We eat a lot of pasta, fajitas, pizza, and meat and potato meals around here. Sometimes it’s good to change things up a little, and these little spring rolls were a major hit in the change-it-up department.
This filling is fantastic in regular spring roll wrappers, in wonton cups, or wrapped in lettuce leaves. I happened to have rice paper wrappers on hand this time, which actually baked up much better than I’d expected, but don’t feel you need to be limited to rice wrappers. Someone dear to me who shall remain unnamed informed me she can’t handle them because it’s like eating food wrapped in a certain kind of rubber…seriously, who can ever look at them the same again?! While the rice wraps mean this is a fantastic gluten free dish, you could just as easily do lettuce wraps for the same effect with less potential for traumatic table talk.
Regardless of how you use it, you NEED to make this filling and just put it in something, because it is AH-mazing. So simple, packed with flavour and freshness, this is a regular combo now in our house. I’ve adapted the original recipe from a contribution in our family cookbook to omit things I don’t regularly have on hand, like oyster sauce and water chestnuts, but if you DO have those things on hand on the regular, they would also be great additions. I love flexible recipes and good savoury sauces, and I love bean sprouts. Make-your-own-takeout foods are also a huge hit with me since we pretty much never get takeout, but I kinda love it. I hope you’ll give these a try!
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 lb chicken breasts, chopped small
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 slice fresh ginger, minced, or ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper, seeded and diced
- 6 large mushrooms, finely chopped
- 1 stalk celery, halved lengthwise and finely chopped
- Handful fresh bean sprouts
- 1 head iceberg lettuce, romaine, or endive OR 12 rice paper spring roll wrappers
- Plum sauce (for dipping - optional)
- SAUCE:
- ⅛ cup vegetable oil
- ⅛ soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- ½ Tbsp white vinegar
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Whisk together all sauce ingredients in small measuring cup and set aside.
- Heat vegetable oil in large frying pan on medium-high heat. When hot, add chicken, garlic, ginger and green onions. Sauté until chicken is browned and cooked through. Add red pepper, mushrooms and celery, then stir in sauce.
- If sauce is too thin, combine 1 Tbsp cornstarch with 2 Tbsp cold water in a small bowl and stir into sauce in pan to make it thicken.
- Serve the meat "taco style" wrapped in lettuce, or wrap in rice paper wrappers: soak one rice paper wrap at a time in a shallow pie plate filled with warm water just until pliable (about 10 seconds). Remove to dry surface and scoop 1-2 Tbsp of meat mixture into the low centre. Fold up bottom, fold in sides, then roll to enclose filling completely. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining wraps and filling.
- Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes, turning rolls once with tongs halfway through cooking time. Serve with plum sauce for dipping.
- Serves 6 as an appetizer, 2-3 as a main course.
Oooo I love the sound of this filling! We are huge teriyaki fans so I know this would go over well. And so fun to put it in the spring rolls!
Discovered your blog on Tasty Kitchen and I am looking forward to following you! These spring rolls look absolutely delicious, fantastic recipe!
Happy Blogging!
Happy Valley Chow