How to make crispy beancurd skin rolls

Fried minced pork rolls are irresistible.

What I like best about them is the combination of woodear mushroom and pork for the filling and the crispy, dried beancurd skin. The woodear mushroom lends a crunchy contrast to the tender minced meat.

These pork rolls taste best freshly fried. A tip I learnt from my father is to not use readily available minced pork. Always select the cut of meat you want and ask the butcher to mince it for you.

I chose pork collar meat, which is fairly lean.

And instead of mincing the prawns, slice them to retain the crunch.

I also added a whole lot of water chestnuts and parsley – to ease my guilt from indulging in fried food and to add excellent flavour to the filling.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 large pieces of dried beancurd skin
• 600g minced pork collar
• 300g prawn, deshelled and cut into small pieces
• 4 pieces of woodear mushroom, soaked and sliced
• 3 dried shiitake mushroom, soaked and chopped
• Half a carrot, shredded
• 5 water chestnuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 stalks of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• 1 beaten egg
• ¹⁄³ tsp five spice powder
• ¹⁄³ tsp pepper
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• Oil for deep-frying

METHOD

1. Place the minced pork, prawn, chopped garlic, shiitake mushroom, woodear mushroom, carrot, water chestnuts and parsley in a bowl and mix well. 

PHOTO: HEDY KHOO

2. Add the beaten egg and mix.

3. Add the cornflour and continue to mix the mixture.

4. Add the five spice powder, salt, pepper and fish sauce.

5. Use a damp cloth to gently wipe both sides of the dried beancurd skin. Cut into squares of around 15cm in length.

6. To assemble, prepare a small bowl of plain water.

7. Place each piece of dried beancurd skin on a clean surface.

8. Spoon a large tablespoon of the meat mixture on the dried beancurd skin. 

PHOTO: HEDY KHOO

9. Lightly dab the edges of the dried beancurd skin with water.

10. Fold over the two sides of the dried beancurd skin. Fold over the bottom edge of the dried beancurd skin and roll it up.

11. Heat up enough oil in a wok to deep-fry the dried beancurd skin rolls.

12. Gently place each roll in the hot oil.

13. Deep-fry over low heat to allow the filling to cook through.

14. Deep-fry until the rolls are golden brown. Remove from oil and place on kitchen paper to drain off excess oil. 

PHOTO: HEDY KHOO