Pork Bulgogi Fresh Spring Rolls was an idea I had when I was trying to make healthy gluten-free lunches for my daughter. As I had mentioned before, both my daughter and I don’t do well if we keep eating foods with gluten. First indigestion, then the bloating and then of course, having to visit the ladies room just too often, too many times…ugh…
I think in 2011, I wrote about how I made rice triangles (Joomukbap) for my daughter’s gluten free lunches. Besides Joomukbap, and simple spam Kimbap, couple of fresh spring rolls wrapped in rice wrapper was probably the most frequent lunchbox menu for my daughter. As you may know, Vietnamese fresh spring rolls usually contain pork and shrimp. Now, when I made spring rolls for my daughter’s lunch, I often used cooked chicken breasts. But that quickly became boring. So I started to experiment…
Leftover Bulgogi was a natural substitute and that was pretty good. But then I tried Pork Bulgogi one day and the Pork Bulgogi Fresh Spring Rolls was an absolute hit!! It totally made my day when I asked my daughter how the lunch was and she answered with such delight “Mom!! It was soooo good!!” I haven’t had to make her lunch for few years now and so I haven’t made these in a while. But recently I had a craving for these Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls so I thought I would make it and share with you all too~
Have a fun and easy Spring Rolls Party!
I was once invited to a lunch party at a Korean mom’s home. She hosted a ‘Make your own Spring Roll’ lunch party. She had a huge plate at the center of the table – loaded with all different vegetables (carrots, bell peppers, bean sprouts, cucumbers), different proteins (chicken, tofu, shrimp) and thin noodles. Each of us made our own spring rolls with our favorite stuffing, wrapped them up and ate them. I think I ate so much that day I almost got sick!! haha… BTW, this is a great way to entertain without all the stress. Nothing has to be cooked last minute, you can prepare all the vegetables and protein ahead of time. You can plate them all pretty and then just enjoy the party without worrying that something is too cold, too hot, too over cooked…if you know what I mean. 🙂
Servings: 6 rolls Time: Prep 20 min + Cook 10 min Difficulty: Easy
** Cooking Time does NOT include time for pork bulgogi marinade. Allow extra 20 min for making pork bulgogi or make in advance.
Ingredients
- 4 oz (130 g) pork bulgogi (see recipe) – made with pork belly
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 1/2 English cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, julienned
- 6 medium size cooked shrimp (thawed 31-40 count/lb cooked frozen shrimp)
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 1 cup of mint leaves
- 1 cup thin rice or regular noodles or kelp noodles (optional)
- 6 sheets spring roll rice wrapper
- 1 bowl of warm water for rice wrapper
- vietnamese or thai sweet chili sauce
- Marinate slices of pork belly or neck/shoulder/leg. See my pork bulgogi post for more details. I had some pork belly slices (samgyeopsal) leftover so I made bulgogi with it.
- Thaw shrimp according to package instructions. Shrimp should be fully thawed by the time you finish preparing the vegetables below.
- Peel and julienne carrot.
- Slice avocado into 1/2 in thick slices.
- Wash and julienne cucumber.
- Rinse bean sprouts, mint leaves and drain.
- If using noodles, cook according to package instructions. If using kelp noodles (천사채 cheonsache), just rinse. I did not have noodles so it is not included in the pictures.
- Slice shrimp sideways so one shrimp becomes two thin slices.
Slicing shrimp sideways - Cook pork samgyeopsal bulgogi in pan on medium high heat until browned on both sides.
Pork belly bulgogi frying in pan - Arrange all ingredients on a plate.
Ingredients for Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls - Boil water and cool or mix with cold water to make a warm bath for the rice wrapper. If the water is too hot, the wrapper will curl up.
- Here is how you make the roll:
- Submerge rice wrapper in water for few seconds and take it out (while it is still kind of stiff) and put on your plate. I found this brown rice spring roll wrapper from Whole Foods and I think I like this better than the common white rice wrapper. It is more flavorful and also more healthy.
Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrapper wet brown rice wrapper for spring rolls - Choose your stuffing ingredients and layer them in the center of your wrapper.
Pork bulgogi, carrots, shrimp, bean sprouts, cucumber, avocado and mint for spring roll - Fold in each of the side.
wrapping fresh spring roll - Roll one edge in and continue rolling like rolling kimbap.
