Chaufa Spring Rolls with Sweet Chilli-Lime Dip
Chicken-and-egg chaufa rolled tightly in thin wrappers and fried until crackling: a hand-held chifa snack for sharing.
Method
Cut the chicken into small 1 cm pieces and slice the spring onions. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat and stir-fry the chicken for until cooked through. Push it to one side, crack the egg into the space and scramble it, then add the ginger, spring onions, rice, soy sauce and oyster sauce and toss for until loose and dry. Turn off the heat and stir in the sesame oil.
Add in this stepVegetable oil (for stir-frying) 1 tbspBoneless chicken thighs 120 gEggs 1Fresh ginger, finely chopped 5 gSpring onions 2Cooked long-grain rice, cold 200 gSoy sauce 1 tbspOyster sauce 2 tspToasted sesame oil 1 tsp
medium-high heatSpread the fried rice on a large plate and let it cool completely, about . Hot filling makes the wrappers soggy and they burst. Meanwhile, mix the flour with 1 to 2 teaspoons of water into a thick glue.
Add in this stepPlain flour (for sealing paste) 2 tsp
Lay a wrapper like a diamond and spoon 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling in a line near the bottom corner. Fold the bottom corner over, fold in the sides and roll up tightly without trapping air, then brush the tip with flour paste to seal. Make 6 rolls and keep them under a damp tea towel so they don't dry out.
Add in this stepSpring roll wrappers (about 20 cm; thaw if frozen) 6
Pour at least 4 cm of frying oil into a deep pot (never more than a third full) and heat it on medium heat to about 170 °C; a wooden chopstick should be ringed by a steady stream of small bubbles. Lower the rolls in seam side down and fry in 2 batch(es) for per batch, turning, until deep golden. Drain on a rack. Slide them in gently to avoid splashes and never leave the pot unattended.
Add in this stepVegetable oil for frying ¾ L
medium heatStir the lime juice and coriander into the sweet chilli sauce. Cut the rolls in half on the diagonal and serve hot with the dip.
Add in this stepSweet chilli sauce 2 tbspLime juice 2 tspChopped coriander (cilantro) 2 tsp
Cook's tip
The filling must be cold and dry. Rolled, wrapped rolls freeze well: fry them from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes. In an air fryer, brush with oil and cook at 200 °C for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once.
Cooking it at camp
Make the filling and rolls at home and bring them in the cooler. Deep-frying at a campsite is risky, so shallow-fry in 1 cm of oil in a wide pan, turning often, or brush with oil and cook on a griddle plate.