Recipe: egg/spring rolls skins and beyond...

hi, mishelle,

as these wrappers are readily available freshly made in taiwan, where i grew up, we never thought of making them from scratch. i know supermarkets in usa do carry these wrappers but they are too "thick" for traiditiona asian egg/spring rolls. you have to go to asian grocers to look for those imported ones. a good brand is from a singaporean company. it has pictures of instruction on the back. i think it's called "di yi ja"? (can't be sure on the name.) i also remember that i may have posted a recipe here on tkl before? if not, below is another recipe from a local malaysian newspaper site. i haven't tried it myself. so good luck!

ps: i know making these wrappers needs a bit of skills and lots of practice. so be patient!
======================================================
Spring Rolls

Ingredients for the spring roll wrapper/skin:
Sift together:
250g flour
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp corn oil
1 large egg -- lightly beaten
525ml water

Filling:
300g lean meat -- minced
200g crab meat
200g big omon -- cubed
8 fresh water chestnuts -- mince, then squeeze out water 50g dried Chinese mushrooms -- soak and chop finely

Seasoning:
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp oyster sauce
5 cloves garlic -- pounded
1 tbsp flour

Dipping sauce:
2 red chillies
1 tsp sugar
l tsp dry mustard
Juice of 1 lime
75ml Worchester chilli sauce

Method:
For spring roll wrapper/skin:
PUT sifted ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add corn oil, egg and a little water. Use a hand whisk to stir the ingredients to combine well. Add water gradually until a thin batter is formed. Sift the batter to remove any lumps.
Lightly grease a pan or non-stick wok. Pour a ladleful of batter onto hot pan. Lift pan to gently swirl batter around to coat entire base to get a paper-thin layer. Cook over a low heat until the edge comes slightly away from the sides of the pan. Invert pan over a large plate to tip wrapper onto plate.

Note: The wrapper should be very thin, dry and well-cooked when done.

For filling:
Heat 4 tbsp oil in a wok. When oil is hot, remove wok from the heat, add flour and mix well. (This is to make a roax.) Lower the heat and return wok to stove. Add pounded garlic, frying until it's aromatic (do not brown the garlic).

Add meat and all the seasoning ingredients. Mix well then add the big onions and water chestnuts. Stir in the crab meat to combine. Remove filling onto a plate to cool.

Place one heaped tablespoon of filling over each piece of spring roll wrapper. Roll up neatly and seal edges with remaining batter.

Deep fry spring rolls in fairly hot oil until lightly golden. Remove, drain well and serve immediately. If you are preparing the spring rolls ahead of time, fry the rolls again just before serving to crisp them.

For sauce:
Combine all the sauce ingredients and serve as a dipping sauce.