Brik Pastry substitute

Substitutes for Brik Pastry with ratios

1. 2Lumpia Wrappers

   Close match

   Use 1 to 2 sheets for every brik

   Thinner than spring roll wrappers and closer to brik pastry's papery fineness.

   What changes

   Best for

   getting the most delicate crust, smaller briks and briouats, shallow frying

   They fry pale gold in under a minute and shatter beautifully. Being so thin they tear more easily than spring roll wrappers, so use two overlapping sheets if you are wrapping something wet, and handle them straight from thawed rather than half frozen.

2. 3Phyllo (Filo) Dough, Doubled or Tripled

   Different texture

   Use 2 to 3 sheets for every brik

   The substitute most Western recipes name, and it works with more care and more butter.

   What changes

   Best for

   when the supermarket has phyllo and nothing else, baked rather than fried versions, cooks comfortable working quickly

   Brush every sheet with melted butter or oil and cut to a round. Unlike malsouka, phyllo is a raw dough that is brittle when dry, so it cracks if you dawdle and the layers can leak, which means folding the edges over twice and pressing hard. It fries flakier and more shattery rather than blistered and slightly chewy.

3. 4Egg Roll or Wonton Wrappers

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 large sheet for every brik

   Thicker and doughier, which changes the eating experience more than it changes the method.

   What changes

   Best for

   when only the thick wrappers are in the shop, sturdier fillings that might tear a thin sheet, hungry people

   These are strong and easy to seal, so they will hold an egg without complaint. Being much thicker, they fry to something closer to a fried dumpling than a brik: heavier, breadier, with a distinct chew instead of a shatter. Roll them a little thinner with a pin if you have a minute.

4. 5Rice Paper

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 1 sheet for every brik

   The gluten-free option, and a dramatic if unfaithful one.

   What changes

   Best for

   gluten-free briks, when nothing wheat-based is available, cooks who do not mind a fiddly job

   Dip it for a couple of seconds only, no longer, or it turns to glue. In hot oil it puffs and blisters into a glassy, extremely crisp shell, which is impressive but nothing like malsouka's texture. It tears when wet and burns quickly, so work fast and keep the oil moderate.

5. 6Homemade Thin Semolina Crepes

   Close match

   Use 1 crepe for every brik

   The honest answer, because this is essentially what brik pastry is.

   What changes

   Best for

   when no shop nearby stocks any wrapper, getting closest to the real thing, cooks who enjoy the process

   Whisk about one cup of fine semolina and half a cup of plain flour with roughly one and three quarter cups of water and a pinch of salt to a thin batter, then cook paper-thin rounds on a dry non-stick pan on one side only, twenty to thirty seconds each. Twenty minutes of work and the result is a cooked, flexible sheet that behaves the way malsouka does.