Red Chicken-Curry Spring Rolls

I am so proud of these! I had made an earlier version that didn’t work so well because the type of spring roll wrap didn’t hold up against the frying oil. The wrapper I used for these worked exactly as it should.

This recipe is basically a red chicken-curry cooked down to an ultra-thick sauce, added to some cooked cellophane noodles and wrapped in the spring-roll skin, then fried.

They’re totally bad for you because the skins absorb tons of oil, but they taste soooo gooood.

These would be great finger food for a party or get together.

This recipe makes about 8 spring rolls

What you’ll need

• About 1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 0.75-inch pieces
• 1 14-ounce can coconut cream (coconut milk works, too, but don’t use “lite” coconut milk)
• 2T red curry paste
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 – 2T fish sauce
• 2 – 4 lime leaves or a squirt of lime juice (optional)
• 1 bundle of mung bean vermicelli, cooked and drained
• Spring-roll wrappers
• Neutral oil for frying

What to do

Make the curry:

Open a can of coconut milk without shaking it up. Heat up a wok with a little oil, and when it starts to get hot, add 3 – 4T of the thick coconut paste at the top of the can. Let it fry for a bit, stirring until some of the oil starts to separate out—about 3 – 5 minutes, depending on how hot your heat is set.

Add the curry paste and mix it in with the frying coconut paste. After a couple of minutes, add the chicken and onion pieces, mixing them into the curry/coconut paste until they’re covered. Add the remainder of the coconut milk (the bottom should be watery) and mix it in with the ingredients already in the pan. Stir in the fish sauce and the lime leaves/lime juice, if using.

Lower the heat for a light simmer, and let the curry cook for 5 minutes, until you see the simmer is at the right level. Let the curry cook for 30 minutes, then stir it up a bit. You’ll notice that the level of coconut milk has been reduced. Cook it for 25 more minutes.

Continue cooking the curry, stirring it occasionally, and noting how much coconut milk remains. When enough has cooked off, leaving a very think liquid, let it continue to cook while keeping a close eye on it—maybe lower the heat a bit, if you like. When it’s cooked down to a thick paste, it’s done. Remove from the heat and set it aside to cool a bit.

Now for the assembly and fry:

You can look on the web for video instructions on folding and wrapping square spring-roll wrappers, or use my written instructions:

Have a small bowl of water next to where you’re working. Diagonally lay a spring roll wrapper on your counter or a cutting board. One of the corners should be pointing at you. Next, spoon about 3 or so tablespoons of the curry in a line about 5 inches forward from the corner that points at you. Add some vermicelli to the curry.

Next, fold the corner nearest you up and over the curry, then fold over the left and right corners over the curry, making a roll about 4 inches long. With the bottom, left and right corners tucked in, carefully and tightly wrap up the roll in a forward motion until you nearly reach the far corner. Hold the roll in place with one hand, and with the other, wet the unwrapped corner with a basting brush or your finger and continue rolling until the corner is secured against the spring roll. Repeat this for each spring roll.

Midway through wrapping your spring rolls, begin heating about 3 inches of oil to 350 degrees F in whatever vessel you’re using. When all the spring rolls are assembled and the oil is hot enough, fry as many spring rolls as you can without crowding the cooking vessel. Cook for about 3 – 5 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Set them on a paper towel-lined plate when you remove them from the oil. Repeat till they’re all cooked.

Let them cool a bit and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce.