The proportion between the different vegetables can be changed. You can have more carrots and green beans. Or you can add tofu, pork or shrimps. It’s all a matter of preference. Or budget. If you want to keep the cost down, then more bean sprouts and less of everything else will do the trick.
Home grown bean sprouts
My daughter’s effort paid off beautifully. It took five days from germination to harvest. She took photos every 24 hours to document the entire process of growing bean sprouts indoors.
Cooking bean sprouts spring rolls consists of four parts: making the filling, draining and cooling the cooked filling, wrapping and frying.
Cooking the filling begins with a spice base. Shallots and onions are sauteed until softened, garlic and cilantro roots and stems are added, and the sauteeing continues for a couple of minutes longer.
These are meatless spring rolls there are mushrooms which are added to the spice base ahead of the julienned carrot and sliced green beans.
The bean sprouts are the last to go in since they require a very short cooking time. By the time they have been tossed with the other ingredients, they would have softened slightly and it’s time to turn off the heat.
To prevent the spring roll wrappers from getting soaked, the filling has to be cooled completely and left to drain. Hot filling will create steam inside the wrapper and that will prevent the wrapper from turning crisp during frying. Without draining the filling, the wrapper will soak up the liquid and that will make the spring rolls soggy.
Once cooled and drained, filling is ready to be wrapped, rolled and sealed. Do not be tempted to use too much filling so you can roll and seal without fear that the package will burst.
The wrapped and rolled spring rolls are then deep fried. Do this in batches to prevent overcrowding the pan so that the temperature of the oil does not drop.
Ingredients
Bean sprout filling
- 200 to 300 grams mung bean sprouts
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 shallots peeled and chopped
- 2 tomatoes peeled, cored and chopped
- 6 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro roots and stems
- 300 grams shimeji mushrooms chopped
- salt
- pepper
- 1 carrot peeled and julienned
- 15 green beans trimmed and thinly sliced
Spring rolls
- 15 six-inch spring roll wrappers
- 1 egg beaten with a tablespoon of water
- cooking oil
Instructions
Cook the filling
- Rinse the mung bean sprouts and drain well.
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Saute the shallots and tomatoes (sauteeing is always on medium-low heat) until softened.
- Add the garlic and cilantro roots and stems, and continue sauteeing for another two to three minutes.
- Add the chopped mushrooms. Sprinkle in a teaspoon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for two to three minutes.
- Add the green beans and julienned carrot. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for another two minutes.
- Toss in the bean sprouts and cook just until the sprouts soften (do not overcook).
- Taste, and add more salt and pepper, if needed.
- Immediately transfer the cooked filling to a strainer set over a shallow plate to allow excess liquid to drip off.
- Cool the filling to room temperature.
Wrap the spring rolls
- Separate the spring roll wrappers.
- Place a heaping tablespoon of filling on the center of a wrapper, moisten the sides of the wrapper with egg wash, and wrap and roll (see step-by-step guide on how to wrap spring rolls).
- Repeat until all the filling has been used, or until all the wrappers have been filled.
Fry the spring rolls
- Into a frying pan, pour enough oil to reach a depth of at least two inches (see notes after the recipe) and heat.
- Fry the spring rolls in batches, rolling them around for even browning, until golden and crisp.
- Drain upright in a strainer to remove excess oil.
- You may serve the spring rolls whole or you may cut them into halves.
