Thai Spring Rolls

Last week I had the opportunity to join a Thai cooking class held at the Kempinski Hotel by the master chef who is from Thailand.   I was thrilled to be in the professional kitchens of such a luxurious hotel and instructed step by step on the secrets of preparing delicate, fresh and tasty Thai food!  The specially presented apron I got to keep was a bonus.  I tied it on with relish and balanced the tall white chef hat on my head.  I was ready to go.  Bring on the spring rolls, beef and lamb satay, papaya salad, red beef curry and steamed sea bass.  I will follow this post with further recipes for these dishes.  As long as you have the right ingredients, preparing Thai dishes was not so daunting as I had imagined.

This version of spring rolls was made at home following instructions. The above photos are my final product.  The photos below were taken at the Kempinski kitchens. And the results were wonderful! Crispy and fragrant with a punch of flavor when you dip into chili sauce.

Ingredients:

1 package spring roll dough
1/2 cup carrots
1/2 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup cabbage
1/2 cup onions sliced thin
1/2 cup vermicelli
1/2 cup cup spring onion
1/2 cup cilantro
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon flour
about 1 tablespoon water

oil for frying

sweet chili sauce

Soak the vermicelli in hot water for a few minutes until soft.  Drain well.  Cut carrots, mushrooms, onions, and cabbage into thin julienne.

Saute the veggies briefly in a pan, a couple of minutes until crisp-tender.  Take off of the heat and throw in the remaining ingredients: vermicelli, spring onion and cilantro, salt and pepper.

Let cool for a bit, and meanwhile prepare the flour paste by mixing four and water in small bowl.  This will be the glue to keep the spring roll from opening when its fried.  Undo a few pieces of the spring roll wrappers in preparation.  Keep the stack covered while you work so as not to dry out.

 

You are ready to begin.  Center the spring roll wrap with one corner pointing towards you.  Put a spoonful of the filling in the center, fold the tip closer to you over the filling, fold the side tips over the center, and roll.  Use the flour paste brushed on the tip to glue it shut.

Heat oil, about 1 inch deep, in a wok or pot.  Drop 4 or 5 spring rolls at a time carefully into the hot oil and fry until golden brown.  Be careful not to over-brown.

Serve with Thai sweet chili sauce.