Crab & Cheese Spring Rolls
These are delicious and easy to prepare. Keep in mind, this is in no way Chinese. The number of spring rolls you make from this will depend on the size of the wrappers you use, either 8.5 x 8.5 inch or 5.5 x 5.5 inch, either size will work. I used 5.5 x 5.5 inch wrappers and made 15 spring rolls, so using the larger ones, you will make less.
Ingredients
- 15 spring roll wrappers
- 250 grams imitation crab sticks, (8 oz)
- 250 grams Cream cheese, room temp, (8 oz)
- ¾ cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
- 2-3 tabelspoons mayo
- 3 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2-3 spring onions, sliced, white and green parts
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1-2 tablespoons water
- sweet chili sauce, for serving, or dipping sauces of your choice
Instructions
- If your spring roll wrappers are frozen, take them out and place on the counter for 1-2 hours before you start. Take out the cream cheese, unwrap that and place in a mixing bowl for about an hour, to come up to room temperature and soften, or use a spreadable cream cheese.
- Unwrap the crab sticks and chop them, then shred or break them apart with your fingers. Here they are just chopped, not shredded yet.
- Prep the spring onion and garlic.
- Mash up the cream cheese up with a heavy spoon to get it mixable.
- To the bowl, add the mayo, Mozzarella cheese, Worcestershire sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar. Mix to combine.
- Add the crab, garlic, and spring onion.
- Mix to combine, now your filling is ready. Go ahead and mix together the corn starch and water in a small bowl, this is your glue to seal the edges of the spring rolls.
- Rolling, for this step, it is best to have two people, one to pull the wrappers, one to roll. Lay a spring roll wrapper, smooth side down on the counter with one corner pointed towards you. Place about 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of filling near the corner closest to you. Fold the corner nearest you up and over the filling and roll away until you are at the widest point of the wrapper. Use your fingers and dip into the glue and rub that on the two side that are away from you, be generous. Now fold one side, left or right, towards the middle, the repeat with the other side, now it should look like an open envelope. Now continue rolling away from you to complete the roll. If the point flap does not stay glued down, just dab a bit more glue on it. Repeat until the filling is all used. Once you have done this a few times this actually goes pretty fast. The reason for the two people is you do not want the wrappers drying or they will tear when pulling them apart. If only you are making these, cover the wrappers with a damp towel while you roll each one.
- Completed spring rolls.
- When you are ready to fry them, heat about ½ inch of oil in a pan, you want it hot but not smoking. When the oil is hot, fry 4 to 5 rolls at a time until golden brown then turn over until the other side is golden brown. Drain on paper towels and continue frying in batches until all are cooked. Keep in mind, the filling in these is soft and some rolls may ooze a bit of cheese and filling into oil, that accounts for the dark specks you see on the rolls, just cosmetic, no harm.
- Serve with sweet chili sauce for dipping, or other sauces of your choice. Enjoy as an appetizer or even as a main dish. These are excellent even without a dipping sauce.
Notes
The crab sticks are 52 Baht, the cream cheese is 108 Baht for Caroline brand (Thai), and figure about 60 Baht for the Mozzarella. For 15 spring rolls, this is about 48 cents per spring roll. If using and import brand of cream cheese, figure about 60 cents per spring roll. Figure 1-2 rolls as a serving as an appetizer (Low cost), and 3-4 rolls as a main dish with a nice side. (High cost).