As with all stuffing-wrapped-in-skin foods, spring rolls are quite labour intensive. The good thing is it can be made ahead and kept frozen for months. An excellent “emergency” food, or when you’re just craving for crispy, savoury foods. The skin can be purchased from the frozen section of supermarkets.

Makes about 15. You’ll need:

1 lotus root

10 pcs dried and soaked shiitake mushroom

1 slab firm tofu, chopped into small cubes

4 leaves of cabbage

10 stalks of chives

Pepper, sesame oil, soy sauce, sea salt

Square spring roll pastry skins

Blend the mushroom, cabbage and chives in a food processor. Grate the lotus root finely. Transfer into a large bowl, add 1 tsp sea salt and let it sit while you prep the tofu.

Get a white cloth bag and place the chopped tofu in. Squeeze the excess water out gently but firmly, you won’t want to mash it too much. Put them in a pan, add oil and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Stir fry till it turns a light brown.

Squeeze the water out of the veggie mixture with the cloth bag too. Then mix them well with the tofu in a large bowl. Taste it at this point and season with pepper or more soy sauce.

Next, place about 2 tbsp of the filling into every square pastry skin. Of course this amount will vary depending on the size and shape of your skin. Fold the sides and roll it up. Or have fun making any shape you like. Triangles, round parcels, etc.

Heat some oil in a pan and fry them. Be careful to avoid heating the parts where the skin is thin or it’ll tear. You can also deep fry them in a pot of oil or bake in the oven for a lower fat version. Let excess oil drain on kitchen paper before serving.

Store any leftovers in the fridge or freezer and reheat whenever you’re hungry 🙂