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Alexa's Fresh Spring Rolls

(3) Rate / Review It
50 % would make it again
Main Category: Appetizers & Snacks
Degree of Difficulty: Moderate
Key Ingredients: seafood, rice paper wrappers, veggies
Submitted by: recipesdotca
Cooking level: Expert
This recipe is from Alexa Clark, founder and publisher of the CheapEats Restaurant Guides, co-founder of HoHoTO, and founder/host of the Secret Pickle Supper Club.
  • Prep Time Minutes
  • Cook Time Minutes
  • Ready In Time0 Minutes

Ingredients

Servings: 4
Yield:
  • Rolls

  •  
  • 1 apple (Granny Smith or other tart variety)
  • 8oz crab meat (pseudo crab works well too, in fact I prefer it in this recipe)
  • 1 tbsp chives (you can use ½ tbsp of shallots)
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 carrot
  • 1 bunch coriander, mint or Thai basil (pluck the leaves from the stalks)
  • Spring roll wrappers (the large round hard dried ones made from rice flour)
  • Bean thread noodles (also known as cellophane noodles, rice vermicelli noodle, or crystal noodles)
  •  
  • Dip

  •  
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 Thai chilies (adjust amount to suit your taste)
  •  

Directions

  1. Dice apple, crab and chives finely
  2. Mix together with lemon juice, mayonnaise, and mustard, salt and pepper to taste. (Add a touch of sugar to sweeten, if desired.)
  3. Let rest for at least 15 minutes.
  4. Julienne carrot into short thin sticks.
  5. Pour boiling water over the bean thread noodles and let sit until the noodles are soft, then drain.
  6. Soften a spring roll wrapper in hot water. (I've found the best way is to rotate the wrapper in the water until it's soft... the hotter the water, the less control you have but the faster it softens.)
  7. Lay wrapper on damp cloth
  8. Spread 1-2t of crab mixture in a line 1/3 up from the bottom edge of the wrapper.
  9. Lay a couple of sticks of carrot julienne across the mixture
  10. Lay some bean thread noodle across the carrots.
  11. Place a couple of leaves from the coriander, mint and/or basil on top of the noodles.
  12. Roll up the wrapper like a burrito: (a) Fold in both sides to make squared edges (b) Roll bottom up over the filling and pull to tighten roll all the way up
  13. Let rest on a platter in the fridge with the flap side down as you roll the rest.
  14. Cut into sections on the diagonal with scissors and serve with dip.
  15. To make the dip: Finely chop the garlic and chilies, and mix ingredients together until sugar dissolves. (I use a lidded mason jar and shake to mix.) Let rest for 15-minutes or more to let the flavour meld.

Notes & Tips

Notes & Tips: Variations: add a couple cooked shrimp, a leaf of lettuce, or anything you want. These can be made a day ahead and stored in a sealed container in the fridge as long as the wrappers aren’t too wet. If they are wet, they have a tendency to stick together.

Ratings & Reviews

    •  
    Reviewed on Sep 6, 2012 by alexaclark.
    Thanks Andrea, it's a great appie and one of my go-to recipes for potlucks and picnics. It's also a fun dish to prepare with kids. They can't do anything wrong and can do a lot right! They can even adjust and tweak the fillings to their tastes. Just make sure you keep the chiles in the dip at kid-friendly levels.
    •  
    Reviewed on Sep 6, 2012 by Andrea.
    Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe Alexa!

Reviews

    •  
    Reviewed on Sep 6, 2012 by alexaclark.
    Thanks Andrea, it's a great appie and one of my go-to recipes for potlucks and picnics. It's also a fun dish to prepare with kids. They can't do anything wrong and can do a lot right! They can even adjust and tweak the fillings to their tastes. Just make sure you keep the chiles in the dip at kid-friendly levels.
    •  
    Reviewed on Sep 6, 2012 by Andrea.
    Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe Alexa!
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