if sounds as if the wrappers were simply too dry. i'm not sure what you were using but the couple of times i've made them, i used won ton wrappers from the refrigerated section of the market, or the "real" wrappers--transluscent and i think, rice based. lars talked about them and told me to just drag them through a bowl of water before filling and they worked like a charm for me. i never looked in the freezer section so i'm not sure what your friend uses--sorry!

This is what I use:

My guess is the same as san's - you aren't getting them soft enough in the water. Sometimes if I get them too soft, they tear, but I just wrap another wet one around them. Takes me once or twice to get the 'feel' of how long to keep them in the water.

I haven't used the won-ton wrappers raw - I usually cook those.

I use Lumpia(says Lumpia on the package) wrappers, a bit different texture than spring rolls, more like phylo when fried. I live in an area with Filipino markets all over. You can get them refrigerated or frozen. Lumpia wrappers that is. I use gyoza wrappers instead of wonton wrappers too, again..it's a finished texture thing for me. Wontons and Spring/egg Roll wrappers get have a more fried dough bubbly texture, not a crisp layer texture...to me anyway...

San, I've been trying to find "real" spring roll wrappers, the thin translucent ones..I think they look so pretty with a "peek" of all the goodies inside..

Thanks for the responses. I might try the rice ones if I can't find Lumpia. The ones I tried were thicker and pasta-y, not refrigerated, no instructions to wet, appeared more like egg roll wrappers. I'm definitely after the "crisp layer texture" that Terri describes.

Terri - Do you have a favorite recipe to share? The one I have is extremely basic. What about dips? My friend just puts chopped garlic and black pepper in cane vinegar. Simple but good. She bought me a bottle of the vinegar recently.

My husband is Filipino, and we make lumpia all the time. He also uses lumpia wrappers that come frozen in the box. He has bought spring roll wraps before but they were dry and had to be dipped in water before use. I have bought egg roll wraps that were too dry and cracked when I tried to use them. I just assumed they were in the fridge at the market too long.

Fenworth, I don't have a recipe persay..I just dump.
I like to precook all my ingredients, but I know all my Filipina friends do it with raw ingredients.
I brown a pound of ground beef or turkey. Then I use my food chopper to mince it. Set that aside and saute minced onion, celery, carrot (& sometimes cabbage) and garlic in EVOO until soft. Then toss the meat in and season with a bit of soy sauce and some more s&p to taste. (I s&p both the meat and the veggies when I cook them.)

I let it come to room temp or chill, then roll according to the package directions.

For dipping we use Sweet Chili Sauce, found in the oriental section. It's a sweet hot sauce. Another sauce worth trying is banana sauce, again oriental section in a tall necked bottle.

My friends use raw meat and minced veggies. So their's are more like a meat ball (log) when you bite into it. Again each Filipina has a different recipe and choice of veggies or ground meat. Some use beef, alot use pork and some even use poultry. Veggies can be carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, celery, onion (yellow or green) garlic.

>>or the "real" wrappers--transluscent and i think, rice basedRice-based wrappers are used by the Vietnamese for their version of Chinese spring rolls, called cha gaio.

It is the Chinese version that is the original, not the Vietnamese. The Chinese version uses a wheat-based dough because Northern cuisine is traditionally wheat-based, not rice-based. Rice is grown in the Southern region, which is why the Cantonese restaurant cuisine is centered upon it.