Vegetable, shiitake mushroom & coconut spring rolls

Ingredients (serves 3 to 4 as a snack or canape) VE

4 carrots peeled and grated.

200g white cabbage, core removed and finely shredded.

1 onion peeled and diced.

20g ginger, peeled and grated.

2 long red chillies finely chopped.

4 garlic cloves peeled finely chopped or minced.

100g shiitake mushrooms, finely sliced.

200g rice noodles, soaked in boiling water for 30 minutes until cooked and then refreshed in cold water and strained. Chop these cold, cooked noodles into small pieces using scissors so they are easier to roll later.

200g yellow beans, blitzed to a smooth paste in a food processor or with a blender (yellow beans can be purchased in jars from most Asian supermarkets or online).

200ml coconut cream.

50g caster sugar.

10g chopped Thai basil.

10g chopped coriander.

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

A few pinches of sea salt for seasoning.

15 spring roll pastry sheets, these can be brought frozen from most Asian supermarkets or purchased online, filo pastry, rolled 1-2mm thin and chopped into 5cm-by-5cm squares can be a suitable readily available replacement, although for best results best to hunt for spring roll pastry.

1 Liter of rapeseed oil for frying the spring roll mix and deep frying.

Optional garnish:

Payst sweet chilli dipping sauce.

2 lime cheeks.

5g crispy shallots.

5g crispy curry leaves.

2g, julienne makrut lime leaves

Method

1.      Firstly, make the spring roll mix. Heat 100ml oil in a large wok and sweat the onions, ginger, chilli and garlic for a few minutes until translucent, add a pinch of salt whilst cooking. Once sweated add the cabbage and the mushrooms and continue to fry for a further few minutes until all ingredients have started to soften.

2.      Next add the yellow beans and continue to fry for a further 3 minutes until they darken and start to smell like miso. At this stage add the caster sugar and continue to stir for another minute or so to let the sugar caramelise. Once happy remove from the heat and add the coconut milk, white pepper, chopped noodles and when cooled, the chopped basil and coriander. Mix thoroughly and taste. Add a little more salt and white pepper if you feel it is needed.

3.      Next fill the spring rolls. Once the mixture is cool, spread 15 spring roll pastries / filo pastry squares out on a flat surface and spoon the vegetable filling into the centre of each of the spring roll wrappers. Then, one at a time, moisten the pastry surrounding the spoonful of filling, all the way to the edges using a brush or delicately using your finger dipped into room temperature water. Then roll the spring rolls into sausage shapes, as if you were rolling a person up in a carpet, with the ends folded in. This will take a little practice but don’t worry if they are not perfect first time.

4.      Lastly fry the spring rolls. Heat the oil to around 180-190 degrees centigrade in a deep pan, test the heat by adding a plain pastry sheet and seeing how long it takes to cook, it should float and bubble gently and turn golden brown in a few minutes. When ready fry the spring rolls 5 at a time, allow to fry on 1 side until golden brown, then using a slotted spoon turn the spring rolls over and cook the other side for a further minute, until golden brown all over. They should take 2/3 minutes in total. Lastly remove the spring rolls from the oil and place on the tray with kitchen towel to strain the oil off. Repeat until all are cooked.

5.      To serve, garnish with fried curry leaves, crispy shallots, coriander, julienne makrut lime leaves and Payst sweet chilli sauce for dunking.