Homemade Spring Rolls are the best! They are light, airy, and filled with vegetables. Store bought and even those found in restaurants cannot compare. However, many people still avoid them because they are usually deep fried and there are those who prefer not to do any deep frying at all in their kitchen. If that is you, then these Baked Spring Rolls have your name on them. They do take a slightly longer time to cook but are just as delicious and crispy too.
Preparing the filling
The key to crispy Spring Rolls is a filling that is not soggy. Simply place the cooked filling in a metal colander and allow the juices to drain while it cools and you will be rewarded with the perfect filling for your Spring Rolls. For our spring roll, we prepared a simple filling with a combination of vermicelli rice noodles, carrot, five-spice chicken and spring onion.
- vermicelli rice noodles; soak the dry vermicelli rice noodles in a bowl of hot water for 3 minutes and drain it.
- carrot; shredded it. Dry it in the fridge a day ahead.
- five-spice chicken; thinly sliced the chicken. In a pot, with 2 tbsp of oil, cook the chicken, five-spice powder and salt and pepper, till well cooked.
- spring onion; finely chopped.
Wrap them up
Some people like small, tight rolls while others prefer bigger rolls. Generally, smaller rolls will be more crispy because they have less filling in them. Personally, we prefer a roll that is about 4 inches in length with a generous amount of filling in it. This size usually works out quite well whether they are served as an appetizer or snack. They are also easy to handle whether you bake, deep fry, or freeze them for later.
Prepare a mixture of cornflour and water in a bowl. The mixture has to be runny, not thick. You can try to use plain water to stick the roll but not sure if it works with every type of skin.
Baked them for a healthy solution
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.
xoxo, Joe
Mini Baked Spring Roll
Ingredients
12 spring roll wrappers*
1 large carrot, julienned
2 small spring onions – white part finely sliced, green cut lengthwise into thin strips
60 g vermicelli rice noodles
3 chicken fillet, sliced
2 tbsp of five spice powder
½ tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp water
Methods
- Thinly sliced the chicken. In a pot, with 2 tbsp of oil, cook the chicken, five-spice powder and salt and pepper, till well cooked.
- Prepare vermicelli noodles according to packet instructions.
- Pre-heat the oven to 425° F / 220° C.
- Arrange the wrapper in a diamond shape, place a bit of noodle at the bottom, then a stack of marinated vegetable and start rolling it up. Stop when you reach halfway, fold the right and left corner in so that the roll looks like an open envelope. Brush a bit of cornflour mixture on the final corner and finish rolling. Place under a damp kitchen towel while you roll the rest.
- Brush the rolls with a small amount of vegetable oil and place on a baking tray lined with a piece of baking parchment.
- Bake for about 15 minutes on one side, then flip and bake for another 10-15 minutes on the other side, until the rolls are golden brown.
- Mix all the ingredients for the dipping sauce.
- Cut rolls in half gently with a serrated knife and enjoy them warm dipped in the sauce.
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