Watch 4 Levels | 4 Levels of Spring Rolls: Amateur to Food Scientist | Epicurious Video | CNE | Epicurious.com
[crunching] [sizzling]
[upbeat music]
Hi, I’m John and I’m a level one chef.
Hi, I’m Natasha and I’m a level two chef.
Hi, I’m King.
I’m a chef instructor
at the Institute of culinary education.
I’ve been a professional chef for over 20 years.
[upbeat music]
My recipe is super simple.
It’s all vegetarian friendly, and I’m going to
be frying them because I really like that nice crunch
that you get only from a fried dish.
I personally love spring rolls.
I can’t say no to them.
So this is a pretty traditional recipe
and I’m switching it up a little bit to make it vegetarian
with the beyond beef and the tofu crumble.
We’re looking for this explosion in your mouth,
so we’re going to pack it with ground pork,
with shrimp with crab, with lobster.
In Tagalog and Filipino,
it’s called lumpia and lumpia are spring rolls.
To start things off, I’m going to make the filling.
First, I’m going to mix some soy sauce into the beyond beef.
This is my pork substitute.
So for my filling,
I have a really nice array of veggies here.
Some green onion and some ginger.
Wow, that shot me right in the face.
[laughs] Garlic.
Now I’m going to shred
some cabbage. Cabbage.
Cabbage always reminds me of the character in avatar.
They always say, My cabbages.
The first step in our filling
is to cook our lobster and crab.
So I have beautiful blue crab in front of us.
Same thing with our lobster over here.
This is a beauty.
This is probably like a three pound lobster.
Live lobster, that’s what we want.
Now I’m going to season the tofu crumbles
with some golden mountain sauce.
I’ve had spring rolls before that have tofu bits
and I always really like it.
I’ve got some cremini mushrooms; only gonna use the caps.
And bamboo shoots and I’ve got some snow peas
These are glass noodles soaking in some room temp water.
I’m going to let these noodles soak for about 10 minutes
while I prep everything else.
I think the sweetest meat comes right here
in this knuckle and claw area.
The best part of lobster for me.
You want the best product possible.
You want to work with live seafood.
First. We need to kill them in a humane matter
and then put them in boiling water.
We’re just going to take the knife,
go right through the middle of the head
and go straight down.
It’ll take out the central nervous system
and crab is pretty much the same way.
Oh, look, you heard me.
Right between the eyes with a knife and going down.
So next, we’re going to pull the meat
out of our lobster and our crabs.
I got all my veggies chopped up.
Time to saute them.
They’re all mixed together.
Just going to let them cook through it for about a minute.
So I have my shredded cabbage.
I’m going to measure out about a cup
and a half to go into my filling.
I’ve got some grated carrots, cilantro.
I’m going to just use the stems
because the leaves don’t fry well.
So now I’m going to chop the Shiitake mushrooms
and I’m going to really squeeze
out the water that they’ve been soaking in.
Cut them very small.
And then garlic.
This is a whole lobster that we just partially cooked.
I’m going to rip it apart, separated the body from the head.
I like this as well, the claw meat.
I don’t like wasting any part of the animals.
We can use this head to make a lobster stock,
a base for a soup.
The noodles have been soaking for about 10 minutes,
so I’m going to drain them and cut them.
So this is our lobster tail.
Go down the middle with our knife
and we are going to split this open.
Now you can see how easily the meat comes right
out of the shell.
There’s the lobster tail.
There’s the shell.
Our lobster meat’s ready.
Now it’s time to move on to the crab.
Now I’m going to mix everything together.
I’m going to add in about a half teaspoon
of salt. Salt.
Sugar. And then it’s
just gonna cook through for about three to five minutes.
This is the gills,
so we’re not going to be using this part.
And oh, I should have worn a mask.
The green, we don’t really want that.
They call it crab fat sometimes.
For our filling,
we’re looking for that sweet, tender crab meat.
So first I’m going to saute the garlic,
white pepper and black pepper.
When the garlic starts browning,
that will tell me when to put in the filling.
These are raw shrimp,
but they have been cleaned and the shell has been removed.
