Coconut Custard Spring Rolls
IT is arguably the best Chinese takeaway in my town that serves these as a dessert. China Corner close for about a month at the start of every year and I know I can't be the only person around town craving these sweet spring rolls. Deep frying custard in a spring roll wrapper remains a rather strange concept to me, and I'm pretty sure it's not traditional, but once you taste them none of that matters.
It's a crisp, wafer-thin pastry filled with warm, velvety custard that pops with the refreshing flavour of sweet coconut. They're surprisingly easy to make and you can be assured they'll go down a treat!
What you'll need:
1 cup thickened cream
400ml can of coconut cream
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons cornflour
1 packet of spring roll wrappers (NOT the rice paper ones!)
Peanut oil, enough to half-fill a frypan
What to do:
In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Set aside for now.
Combine both the creams and vanilla in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in a figure eight motion until the mixture steams continuously.
Use a ladle to put one spoonful of hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk immediately until combined well. Repeat this around four times so the egg yolk mixture is quite thin and warm.
Put the cream mixture back over a medium-high heat. Whisk as you slowly pour in a constant stream of the yolk mixture. Continue to whisk until the mixture thickens and reduces by at least a quarter. Turn off the heat and press glad wrap onto the custard to prevent it from forming a skin. Let it cool for at least half an hour.
Carefully separate the wrappers and grab a bowl of water. Place about three dessert spoons of custard on the pastry a few centimetres from the edge closest to you. Put the edge over the top of the custard and roll away from you. Fold the sides in to the centre and roll again until you get to the far edge of pastry. Wet the edge with the water and continue to roll. Set aside, sealed side down. Repeat until you have run out of pastry or custard.
Heat the oil over medium-high heat. (Test it by dropping in a breadcrumb or something similar. If it sizzles, the oil is hot enough.) Once heated, carefully lower in the spring rolls in batches of three or four. Once golden all over, remove and drain on paper towel. Continue until all spring rolls have been cooked.
Dust with icing sugar and serve warm. Enjoy!
