Gluten-Free Crispy Shrimp Spring Rolls
I sought out to make a gluten free, crispy Chinese style Spring Roll. The secret is rice paper, which fries up into a shatteringly crisp shell with a slight chew underneath. In the UK, an Asian Spring Roll is crispy and deep-fried. In the US, the same words often mean the fresh, uncooked summer-style rolls in translucent rice paper; and the crispy fried version is usually called an egg roll. Even though these are made with Rice Paper, they’re representative of the British Crispy Spring Roll; the American egg roll kind, though traditional egg rolls use a thicker, blistered wheat wrapper, while these rice paper ones come out crisper and more delicate. They’re light and dainty with an aromatic, savory interior of shrimp, veggies, ginger and a garlic.
Finding these three ingredient Ocean's Halo Rice Paper Wraps with just organic rice, tapioca, and salt was the catalyst to this journey.
Crispy Shrimp Rice Paper Rolls
Organic ingredients. Yields approx. 18–20 rolls.
Ingredients
20 rice paper wrappers
1 liter avocado oil, for frying
Filling
2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 cups finely shredded cabbage
1 cup finely shredded carrot
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, grated
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1.5 Tbsp tamari soy sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 egg white
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
Dipping Sauce
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 tsp garlic, grated
Method
Make the dipping sauce. Whisk all dipping sauce ingredients together until the honey dissolves. Set aside.
Prepare the filling. Finely chop the shrimp to a mince. In a large bowl, combine with the cabbage, carrot, spring onion, garlic, and ginger. Add the egg white, corn starch, salt, toasted sesame oil, and tamari, and mix until well combined.
Roll. Set a shallow bowl of water next to your work surface. Dip a rice paper wrapper into the water for 3–5 seconds, then lay it flat. Spoon 2 Tbsp of filling onto the wrapper and roll up as pictured below. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
Fry. Heat the avocado oil over high heat until it shimmers and a small piece of filling sizzles immediately when dropped in - roughly 325°F if you're using a thermometer. Using kitchen tongs, carefully lower in 6 rolls at a time, or whatever fits without crowding the pan. Reduce the heat to medium so the oil is still bubbling but not too vigorously. Cook for about 5 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden and crisp.
Drain and serve. Remove from the oil and transfer to a perforated rack with parchment paper underneath to catch any drips. A rack keeps the rolls stay crisp on all sides. Serve warm with the Dipping Sauce.
Notes
I used to be terrified of deep frying anything, and I seldom do. I can’t think of anything else I’d need to deep fry apart from fried chicken, and these. I could’ve opted to cook the filling first, and then shallow fry but decided to take this route. If you take one thing away from me, it's this: make sure your utensils, your hands, and the area around the stove are completely dry when you're working with hot oil. The worst thing you can do is rinse your tongs and dip them into the oil with water still on them - it'll sputter violently and it's genuinely dangerous. Stay dry, and the whole thing is actually quite cathartic.
Shred, mince and grate your veggies and aromatics
Filling mixed and ready to roll
Sauce ingredients mixed until honey dissolves
Rolls ready to go
Use a wide heavy bottomed pan deep enough to fill a liter of oil with some space. Heat the avocado oil over high heat until it shimmers and a small piece of filling sizzles immediately when dropped in - roughly 325°F if you're using a thermometer.
Using kitchen tongs, carefully lower in 6 rolls at a time, or whatever fits without crowding the pan. Reduce the heat to medium so the oil is still bubbling but not too vigorously. Cook for about 5 minutes, turning once or twice, until golden and crisp.
Prepare perforated rack with parchment paper underneath to catch any drips. A rack keeps the rolls stay crisp on all sides.
Frying + drying stations
The rice paper fries up into a shatteringly crisp shell with a slight chew underneath.
If you can dream it, you can create it.
Serve warm with dipping sauce.
Light and dainty with an aromatic, savory interior of shrimp, veggies, ginger and a garlic.