MAKES 25 TO 30 SPRINGROLLS
Menu buzzwords are a favorite restaurant sport, and when one can combine “crispy” and “crushed” on the same line, it’s a guaranteed best-seller. These springrolls certainly are, and not merely for the poetic value of the name; the flavors and textures are exhilarating.
Should you wish to use half chicken and half pork, go ahead. Likewise, beef, lamb, or a combination of the two would be good here, if you want to be playful.
Preparations can be stretched out over three or four days, or if you are hungry and have a freezer to quick-chill the filling, you might dash off the whole thing in a mere several hours.
An eggroll in Chinese cooking is a relatively simple thing: A thin egg crêpe is rolled around a seasoned pork mixture, steamed (then sometimes fried), and sliced into either nuggets or thinner rounds. We serve these thin, pinwheel-like eggrolls in soup (page 87).
The thicker fried eggrolls we all know from Chinese-American restaurants are expeditious variations on this old Cantonese theme. Lacking the ingredients or the economy to fashion the wrappers from freshly beaten eggs or the stuffing from freshly minced pork, the restaurateurs of my suburban childhood used thick egg and wheat wrappers and stuffed them full of mostly bean-sprouts. Thick and blistered on the outside and soggy within, I adored them! With duck sauce and mustard, what better way to an eight year old’s heart?
The springroll of Northern Chinese eating is a totally different beast: Here is a slender roll of stir-fried stuff encased in a crispy deep-fried, paper-thin wheat wrapper. These are finger foods in the world of Chinese street-stall eating, party foods at home.
The name “springroll” harkens back to its role as a symbolic food at Chinese New Year, a lunar festival in celebration of the spring harvest to come. The food symbolized money, since it looked to the ancient (and modern) Chinese eye like a gold bar. Hence its importance on the celebratory table. Proper frying notwithstanding, a springroll is one weighty object!
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon China Moon Ten-Spice (page 6)
2 tablespoons strong tamarind liquid (page 336)
1 pound coarsely ground pork butt or fresh chicken breast
AROMATICS:
1½ tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon finely minced garlic
1½ teaspoons China Moon Ten-Spice
3 green serrano chilis, finely minced
1 to 2 small red Fresno chilis, finely minced
SEASONINGS:
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar
1½ teaspoons sugar
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
4 to 5 cups corn or peanut oil, for stir-frying and deep-frying
2 cups diced celery
1½ cups finely shredded carrots
4 cups diced Napa cabbage
⅔ cup raw skinless peanuts, roasted (see page 35) and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold chicken stock or water
About 30 very thin 7- to 8-inch-square springroll wrappers
¾ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander leaves and stems
1 egg yolk, beaten
Pickled Ginger Dipping Sauce (page 28), Peanut-Lime Dipping Sauce (page 28), or Ten-Spice Honey Dip (page 27)
Coriander sprigs and/or scallion brushes, for garnish
1. To make the filling: Blend all of the marinade ingredients through the tamarind liquid in a large bowl. Add the meat and stir well in one direction with your fingers to coat it thoroughly. Seal airtight with a piece of plastic wrap pressed directly on the meat, and refrigerate for 24 to 48 hours. The longer the marination, the fuller the flavor. Let come to room temperature before cooking.
2. Combine the aromatics in a small dish and seal until ready to use.
3. Combine the seasonings in a small bowl. Stir to blend, leaving the spoon in the bowl.
4. Heat a wok or large, heavy skillet over high heat until a bead of water evaporates on contact. Add 3 tablespoons of the oil, swirl to glaze the pan, and reduce the heat to moderately high. Add the meat and toss and poke, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until the chicken is 95 percent white or the pork is 95 percent gray. Put the meat in a colander to drain. Clean the pan and return it to high heat.
5. When the pan is hot enough to evaporate a bead of water, add another 3 tablespoons of the oil. Swirl to glaze the pan and reduce the heat to moderate. When the oil is hot enough to foam a pinch of ginger, add the aromatics. Stir gently until the oil is well infused, about 2 minutes, adjusting the heat so the aromatics foam slowly without browning. Add the celery, toss to mix, then let stew until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the carrots, toss, and let stew for 4 minutes. Add the cabbage, toss, and let stew until translucent and juicy, 4 to 5 minutes more. Adjust the heat so the vegetables sizzle slowly and cook down. You want them to give up their juices (they’ll be more or less willing depending on the season and their own water content), so don’t rush the process.
6. Add the peanuts and toss to mix. Stir the seasonings and add them to the pan. Toss well to combine. Return the meat to the pan and toss until it is cooked through and very hot to the touch. Quickly stir the cornstarch with the cold stock or water to dissolve it, then scrape it into the pan, looped over the hot filling, in a thin, even stream. Stir until the filling turns very thick, heavy, and glossy, a full 4 to 5 minutes. Nibble a bit to be sure it leaves no floury aftertaste on the roof of your mouth, indicating that the cornstarch is cooked through.
7. Spread the filling in a thin layer on 1 or 2 large platters or a jelly roll pan. Refrigerate, uncovered, until thoroughly cool. Once cool, stir; taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. The flavor should be keen, spicy, and a bit on the tart side. If you haven’t used tamarind, adjust with an extra shot of vinegar. At this point, the filling can be sealed and refrigerated for up to 2 days before rolling. Stir before using; roll while still cold.
8. To wrap, fry, and serve the springrolls, follow steps 8 through 10 on pages 335 and 336.
MENU SUGGESTIONS: Ten-spice is a pronounced flavor, so you might aim for a citrus or a “green” taste in making a match: Chili-Orange Cold Noodles (page 398) or Dragon Noodles (page 391) would go well, as would a simple green salad dressed with our Orange or Fresh Ginger Vinaigrette (page 24 or 25).