I want to make sure this cooks all the way down.
It’s not just sauteed veggies; it’s filling.
Our shellfish has been picked
and we’re going to cut that up.
We’re looking for a rough chop
so we can combine them together.
[Natasha] I can see some browning on the garlic,
so I’m going to go ahead and add the filling.
We could call it a day right here, but let’s keep going.
We have our roasted garlic.
Basically, I’m going to squeeze it like toothpaste.
That is garlic paste right there.
If the noodles start sticking,
just add a little bit of water to the pan.
Scallions, carrots, we’re going to peel and cut.
Diced onions. This is about halfway there,
starting to cook down.
And now we’re going to mix and add our seasonings to it.
Start off with a little black pepper.
And now I feel good enough to add my soy sauce
and then just a drop
of sesame oil. Sesame oil.
Fish sauce, my favorite.
So now I’m going to let the veggies completely drain
and then I’m going to transfer them
to a sheet pan to let them cool completely.
So the filling is done.
The noodles are cooked through and the cabbage is wilted.
I’m going to let it cool down before I assemble.
Now that the filling is all ready and set aside,
I’m going to start preparing the wrappers.
So for my wrapper,
I’m going to be using these rice paper wrappers
that are really, really easy to work with.
And they’re a product of Vietnam, so that’s great.
Support the Vietnamese economy.
For my spring roll wrapper,
I’ll be using this pre-made dough that comes in sheets.
I’m going to be making my lumpia wrappers from scratch.
Really simple recipes.
Flour, corn starch, salt, a little bit of water.
Just make a batter.
Just to be sure there’s no lumps in our batter,
I’m just going to strain our batter out.
Look how beautiful that is.
You could like see the grains of rice.
We’re just going to let that soak
in here a couple of seconds.
I’m not trying to impress anyone here.
I’m not trying to make my own wrappers.
I don’t do that.
We want to use a neutral oil
when we’re making our wrapper.
This is canola oil.
Because the wrappers come frozen,
they’re a little stuck together,
so I’m going to separate them.
It kind of feels like waxy foam paper.
And there you go.
A lovely soaked rice paper wrapper.
You could see the spatula coming through here.
We want them nice and thin.
I don’t even have to flip this
because like I said, we are cooking this again.
Once this wrapper comes out, we’ll let them rest over here.
Our wrappers are done.
Our next step is assembly.
So now for the fun part,
it’s time to assemble the spring rolls.
So we’re going to make egg wash.
Basically, it’s my edible glue.
Which is very easy.
It is just whisking one egg.
You can do this
like an assembly line. An assembly line.
With my wrappers, my chilled filling and my glue.
Soak the wrapper, let it drip dry.
I place it down as a diamond.
I fold the bottom corner up
to double layer it here to prevent it from ripping.
Add the filling.
And I tend to overstuff these lumpia.
They blow up when you’re frying them.
I don’t want to blow them up.
And making sure the filling is packed.
Kind of tuck it closer to me so it’s really tight.
Fold it up like an envelope.
Rolling. Roll that up.
Once I get to this point, I add the glue.
Little egg wash.
I’m just doing a little line with my finger
along the edge and then I finish the roll all the way.
Was the other guy able to roll them okay?
Roll, roll, roll, spring roll.
And if you like folding with origami
and paper and making crafts, it’s just like that.
I used to bribe people with my origami.
I would give people my little origami creations
and then in return, I got gel pens.
In middle school,
I used to do my art projects too fast.
The teacher would have to create new ones
that weren’t on the syllabus.
This is very fun.
I could do this all day.
This is my favorite.
I do not love them equally.
These are ready to go.
Time to fry.
I have my oil at about 350 degrees.
Just the right temperature I want it at.
I do a few spring rolls at a time
so the temperature doesn’t drop too fast.
Remember, everything we put in this oil
will bring that temperature down.
We don’t want to overcrowd our pan.
When the oil temperature drops,
your product winds up soaking up that oil
and you’re left with something fried and greasy, no, no.
