Although I love my gingery spring roll recipe more than any other variation on the spring roll theme, sometimes a girl needs a change. Otherwise, we’d only ever have one pair of shoes, right? No, that doesn’t sound right at all!

Anyway, these are spicy, crunchy, Thai-spiced spring rolls, which are delicious as part of a Thai meal, or as a starter, or as part of a buffet. Make up your own excuses to eat these! Whatever reason (aliens, hurricane, big puddle outside your house) it’ll be worth it. Like a lot of Asian recipes, the ingredients list seems intimidating, but once you’ve chucked everything in, you’ll realise that long lists don’t mean lots of work! Also, if you can’t find minced turkey, you can substitute minced chicken or pork. Lamb and beef will be too powerful here, though.

To make these spring rolls for bento boxes, buy the largest size spring roll wrappers you can get, and then divide them into four quarters. Make sure that all the ingredients are finely chopped, and trim the noodles to a shorter length.

Thai Spring Rolls

INGREDIENTS

• Packet of 15cm/6 inch square 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

METHOD

• 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.
• The frying method is the same for Chinese spring 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.
• To serve, arrange on a plate with a dish of sweet chilli dipping sauce.