I was not sure it was going to be possible for me to make spring rolls for my month of Pan-Asian cooking because I do not deep fry. So I was very exciting to find Cooking Etctera’s Baked Chicken Spring Rolls recipe. I printed it out and got to work:
Yup, lots of chopping and organizing were involved but I didn’t mind it, I prefer to have the “mise en place” mode going on when I cook anyway. So for this recipe you need garlic, ginger, cabbage, carrots, bean sprouts, protein (this recipe uses chicken and shrimp but use what you like), fish sauce, oyster sauce, coriander (I used parsley) and spring roll wrappers. You can find the recipe here.
I did have some issues with how the recipe was written. It did not say how long to cook each phase of the dish. I had to wing it by cooking each phase three minutes each or so but would have appreciated better directions. Also, the filling could have used more seasoning. If you make this dish I would recommend lightly seasoning the chicken and shrimp while they are cooking.
I let the filling cool for a while before making the spring rolls. I put the recommended 2 tbsp of filling onto the diamond-shaped spring roll wrapper…
Then folded in the two sides and rolled. I think this is too much filling. When I look at their pictures of the final project, my spring rolls are much bigger. Perhaps they meant 2 tsp?
I put the spring rolls in a 375F preheated oven and had to watch and wait for them to brown since once again, there were no instructions on how long to keep them in the oven.
I think they took around 20 minutes or so to make but it was very frustrating not having any baking guidelines. These were pretty good, they did get crunchy although not crispy of course because they were not fried. I did end up enjoying them quite a bit, even though they lacked seasoning. I served them with my own “fakeout” plum sauce.
As a result of how poorly written the instructions were and the so-so outcome, I give this recipe 3 out of 5 wooden spoons.
i hate when they dont give enough details in the instructions regarding cooking times. grrr. but still, they LOOK beautiful in your lovely photos 🙂 still crunchy yet not fried, i can handle. good to know! thanks suzie! i sent your website to a friend of mine who really likes to cook and we are going to get together and try cooking some asian dishes. so yay! thanks for the inspiration, as always.
you’re making everything I’ve been thinking of trying! I’ll have to leave out the fish sauce or Mike won’t eat them (I don’t know if I can get away with oyster sauce or not…)
My friend Nancy and I used to make Vietnamese spring rolls – deep fried… I have been wanting to try them again, but I think I can combine some of their aspects with some of yours and come up with a baked version. I’m going to try it! 🙂
Baked, not fried is definitely the way to go, but for a little extra crunch maybe brushing them lightly with a bit of canola oil before baking might help or do you think it would make them soggy? They look amazing and again you make it look so easy-your ingredients are so organized. Love your fakeout plum sauce idea, you’re so creative when it comes to these things.
I had some friends spray the eggrolls with cooking oil before they baked them and it turned out well. When I make egg rolls, I make 250+ at a time starting at 10 pm and finishing in the am sometimes. It’s a lonely process. I will have to try your recipe sometime.
-Tien
It’s really great to see that everything doesn’t have to be deep fried! I might try this with your suggestions!
These look sooooo good. I am very excited to stumble upon your blog–it’s GORGEOUS. I used to live in Halifax for years (am now in TO) so it is especially nice to see a blog from there!
I am always impressed with I see cooks who can do the “mise en place” thing. I am such a mess in the kitchen! (to the chagrin of my husband, who is the official cleaner. 🙂 )
Hi,
I was looking for the same recipe when I stumbled upon your blog. I think you used a wrapper that is too thick for baking, the one you used seems like more suitable for fresh spring roll.
Hi Dee! You know, after I made these and photographed them… They did get too hard, thanks for the reminder, it was a while ago.