Vietnamese Spring Rolls
These are a veganized version of the classic, savoury Vietnamese spring rolls. They use a myriad of vegetables with glass noodles and wood ear mushroom to get a balance of texture and umami goodness in the filling.
- Prep time
- 1 hr 30 min
- Cook time
- 15 min
- Yield
- 36 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 loose cup (20 g dried wood ear fungus (buy sliced if you can, if not, sliced into thin strips about ½ inch or 1 cm long))
- 1 bundle (40 g of mung bean thread (sometimes labelled vermicelli))
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion (170 g, very finely minced)
- 2 medium carrots (150 g, peeled and minced)
- 1 heaping cup (~180 g taro root, peeled and minced)
- 24 oz 680 g veggie ground crumble (two packages of ground round, or about 3 cups of frozen beefless crumble)
- ½ tsp 2 g ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp 45 mL vegan fish sauce OR soy sauce
- 1 package of 6 x 6 inch vegan spring roll wrappers**
- 1 tbsp 7 g cornstarch
- 2 tbsp 15 ml water
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- 1
To Make the Filling
- 2
Soak the wood ear fungus and mung bean thread by submerging themin two bowls with warm water. Let reconstitute for about 5-10 minutes.
- 3
In a large wok or pan over medium heat, combine minced onion, carrots andtaro root, the veggie ground crumble, pepper, and vegan fish sauce (or soysauce). Cook until vegetables have started to soften.
- 4
Drain the mung bean thread and wood ear fungus and chop to about ¼inch-1/2 inch (1/2 cm to 1 cm) long pieces. Add the chopped mung bean threadand wood ear fungus to the mixing bowl and mix well until everything is evenlydistributed, and cook to heat through. You'll see the noodles start to absorb some moisture and make the mixture thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
- 5
Separate the layers of spring roll wrappers and arrange for easyaccess on a plate. Cover with foil or a clean, damp tea towel so they don’t dryout.
- 6
Prepare your cornstarch mixture (water + cornstarch) in a small bowl toseal the spring rolls.
- 7
To fill the spring rolls, arrange a wrapper like a diamond with apoint facing you. Add about 2.5 tbsp of filling to the bottom third of thediamond, and centre it as a horizontal log. Take the bottom corner and start toroll, tucking it tightly around the filling, rolling it up about halfway up thewrapper. Tuck in the left and right sides tightly, and continue to rolltightly, sealing the top tip with a dab of water and then completing the roll.It takes a bit of practice, but you’ll find the balance between rolling tightenough that everything is in place but not so tight that you tear the wrapper. Usea finger to stir through the cornstarch mixture and apply a slight layer to theoutside corner of the spring roll to seal the spring roll.
- 8
Repeat until all the filling is used up, and arrange the springrolls in a single layer on plate or a freezer safe container. Separate eachlayer with parchment paper for ease of use. Freeze while the oil is heating upso that the spring rolls stay intact better while frying.
- 9
To fry, heat up about 2 inches of oil in a medium-large pot untilabout 375F (190C). Carefully fry the spring rolls, about 4-6 at a time(depending on the size of your pot) flipping occasionally until golden allaround. Remove once you get a nice golden brown (the ends will get a bit of adark brown). Drain on paper towel or on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Enjoy ontheir own, dipping in Nước Mắm Chấm Chay, sriracha sauce, or over a classic bowl of bún!
- 10
These freeze well for 4-6 weeks, and you can fry from frozen. Iffreezing for storage, be sure to store in an airtight container to preventfreezer burn.