Cantonese Spring Rolls 廣東春捲 (guǎng dōng chūn juǎn) is one of many different types of spring rolls found in China. The sky really is the limit as to what you can put in them. Every region has their own. But the Cantonese style spring rolls are probably the most popular. Common fillings include cabbage, carrots, beansprouts, pork, chicken, shrimp, chives, leeks, bamboo shoots, shitake mushrooms, eggs, barbeque pork, and tofu.
Most people recognize spring rolls as a deep-fried food. However, 3000 years ago, the spring roll started as a non-fried wrap. It was a “spring cake 春餅” (chūn bǐng) or “潤餅” (rùn bǐng). (The word for “cake” in Chinese includes a broad range of foods.) It was one of the first foods used to celebrate Chinese New Year. To be more specific, people would eat the original spring roll to celebrate the “beginning of spring 立春” (lì chūn). These dates are usually quite close to each other, so spring rolls are also eaten during Chinese New Year which is also called Spring Festival 春節 (chūn jié).
You can find the day of 立春 (lì chūn) on the Chinese Farmer’s Calendar. It has something to do with the position of the big dipper and the angle of the earth relative to the sun. (I tried really hard to understand it, but this is all I got from it!)
It’s difficult to find out when deep-fried spring rolls were actually born. It seems that there is record of deep-fried foods during the Han Dynasty. But we don't know if spring rolls were being deep-fried at that time. But for sure, it was around in the Qing Dynasty in the southern areas of China.
Many westerners wonder what the difference is between a spring roll and an egg roll. From my research, I have found that egg rolls are the product of early American-Chinese restaurants. Nobody at the time made spring roll wrappers in the west. But they made Chinese egg noodles. They incorporated these two things and made egg roll wrappers. These wrappers are thicker and made from egg. I actually grew up eating egg roll wrappers and I quite liked them. The skin gets bubbly after deep-frying. The filling is pretty much the same and served with plum sauce.
My Cantonese Spring Rolls 廣東春捲 recipe gives you the basic foundation for an authentic spring roll experience. But there is lots of room to customize it with your favourite fillings. And if you want to try the non-fried version, check out my recipe for The Original Spring Roll 潤餅/春餅. It really is an ancient Chinese recipe!
If you like to deep-fry once in a while, consider getting a digital thermometer. I can now accurately determine the temperature of the oil before putting my food into it. Now, it’s so easy to get perfect results each time. No more guessing when the oil is ready. If you’re interested, check out the one I got from Amazon.
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Cantonese Spring Rolls 廣東春捲
Ingredients
- 300 g Pork (shredded)
- 300 g Cabbage
- 100 g Shiitake mushrooms (approx. 3)
- 100 g Carrots (shredded)
- 30 g Yellow chives
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 large Shallot
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 1 pkg Spring roll wrappers (I made 20 spring rolls using 8.5” wrappers)
- 2 tsp Flour
- 2 tbsp Water
- 600 ml Oil for deep frying
Ingredients for pork marinade:
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
Ingredients for shitake mushroom marinade:
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
Instructions
- Soak dried shitake mushrooms overnight or use fresh shitake mushrooms. Slice into thin shreds; marinate with ½ tsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp light soy sauce; mix well and set aside
I like to marinate shitake mushrooms to give them more flavour after stir-frying - Slice pork into thin shreds; marinate with ½ tsp sugar, 1 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp light soy sauce; mix well and set aside
- Slice cabbage and carrots into shreds and set aside
- Cut yellow chives into 5 cm long pieces and set aside
- Mince garlic and slice shallot
- Heat wok or fry pan to high (or medium-high if high heat is not suitable)
- Add 2 tbsp oil to the wok
- Add marinated pork. Let the pork sit in the wok for 30 seconds and then flip it over and let it sit for another 30 seconds then start stir frying until cooked and remove from heat
- Add some oil if there is no oil in the wok
- Add shallots to the wok and stir-fry until aromatic
- Add garlic in with the shallots. Stir-fry for 30 seconds and push everything to one side of the wok
- Add shitake mushrooms to the wok. Stir-fry first by itself and then incorporate it with the shallots and garlic and move to the side. Repeat for carrots and cabbage
- Once the cabbage begins to soften and shrink, add the pork back into the wok. Add 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine and stir-fry
- Add 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ¼ tsp white pepper powder and ½ tsp salt and continue stir-frying for 1-2 minutes until carrots and cabbage are soft
- Add yellow chives and turn off heat. Incorporate the yellow chives with the rest of the ingredients
- Transfer the ingredients onto a plate or two plates to speed up cooling process
- Combine 2 tbsp flour and 2 tbsp water in a small bowl. Mix well
- Once the ingredients have cooled, you can open your spring roll wrapper package
they dry out quite quickly so only take a few out at a time - Follow the step-by step photos for wrapping instructions. Use the flour and water mixture (2 tsp flour, 2 tbsp water) as glue to seal the wrapper
- Each spring roll will need approx. 2 tbsp of filling
- Continue until all the filling is used
- Pour 600 ml of oil into a wok, pan or pot
- Bring the oil to 160˚C or 325˚F
- Fry the spring rolls for around 5 minutes or until golden
- Remove from the oil and place on a cooling rack
- Wait 5 minutes before serving
Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
Hi Ivan, Thank you!