I’m gonna fry the spring rolls for one to two minutes
in batches of four, gorgeous.
So here is spring roll number one.
You are going in the pan.
Probably about five to seven minutes for it to cook.
Just be careful here.
Oil splatter, one of the worst burns.
Make sure you drop it away from you.
So I just cook them until they’re golden.
And I’m just making sure
that they don’t touch so they don’t stick.
The wrappers are sticking together a little bit,
so I’m just gonna let them cook
and then I’ll do them one at a time.
Right now we’re cooking in canola oil.
Canola oil has a very high smoke point,
meaning we could crank that oil up
without worrying about burning the oil.
They’re starting to get a little bit of color.
My favorite one is still my favorite.
There we go.
As long as they stay on their sides, they won’t touch.
So lesson learned.
Maybe these wrappers weren’t the best to use.
I mean, they still look good.
They’re pretty light golden brown,
so I’m going to take them out.
It’s still sizzling inside too.
That’s how hot that is inside.
So it looks like this particular rice paper wrapper
does bubble up quite a bit, which we don’t love for frying
because we don’t want any bubble oils in the face.
These are my little spring roll babies.
Our lumpia is fried and we’re ready for our next step.
That sauce. All right,
now that the spring rolls are fried,
the last thing is making a dipping sauce.
I’m going to finely chop the garlic
and the red Thai chilies and the spur chili.
Add everything in the mortar and pestle and make a paste.
So we are our sweet chili mango sauce.
I have chilies.
I have mango.
Let’s begin, we’re going to take this flesh
out of our mango.
We have our skin here.
We’re just going to hold it.
Just wrap right around it and come around.
We have our mango flesh inside.
Now we’re going to go
with our rice wine vinegar and add some water in there.
My dipping sauce is pretty simple.
It has some soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey
and then some fresh grated ginger.
And then a quick whisk together.
I do use mortar and pestles a lot.
It’s used pretty often in Indian cooking
It’s like revving up your car.
[blending]
Next, I’m going to simmer the chili garlic paste
with the sugar and vinegar.
We’re going to mix this fast
just so it dissolves and the sugar doesn’t burn.
So I made mango juice.
We strained it.
It’s in the sauce pan right now.
We’re going to add a little fish sauce
for a little saltiness, also garlic.
All right, the sugar is dissolved,
so I’m going to take it off.
Beautiful consistency, our mango sauce is set.
We’re ready to plate.
I’m obviously going to go
with my favorite child first and then we’ll see.
Ooh, that isn’t my favorite.
On our plate, I have a banana leaf.
Not only does it look nice;
it’s going to prevent our summer rolls
from sliding around on the plate.
And we’re talking about edible garnish.
This is our Boston lettuce.
And here are my spring rolls.
[dramatic music]
And these are my spring rolls.
[dramatic music]
And here are my lumpia. [dramatic music]
[gentle music]
I hope my favorite one tastes as good
as much as I love it.
[crunching]
Oh my God. Oh my God.
It’s perfect. Wow.
Holy hell, oh God.
And so crunchy.
It’s perfect. It’s really, really good.
They’re light, they’re flaky.
They have a really good crunch.
All the vegetables are perfectly cooked.
Nothing’s too hard or too soft.
Think I deserve a pat on the shoulder while eat another one.
I might’ve surprised myself with this one.
I like that I can taste the beyond meat.
It’s like a subtle flavor, but it’s not overpowering.
And it goes really well
with like the cabbage and the noodles.
It all just blends in together very nicely.
No words, I don’t know.
I don’t even know what to say.
I mean, you just saw me chow down on this.
This is it.
Close it up.
It’s over, it’s a wrap.
Spring rolls are an Asian-inspired
crispy package of delicious ingredients.
Let’s see how each of our three chefs made theirs.
[dramatic music]
John made plant-forward vegetarian spring rolls
that included mushrooms, cabbage and bamboo.
Mushrooms are a concentrated source
of free amino acids like glutamic acid,
which is part of monosodium glutamate or MSG,
as well as guanosine monophosphate or GMP.
