These delicious spring rolls have been a firm family favourite for years.
My eldest daughter once spent some time at an animal shelter in Ko Lanta, Thailand, and became obsessed with spring rolls from a restaurant called Time for Lime. She even took their cooking class to learn how to make them. Over the years she adapted the recipe to use ingredients you might not easily find outside Asia. The best part - the stir-fried noodle filling is perfectly delicious on its own, in case you run out of spring roll wrappers.
Enjoy!
Fried spring rolls
20 portions
Ingredients
20 spring roll wrappers (or filo pastry sheets cut into 20cm squares)
oil for frying
Spring roll filling:
dried glass noodles - 200g
garlic cloves - 10, crushed and finely chopped
fresh bean sprouts - 250g (or 150g finely chopped cabbage)
shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried) - 10 pieces, finely sliced
carrots - 2 medium pieces, finely sliced
Stir-fry sauce:
ground black pepper - 2 tsp
oyster sauce - 3 tbsp (replace with veggie oyster sauce to make it fully vegetarian)
soy sauce - 3 tbsp
sesame oil - 1 tbsp
sugar - 3 tbsp
vegetable stock - 100ml
Spring roll glue
mix 3 tbsp flour with 1 tbsp water
To serve: sweet chilli sauce
Method
Soak the glass noodles in room temperature water for 10 min, then drain and cut them into smaller pieces using scissors.
Mix all your filling sauce ingredients in a bowl.
In a wok (or large saucepan) fry the garlic on medium heat for a few seconds, until the aroma is released. Be careful not to burn it.
Turn the heat up to high and add the vegetables, stir-frying until the beansprouts (or cabbage) have softened slightly.
Add the sauce and noodles, and stir-fry until the noodles have soaked up the sauce - a few minutes.
Move the noodles to a bowl and leave to cool.
Meanwhile prepare the spring roll wrappers. Place a damp cloth over them to keep them from drying out as you work. If using filo pastry instead, cut it into 20cm squares.
Place 2-3 tbsp of the spring roll filling in the middle of the wrapper.
Fold the wrapper so it resembles a triangle, then fold in the sides and continue rolling until you are left with the little tip at the end of the wrapper.
Use the spring roll paste to glue the wrapper together, then place under a damp cloth to keep from drying out.
Repeat steps 8-10 until you have finished all the spring rolls.
In a wok (or deep pan) heat up the oil for frying. Test the temperature by placing a toothpick into the oil - if small bubbles form around the toothpick, the oil is hot enough for frying.
Fry the spring rolls 4 at a time until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan and drain off excess oil. Leave to cool for a few minutes, then cut them in half and serve with sweet chilli sauce.
Tips & cheats
The stir-fried noodle filling can be eaten on its own, if you run out of wrappers or are just too hungry to wait until all the spring rolls are done.
Replace fresh bean sprouts with finely sliced cabbage, to add the crunchy element to the rolls.
To freeze spring rolls: partially fry them for 2-3 minutes, leave to cool and then freeze. To cook them after, fry in oil from frozen until they turn golden brown.
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