Shrimp Spring Rolls

I recently defrosted a bag of shrimp, and after not using as much as I thought I would need. I was thinking what can I do with the leftover shrimp that I might not have to use now. So I decided to make spring rolls. If you don't know the difference between a spring roll and and egg roll the spring roll has a very thin rice paper sheet and the egg roll uses a thicker dough for its wrappers. Both very good but I wanted something that was a bit lighter. 

I've made crab wontons from scratch before but never spring rolls, thankfully I had a package of wrappers in the freezer on hand. I also had a package of dried wood ear mushrooms, which is an asian staple, they are a crunchy sort of mushroom if you can imagine that. I also had a bit of leftover cabbage. 

Ingredients:

Shrimp
Wood ear mushrooms
cabbage shredded
carrots shredded
garlic
ginger
sesame oil
soy sauce
shrimp roll wrapper
canola oil for frying

First thing you need to do is soak the mushrooms, while those soak mince your shrimp and garlic and grate ginger into a bowl. Use as much garlic as you like, I used a bit too many cloves, even though we love garlic it was a bit strong in the spring rolls.

After the wood ears have softened enough thinly slice them if they aren't the precut variety, and add to the shrimp mixture. Add a tablespoon of sesame oil and soy.

In the meantime, sauté the cabbage and carrots in a bit of oil to soften them up. 

When your cabbage mixture has cooled you can start by assembling the rolls. One teaspoon of shrimp mixture and one of the cabbage mixture placed toward the front of the wrapper. Fold the front triangle over first and then the sides and then just keep rolling. Once you come to the end take your fingers and dip them into water and rub the seam before closing. And there you have it, a shrimp spring roll. Now you can do two things, you can choose to fry them up immediately, or you can freeze them for another day. If the shrimp has been defrosted for more than a day, I suggest you fry them up. If you feel that it's still fresh, freeze it and you have a quick snack next time you have a taste for something crunchy and hot.

I like to use ponzu sauce for dipping these, but if you don't have any on hand or don't know what it is you can substitute with equal parts soy and real lemon juice, not the stuff from a bottle. Most of the time thats fine but I tend to think it tastes like windex.