Who does not like sinking their teeth into a crispy, flaky spring roll dipped in a flavoursome dipping sauce?
I love their crunch, the flavour and the moist interior. What I am not overly keen on is the fact that often spring rolls owe their crispy golden shell to deep-frying. Well, turns out that if you stick a tray of spring rolls into an oven (having brushed each one with a small amount of oil), you won’t get an inferior product at all. They taste every bit as delicious as their deep-fried brothers, are more healthy and the preparation method is less messy too. It’s a triple win if you ask me. What vegetables you put in them is totally up to you! I picked local veg that are in season. As you’ll notice, I put the veg into the rolls raw as they have plenty of time to cook during their sojourn in the hot oven. Enjoy these vegan baked spring rolls warm with a side of a simple dipping sauce and maybe even a cold beer.
5 cm / 2 in piece of ginger, grated finely 1 large garlic clove, crushed 2 tbsp / 30 ml dark soy sauce ½ tbsp sesame oil (or replace with vegetable oil) ½ tbsp neutral tasting vegetable oil + more for greasing 2 tsp Chinese five spice powder
SPRING ROLLS
12 spring roll wrappers* ½ courgette, julienned 1 red pepper, julienned 1 large carrot, julienned a wedge of white cabbage, shredded 2 small spring onions – white part finely sliced, green cut lengthwise into thin strips 60 g vermicelli rice noodles ½ tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water
DIPPING SAUCE
2 tbsp / 30 ml dark soy sauce ½ tbsp toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar fresh chilli, finely sliced or pinch of chilli flakes 1 tsp sesame seeds 2 cm of finely sliced spring onion
