Thai Spring Rolls
Ingredients
Packet of largest spring roll wrappers
50g cellophane/harusame noodles
250g minced turkey
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp minced ginger
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 red chillies
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
Ground pepper
1 small carrot, grated
70g beansprouts
1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp mint leaves, finely chopped
Oil for deep frying
Sweet chilli dipping sauce
Cucumber for garnish
Method
Cut spring roll wrappers into quarters to make mini bento sized rolls. Alternatively, leave whole and cut the roll on the diagonal to fit inside your bento, as seen in the image.
Put the noodles in boiling water to soak for 10 minutes, then rinse under cold water, drain thoroughly and cut into 5cm lengths to make them easier to eat.
Heat the oil in a wok and fry the turkey mince on a medium heat, until the mince is separated and cooked through. Then add the garlic, ginger and spring onions and cook until the mince is slightly browned. Be careful not to burn the garlic as it will turn bitter.
Now add the noodles, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar and mix well, adding pepper to taste. Turn the heat low and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Put the carrots, beansprouts, coriander and mint into the pan, stir and take off the heat.
Now to wrap your spring rolls. Place your spring roll wrapper diagonally on the work surface and fill the corner nearest to you with a tablespoon of mixture. Pull the corner up over the top and then roll twice – you should now be roughly to the centre of the wrapper. Fold the two corners into the middle and then continue to roll it up, sealing the end with water – this is vital or your roll will pop open when you fry it.
To fry the rolls, you can use a deep fat fryer at 170 degrees centigrade to cook your spring rolls, or heat them in a pan of hot oil. To test the oil is hot enough, add a spring roll – if it sizzles and the oil bubbles around it vigorously, you have it right. Cook on each side for a couple of minutes, then drain. If your rolls go dark brown too quickly, turn your heat down.
Leave on kitchen towel to drain until cool, then pack in your bento box with a container of sweet chilli sauce. You’ll need either snap shut condiment case or a bottle with a large neck, as this sauce is too thick for traditional soy sauce containers.
NOTES:
You can replace the turkey here with chicken or pork.
I originally added the cucumber garnish to this as I had it handy, but in fact the flavour and texture goes so well with the rolls and the dipping sauce that I'm going to make the effort to include them whenever I make this recipe. Give it a go!
You can freeze these raw very successfully. To reheat, fry from frozen or from thawed - the filling is already cooked.