Reheated fried spring rolls? Isn’t that awful? Not if you know how to reheat them properly.
The most common mistake when reheating fried spring rolls is to use oil. I tell you, there is enough oil in the spring roll wrappers and you don’t need more.
The second most common mistake is to reheat the spring rolls using high heat. High heat is essential when cooking the spring rolls because the wrappers are uncooked at that point. But after they have been fried, subjecting them to high heat again is a sure way to burn them.
So, the trick? First, it is best to use a non-stick pan which has been lightly heated. Arrange the cold spring rolls in a single layer and reheat. Low heat only. After about three minutes, turn them over and reheat the other side. When you turn them over, you will already notice that the side that had already been reheated has turned crisp once more.
If you don’t have a non-stick pan, use a stainless steel frying pan with a thick bottom. Heat the pan (medium heat) without adding any oil until you see a fine smoke swirling from the bottom. Remove the pan from the stove, brush lightly with vegetable cooking oil, return to the stove, turn the heat down to low, lay the cold spring rolls in a single layer and proceed as above.
Of course, there is a presumption here that you cooked the spring rolls correctly to begin with. If there is too much moisture in the filling, fried spring rolls turn soggy within minutes from cooking. And no amount of reheating will make them crisp. So, when making fried spring rolls with a lot of fresh vegetables (carrots, onions, etc.), you might want to squeeze out the excess water before mixing them in.
So, there. That was how I reheated the cold fried spring rolls for the girls’ packed school lunch. But what did I pack for their recess? Ah, it’s herb and cheese muffins today which I also had for breakfast.
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