Connie’s notes
Growing up, the only way we consumed canned tuna was to mix the drained fish with mayo and spread the mixture on bread. I can’t count the times that my brother and I brought tuna sandwich to school. Next to egg salad sandwich, it was our mother’s favorite thing to make and she made it often.
It wasn’t until after I got married that I was introduced to the many virtues of canned tuna. I learned from my mother-in-law that canned tuna makes a good base for fried spring roll filling. Her version was simpler. Just drained tuna, fried potatoes, salt and pepper.
In this recipe, instead of just potatoes, I added carrot too. Both root vegetables were cut into small cubes and deep fried until lightly crisp and cooked all the way through. If there’s enough oil in the frying pan and it is hot enough, the frying shouldn’t take more than four minutes.
Now, note this. You have to give the fried vegetables time to cool to room temperature before mixing it into the filling. Hot filling makes soggy spring rolls so give the fried potato and carrot cubes time to cool.
And as they cool, you have the perfect opportunity to drain the tuna. Drain it very well. Like heat, excess liquid is also bad for spring roll filling. So, just let the tuna drain as the vegetables cool.
Once the vegetables have cooled and the tuna has drained sufficiently, place them in a mixing bowl and add the rest of the ingredients for the filling. I added scallions for freshness, and chili flakes for a little kick.
Here’s a guide to wrapping spring rolls.
- Place the filling across the center of the wrapper.
- Fold the corner (or edge if you’re using a round wrapper) of the wrapper nearest you over the filling.
- Take one corner (or edge) on the side and fold it inward. The fold should be where the filling ends. Do the same with the opposite side.
- Brush the edges farthest from you with the egg wash or water.
- Start rolling the spring roll away from you, rolling as tightly as you can. Keep on rolling until you reach the edges brushed with egg wash or water.
Ingredients
- 2 cups vegetable cooking oil for frying
- 1 medium potato (peeled or not) cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1 medium carrot (peeled or not) cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1 can tuna chunks or solid in brine
- 1 bunch scallions
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ teaspoom freshly ground black pepper or to taste
- 1 egg beaten
- 12 six-inch spring roll wrappers separated
Instructions
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying pan.
- Fry the potato and carrot cubes until lightly crisp (three to four minutes over high heat). Scoop out, spread on a plate lined with paper towels, and cool.
- Open the can of tuna and drain off the liquid.
- In a bowl, put the drained tuna, potato, carrot, scallions, chili flakes, salt, pepper and half of the beaten egg. Mix.
- Place about a heaping tablespoonful of filling at the center of a wrapper and roll, sealing the edges with the remaining half of the beaten egg.
- Reheat the oil until you see fine wisps of smoke above the surface. Fry the spring rolls until golden, in batches if necessary so as not to overcrowd the pan.
- Serve the spring rolls immediately. You may cut them into halves, if you wish. You can serve them with any dipping sauce that you like.
A la chicken tikka
