Make Spring Rolls Your Own With This Expert Filling Tip

Chinese spring rolls are perfectly crisp and succulent, making for a simple yet truly extraordinary savory dish. Often served alongside a sweet and zippy sauce, this appetizer features a balance of flavors and textures. This traditional fried dim sum, which is different from egg rolls, has been around since ancient times and spread across the globe thanks to its delicious savory flavors.

A fixture on a wide array of Asian restaurant menus, the dish is also pretty easy to whip up at home, and according to Chee Ping Chang of Hakkasan Miami, there's plenty to love about making them. Speaking with Chowhound, he points to spring rolls' versatility as one of their best features. "The choices are endless. You can choose your favorite ingredients," he notes, hinting at his flair for creativity.

Still, if you're not sure where to begin when frying up homemade spring rolls for the first time, there are some traditional, basic components you can depend on. "A classic Chinese filling would be shredded cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, carrots, and pork," Chang says. From there you can branch out, stuffing the rolls' delicate wrappers with everything from shrimp to bean sprouts. But to really make spring rolls your own, let the chef de cuisine guide your way with his unique expert tip to give your filling a beefy boost. 

Although minced pork is a common protein for traditional spring rolls thanks to its toothsome, fatty texture and slight sweetness, Chee Ping Chang prefers a different meat. "In my favorite filling, I replace the pork with braised beef," he says about his ideal spring rolls. The swap really elevates this appetizer, as the braising makes for a truly tender and flavorful bite. Beef shank is a popular choice, but one underrated cut to try braising is beef neck; cook either low and slow in aromatics like ginger and garlic along with condiments including rice wine and soy sauce to go with your water or stock. After a few hours, the meat should be fork-tender and intensely flavorful — perfect for filling spring rolls.

While braised beef is Chang's personal favorite, at the Miami location of Hakkasan, he fries up shatter-crisp rolls that are stuffed with duck. They're served in pairs alongside a tartly fruity and sweet plum sauce.

Once you've decided on a protein, you can fill in the other blanks, adding a splash of color with julienned bell peppers or some earthiness with oyster or shiitake mushrooms. You can even switch up how you cook them, whether you prefer a batch of spring rolls made in the air fryer or shallow frying them in a pan with some peanut oil, don't be afraid to get creative. After all, that's what Chang's approach to this classic dim sum is all about.