- Submerge rice wrapper in water for few seconds and take it out (while it is still kind of stiff) and put on your plate. I found this brown rice spring roll wrapper from Whole Foods and I think I like this better than the common white rice wrapper. It is more flavorful and also more healthy.
- Serve with some chili sauce and some nice hot chrysanthemum tea.
Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls
I LOVE my Korean Chrysanthemum Tea (국화차 Guk hwa Cha) with Spring Rolls!
Commonly called Indian Chrysanthemum, this cute little Chrysanthemum flowers are dried and then made into tea. It is a tea popular in East Asia. In addition to the lovely aroma and flavor, in oriental herbal medicine, it has also long been known to be beneficial for your liver which then helps your eyes and clears the mind. The fragrance is not too flowery so it goes well with a lot of Asian foods so give it a try. BTW, I found some organic Chrysanthemum tea and added it to my store.
Well, that’s all folks!
Enjoy!!
JinJoo
Pork Bulgogi Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- 4 oz pork bulgogi (see recipe) – made with pork belly
- 1 avocado (sliced)
- 1 carrot (julienned)
- 1/2 English cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers (julienned)
- 6 medium size cooked shrimp (thawed 31-40 count / lb cooked frozen shrimp)
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 1 cup mint leaves
- 1 cup thin rice or regular noodles or kelp noodles (optional)
- 6 sheets spring roll rice wrapper
- 1 bowl of warm water for rice wrapper
- vietnamese or thai sweet chili sauce
Instructions
- Marinate slices of pork belly or neck/shoulder/leg. See my pork bulgogi recipe for more details. I had some pork belly slices (samgyeopsal) leftover so I used that.
- Thaw shrimp according to package instructions. Shrimp should be fully thawed by the time you finish preparing the vegetables below.
- Peel and julienne carrot.
- Slice avocado into 1/2 in thick slices.
- Wash and julienne cucumber.
- Rinse bean sprouts, mint leaves and drain.
- If using noodles, cook according to package instructions. If using kelp noodles (천사채 cheonsache), just rinse. I did not have noodles so it is not included in the pictures.
- Slice shrimp sideways so one shrimp becomes two thin slices.
- Cook pork samgyeopsal bulgogi in pan on medium high heat until browned on both sides.
- Arrange all ingredients on a plate.
- Boil water and cool or mix with cold water to make a warm bath for the rice wrapper.
- Wet spring roll rice wrapper and roll with all ingredients according to package directions.
What a great recipe! Light and hearty at the same time. Thank you so much. My husband and I loved this recipe!!! I also made your dwejibulgogi 😋so so good !
I’m so happy to hear that!! I know Dwejibulgogi goes so well with Spring Rolls, doesn’t it? Thank you so much for your kind comment.
Love your spring rolls and the creativity that you bring to your cooking. Fusion cooking is a big deal these days: Asian Fusion, Pacific Rim Fusion, Island Fusion, American Fusion, and Korean Fusion. Combining ingredients and techniques from several cultures into one dish opens up a whole new world of possibilities. And having a party where guests are given a table of ingredients and invited to create their own fusion wraps, for example, is a way to give guests who may have food issues, like gluten, a chance to create something that they can tolerate and enjoy the experience. Know what I mean?
Hi Michael! I know what you mean – totally. Before my recent trip to Hawaii (which was now already 2 years ago..) I was really not sure about fusion, especially Korean fusion because my past experience has not been great. But having had some great fusion food in Hawaii, it got me to re-evaluate fusion. And yes, as you said, it does definitely open up a whole new set of possibilities – as long as they are good! And yes, the party where guests are to create their own wraps, it also saves you from making all those wraps!! Most people love parties like that except for my lazy husband who says it’s too much work! HAHA… thanks so much for sharing your thoughts as always..
Stunning photos! This spring rolls looks so tempting and makes me salivating. Looks simple and nutritious dishes. Thanks for sharing
Thank you for the compliment!! I love it. Yes, it’s really simple to do and you can make so many variations – enjoy!
Looks so tasty! I’ll have to try this and hope they roll up better than my attempt last year at Vietnamese spring rolls! And the chyrsanthemum tea sounds delicate and delish.
Thank you!! Haha.. I know, I kind of had couple failed attempts at rolling – kind of different from Kimbap since the wrapper can be really sticky!! Yes, you have to try the chrysanthemum tea~