Fried Rice Spring Rolls

Spring rolls filled with pineapple fried rice, shrimp, and fresh basil.

Fried rice is one of those dishes where you can add just about anything your heart desires. Or, in my case, whatever is in the fridge. I’ve stir-fried cabbage, zucchini, cauliflower, corn, sweet pea pods, asparagus, and even black beans into my fried rice. You name it, and it’s probably been in my fried rice. It’s such a versatile dish that adapts to many flavors. When I’m really lazy to cook, I’ll add some meat or seafood and it becomes a one-pot meal.

But, Big Bang Bites is all about bites and eating with your hands, so I put my pineapple fried rice in a spring roll with cold shrimp to turn it into a great appie. I have fresh basil growing in my garden, so besides giving the roll a nice flavor, the leaves added some color contrast in back of the shrimp for a great presentation. Now fried rice has a new face!

Makes 16 pieces

• 8 medium shrimp
• 2 T oil
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked rice  - medium grain because it’s a little sticky and holds together in the roll
• 1 small serrano chili pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 T soy sauce
• 1 T fish sauce (found in the Asian food aisle)
• ½ tsp. sugar
• 2 T chopped chives or a couple of stalks of green onion
• 3 pineapple rings, chopped
• 16 basil leaves
• salt to taste, if needed
• 8 spring roll skins, 8½-inch size  (found in the Asian food aisle)

Remove shells from shrimp and boil in water just until opaque. Drain and rinse under cold water to cool. Cut each shrimp in half, length-wise, removing any veins along the back. Set aside.

Cook onions in oil on medium heat until tender. Add garlic and cook another 30 seconds. Add cooked rice, breaking up any chunks, and stir-fry for a couple of minutes.

Add the chili pepper, soy sauce, fish sauce, dash of sugar, chives, and pineapple. Stir and cook until everything is well incorporated. Remove from heat.

Heat about one inch of water in a frying pan until warm. Dip a spring roll skin in the warm water for a few seconds. Place on cutting board to assemble. Lay two pieces of shrimp length-wise and colorful side down along the middle of the skin. Place a basil leaf over each shrimp. Put about a quarter cup of rice on top.

Fold it like a burrito. Fold the edge closest to you over the rice. Fold the two sides over your log of rice. Press into a tight log, then roll the log forward. If you notice in my picture, you can really see the shrimp clearly through the skin. If your last roll forward has too much skin left over, you might have a double layer over the shrimp, which will make it harder to see the pretty colors. What you can do is fold the last edge towards you to make a little hem. Then continue to roll forward. Cut in half, so a shrimp is on each piece.