Teriyaki Tofu Spring Rolls with Strawberries

5 from 3 votes

Servings: 12 spring rolls

Author: Lisa Lin

These fresh tofu spring rolls are filled with pan-fried teriyaki tofu, vegetables, herbs, and sliced strawberries. I suggest using cucumbers and carrots below, but feel free to use whatever crispy vegetables you have on hand. Use the photos in the blog post as reference for wrapping the spring rolls.

Serve them with my sweet chili sauce or peanut sauce for a light meal. You can double up the recipe and serve the spring rolls for larger gatherings. See my notes about making spring rolls ahead.

Prep Time30

Cook Time20

Ingredients

Teriyaki Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce, use tamari for gluten-free option
3 tablespoons water, divided
3 tablespoons mirin
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 large clove of garlic, smashed
2 to 3 slices of ginger
3/4 teaspoon cornstarch

Spring Rolls

1 (10-ounce) package of super firm, drained, see note 1 for more tofu options
1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
pinch of salt
12 sheets 22cm rice paper wrappers
2 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
2 persian cucumbers (or 1 Japanese cucumber), julienned
6 to 8 medium strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/3 cup mint leaves, rinsed
1/3 cup basil leaves, rinsed

Instructions

Make Teriyaki Sauce

Add the soy sauce, 2 tablespoons water, mirin, sugar, garlic, and ginger to a saucepan.
Heat the liquids over medium heat, until the sauce starts to boil. Mix the remaining 1 tablespoon of water with the cornstarch and add to the saucepan. Stir and let the sauce simmer for another 3 minutes. Remove the sauce from heat.

Prepare Tofu

Slice the block of tofu into 6 planks. Then, take a plank and slice it into 2 long tofu strips. Slice all the tofu planks this way until you get 12 long strips total.
Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the tofu strips and pan fry until golden on the 4 long sides. The first side may take 3 to 4 minutes to turn golden and the other sides 2 to 3 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and drizzle 4 to 5 tablespoons of the teriyaki sauce over the tofu. Be careful as the teriyaki sauce will splatter in the hot pan. Flip the strips around to coat them with the sauce. If it seems like the sauce is burning very fast, turn off the heat. Transfer the tofu to a plate and let cool for 10 minutes.

Set Up Spring Roll Station

Fill a large bowl with warm water, about 100ºF (37ºC). Dip your hand in the water and wet a large chopping board or work surface with water. Alternatively, you can wet a kitchen towel and use it as the surface for rolling spring rolls. You must place the rice paper wrappers over a wet surface to prevent sticking.

Wrap Spring Roll

Dip the rice paper in the warm water, making sure to wet the entire surface. You don’t need to submerge the paper in there for long, just enough to get the entire surface wet. The rice paper will still be stiff at this stage and that’s totally fine. Transfer the rice paper on the wet chopping board, counter or towel. The wet surface will soften the wrapper even more.
Place some julienned cucumber and carrots at about the bottom third of the rice paper (there should be a 1.5 inch gap between the bottom edge of the wrapper and the tofu. Then, place a strip of tofu and a few mint and basil leaves over the vegetables.
Take 3 strawberry slices and place them in a row over the top third of the wrapper, about 1.5 inches from the top edge of the wrapper. By leaving a gap between the strawberries and the other ingredients, the strawberries will look more vibrant in the final roll because they will be covered by only one layer of rice paper.
Grab the lower edge of the rice paper with your thumbs and pointer fingers, lift, and roll up the spring roll. If the wrapper is still feeling stiff at this stage, leave it on the cutting board for another 15 seconds or so. The rice paper will soften over time. Continue rolling the spring roll until you reach the strawberries.
Then, fold the left and right sides of the wrapper toward the center. Finally, roll the spring roll all the way to the end. If you are rolling the spring rolls on a chopping board or the counter, make sure to wet the surface after you finish making each spring roll. You don’t need to wet the towel again as it is still damp.
Continue wrapping spring rolls until you run out of tofu strips.
The spring rolls are best served within the next hour. Serve with my sweet chili sauce or peanut sauce.

Notes

Using Extra-Firm Tofu: You can also use extra-firm tofu, but I recommend pressing it by wrapping the tofu with a muslin cloth or paper towels and placing a short stack of plates over the tofu. Let that sit for 15 to 20 minutes to press out excess moisture. If you don’t have time to press the tofu, you can pan fry extra-firm tofu straight out of the package as well. Note that they might take a little longer to turn golden because there’s still a lot of moisture in the tofu. The tofu will also splatter a lot more because of the excess moisture.
Leftover Teriyaki Sauce: Use leftover teriyaki sauce to season stir fries, fried rice, or protein of choice (tofu, salmon, chicken, shrimp, etc.)
Making Spring Rolls Ahead: If you are planning to serve these a few hours later, transfer the spring rolls to a plate or platter that is lined with parchment or wax paper. Cover the plate or platter with plastic wrap until you're ready to serve.
Refrigerating Spring Rolls: If you refrigerate spring rolls overnight, the rice paper will turn very hard. You can microwave the spring rolls on high for 30 seconds to soften the wrapper, but the texture won’t be the same as freshly made rolls.
Troubleshooting Spring Roll Wrapping: If at any time you notice that the rice paper is clinging to the surface, it means the surface is too dry. Just splash more water on the chopping board or counter. I’ve noticed that wood or bamboo chopping boards dry up faster as those chopping boards are more porous and absorb water.

Nutrition

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