California called Panda Express. Anyway, I went there and got enough food that they told me I had my choice of a free egg roll or a free spring roll. With this debate echoing in my head, I said, "Well, what's the difference". The guy behind the counter (who ethnically could have been almost anything BUT Chinese, though most likely he was Hispanic) said, "Egg rolls are bigger and have pork. Spring rolls are smaller and have shrimp."

That about sums up the difference in most of America I suspect (but NOT, I'll continue to argue, in coastal areas where there are large southeast Asian populations).

Could have been worse, BT. One could have contained pork and the other rattlesnake!

i love the spring rolls in BT'S pic.
there's a place called may cafe that serves the best.
i judge vietnamese restaurants by their spring rolls.

those BT pics look great. Thanks! I have gotten those in many places around the country, some filled with both sliced pork AND shrimp, vermicelli noodles, cilantro, etc and with the type of dipping sauce described above, as well as sometimes a sort-of-peanut sauce. Also, usually served next to slivered carrot and cabbage on the side and a sprig of mint as a garnish. whew!!

I like to judge a Vietnamese restaurant by the quality of their phó too... served with lime, sprouts, and a few slices of jalapeño on the side... the combination of the spring roll freshness with the soup is to die for... especially with a little flat ramikin dish filled with hoisin to dip the soup noodles in as you pick them up with chopsticks. YUMM!

Went to a Thai Cooking class in Nashville once...actually, three separate ones, but this one included the spring rolls.

Now, I haven't made my own yet, but I have the knowhow. ha At any rate, it's sort of like cabbage rolls and the cabbage leaf...just pliable enough to roll, but not so limp it tears apart. Unfortunately, that's probably one of those things you'll only get the knack of by trial and error.

Well, that's cooking for you. I prefer the spring rolls with basil over mint. But I love them, truly.

Do a couple of google searches...the other day, I actually came upon a TV show that someone had saved the file on (may have been through Wikipedia), and you could click on that and SHE showed you how to make them.

I just haven't gotten around to it. I go through phases...bigos...Ukrainian stews...Colcannon...Balnamoon Skink...fondue...egg rolls...just haven't actually sat down and done my beloved spring rolls. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN. I don't consider it tedious, given the obvious reward. Just not something I'd want to do every week. It's all in the prep time.