LYNN BAIN loves the crunch of fried spring rolls, and these tasty treats have the extra twist of a special ingredient.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
I love biting into a spring roll. Especially when the crunchy outer texture is quickly followed by a burst of protein and vegetable flavours from inside.
And then there's another layer of self-indulgence when you dip the spring roll into your favourite sauce (or sauces).
All of the Asian ingredients in the following recipe are available from the appropriate section in most supermarkets.
Handy hint one: I have used the generic term ‘sauce’ for the dipping option. It is dependent on your personal choice for the dipping sauce — either soy sauce with a little chilli added, tonkatsu sauce, sweet chilli sauce or any of the plethora of sauces available. You could have a series of little bowls of various sauces for dipping — kind of a parallel tasting.
Handy hint two: Magpie goose is not always available, so dark meat (such as turkey thigh meat) or duck meat are viable substitutes.
Handy hint three: The cornflour mixture in the wrapping process acts like an adhesive to keep your spring roll together during the cooking process.
Handy hint four: To test if the oil is hot enough to cook the spring rolls (180℃) and if I have misplaced my oil thermometer (again), I place the tip of a chopstick in the hot oil. When the oil is hot enough for frying, small bubbles should come off the end of the chopstick.
Magpie Goose Spring Rolls
INGREDIENTS
400g magpie goose breast meat, very finely chopped into little cubes
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
2 tsp ginger paste
2 green shallots, finely sliced
2 tbsp cornflour
1 carrot, grated
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
2 tsp kecap manis
2 tbsp cooking oil (not shown)
1 tbsp water (not shown)
Spring roll wrappers (not shown)
Dipping sauce of your choice
METHOD
Step 1: Heat a couple of tablespoons of cooking oil in a heavy-based frypan over a medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger, green shallots, carrot and cornflour to the pan.
Step 2: As soon as you have the pan organised, add the finely chopped goose meat.
Step 3: Now add the liquid ingredients comprising of soy sauce, mirin and kecap manis to the pan containing the goose meat.
Step 4: Saute the contents of the frypan until the goose meat is cooked through. Then remove this cooked goose meat mixture from the heat. Place the cooked goose meat mixture into a bowl and allow to cool completely before starting the spring roll wrapping process.
Step 5: This is where we set up a spring roll wrapping ‘station’. The station will comprise of the cooked goose mixture, spring roll wrappers, cornflour mixture (1 tablespoon of water and 2 tablespoons cornflour mixed together) and a plastic wrapped plate. The plastic wrap helps stop the prepared spring rolls from sticking to the plate.
Step 6: Place a tablespoon or so of the cooked goose mixture about 5cm from the edge of a spring roll wrapper.
Step 7: Dip your finger into the cornflour mixture.
Step 8: Using your finger, rub a generous amount of the cornflour mixture around the edge of the spring roll wrapper. You may need to stir the cornflour mixture because it does seem to settle out.
Step 9: Fold one edge of the spring roll wrapper over the goose mixture.
Step 10: Fold the opposite side inwards over the goose mixture, and then proceed to roll the spring roll up. I like this technique because rolling is sealing.
Step 11: The completely rolled-up/wrapped-up spring roll.
Step 12: Continue to make more spring rolls with the rest of the goose mixture.
Step 13: Heat about 2cm of cooking oil in a frypan or deep saucepan over a medium high heat. Add the spring rolls to the pan and cook on all sides until golden brown.
Step 14: When the spring rolls are golden brown, remove them from the oil and drain on a cake cooler or grid. I find draining the spring rolls this way prevents soggy spring roll wrappings. When all the spring rolls are cooked, present them on serving plates with a small bowl of dipping sauce.
Step 15: Dip the magpie goose spring rolls into your choice of dipping sauce and enjoy.