MSG and GMP are white powders by themselves
and don’t taste like much, but when added to food
they activate taste receptors
on our tongues that send signals to our brain,
which are interpreted as umami.
John also included crunchy green cabbage and bamboo.
The cabbage and bamboo are persistently crunchy
because they contain ferulic acid.
Ferulic acid forms bonds
with the carbohydrates in the cell walls.
This prevents the carbohydrates
from being dissolved during cooking,
which would result in the softening of the cell walls
and less crunch.
Natasha also made vegetarian spring rolls,
but included a plant-based meat alternative.
This product relies
on a combination of plant-based ingredients
blended with fats that have been extruded
or pressed through very small openings
so that they mimic the mouthfeel,
color, taste and texture of beef.
She added glass noodles,
also known as cellophane noodles, to her filling.
These translucent, very thin noodles are typically made
from pure starch isolated from beans or sweet potato.
Natasha included mushrooms too,
but she used to dry Shiitakes,
which she soaked in water to rehydrate prior to using.
Rehydrated mushrooms have an intense concentrated flavor.
They’re very dark brown because they’re rich
in browning enzymes called polyphenol oxidase.
This is especially true in the gills.
The feathery-looking underside of the mushroom’s cap
is why that part of the mushroom is usually very dark.
King’s spring roll featured lobster, shrimp and crab meat.
These delicate flavors paired well
with a mild lighter pork meat, which he also included.
You really just have to go with it with your finger.
You would have to feel this.
Notice that the lobster turned bright red
when it was cooked.
That’s because lobsters have a colorful
carotinoid pigment called astaxanthin
that’s naturally attached to a nearby protein.
Once heated, astaxanthin breaks away
from its protein partner
and expresses its characteristic red color.
[dramatic music]
Both John and Natasha used pre-made spring roll wrappers.
John’s wrappers were dry and shelf stable,
made from translucent rice paper that cooks very quickly.
Natasha’s wrappers were frozen, but pliable when defrosted.
They were made with oil and wheat flour
and similar to pasta sheets.
King made his own wrappers
with three simple common ingredients:
all purpose flour, water and salt.
King was careful to add enough water to moisten the flour
so that it formed a cohesive pliable mass,
but not so much that his dough was wet.
A wet dough would have developed gluten
and become too stretchy and chewy.
After filling their spring rolls,
our chefs sealed their wrappers with egg.
Eggs contain proteins and emulsifying phospholipids
that are sticky and adhere well to the wrapper.
Because steam builds up inside a spring roll
when it’s heated, the egg seal is essential
for ensuring the spring rolls don’t burst open when fried.
[dramatic music]
All three of our chefs fried their spring rolls in hot oil.
This ensured crispness as the water
in the wrapper evaporated when it touched the hot oil.
Starches in rice are also very sticky
and slightly mucilaginous,
so it was important that John fried each spring roll
with plenty of room to spare.
If too close, they would stick to one another.
It feels like a standardized test.
Ooh, flashbacks. Natasha and King
used wheat-based wrappers.
King was careful to fry all of his spring rolls
at the same temperature.
Each time he added a spring, roll,
it cooled the oil a bit.
By not overcrowding them in the hot oil.
and by allowing the oil to come back up
to temperature each time a roll was removed,
King ended up with perfect level three spring rolls.
[dramatic music]
John’s sauce mixed sesame oil with soy sauce
and rice vinegar.
Natasha’s sauce was more complex.
She muddled garlic and hot chilies to make a paste,
then cooked it with sugar and vinegar.
Heating sugar in water-soluble vinegar increases viscosity
because sugar molecules, which are made
of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, don’t break apart.
Instead they share bonds with water,
thereby increasing viscosity.
I like that the sauce is spicy and sweet.
It compliments the spring rolls really well.
King’s sauce was based on a diced sweet mango blended
with water to make a thick juice.
Mangoes have a complex flavor profile.
They contain flavor compounds called lactones,
which are also found in peaches
and coconuts and turpines, which are pine-flavored.
Next time you’re in the mood for a crispy spring roll,
we hope you’ll take some of these tips
from our three excellent chefs.