Non-Deep Fried Vegan Spring Rolls

Spring rolls are always awesome, but I don’t know if you feel the same as me. Every time I eat a lot, I feel guilty, because it is the fact that they are too oily because they are deep-fried.

That guilty feeling makes me even worse when I started thinking that it is useless for the green smoothie or the green juice I have in the morning.

I know that most spring rolls are basically saturated in oil, and therefore they turn out much browner, but I had to try this, and I am so excited to say, it worked like a charm – and I think it tastes better than the deep fried version, and you’re less likely to feel bloated or sick afterward!

Introducing the non-deep fried version, and therefore, I believe is a little healthier! The filling was actually inspired by one of the Thanksgiving dishes my mom made me. It was fantastic.

Note: I bought the spring roll wrappers in an Asian grocery store. They should be in the freezer section where they sell the wrappers and dumplings. You can always ask them. There are a few spring roll wrapper video tutorial on Youtube, but I haven’t made them before.

Non-Deep Fried Vegan Spring Rolls
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Filling
  • 1 tablespoon extra light olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 2 small-medium carrots
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 cup green cabbage/nappa cabbage
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • 1 large bok choy
  • 2 fresh shiitake mushrooms
  • 2 white mushrooms
  • 1 scallion
  • 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • ½ teaspoon mustard powder
  • A few sprinkles ground pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger powder (or 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger)
Spring Rolls
  • 1 packet spring roll wrappers
  • ¼ cup extra light olive oil (for cooking, 2 tablespoons per batch)
Instructions
  1. To make the Filling: Have all the vegetables ready, which includes the onion, celery, carrots, garlic, cabbage, spinach, bok choy, both types of mushrooms and scallion. Wash them and dry them off. Finely dice each of the vegetables, be sure it’s in very very small pieces, almost like mince. (This may be the most time consuming part.)
  2. Split the finely diced vegetables in two separate bowls. The onion, celery, carrots and garlic goes in one bowl, and the cabbage, baby spinach, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, white mushrooms and scallion goes in a separate bowl.
  3. Add a tablespoon of extra light olive oil in the frying pan and add the bowl with finely diced onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Turn the heat to medium high (6) and cook for about 6 minutes, continuously stirring.
  4. In the mean time, combine the soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, mustard powder, pepper and ginger powder in a small bowl. Stir until everything is well mixed and there are no lumps.
  5. Once the vegetables has been cooking for 6 minutes, add the second batch with the cabbage, spinach, bok choy, mushrooms and scallion, Cook and stir for 2 minutes, then add the soy sauce and other spices you mixed earlier.
  6. Cook and stir for a final 3 minutes, then turn off the heat. Be sure that everything is well stirred, otherwise you may end up with some parts undercooked. Spoon the filling into a bowl and set aside.
  7. To Make the Spring Rolls: Defrost the spring roll wrappers if they are frozen, and lay them out. Take one sheet and put it on a large wooden cutting board/wooden surface.
  8. Position it so the pointy part is facing directly towards you, making a diamond shape. Dab all sides with a little water.
  9. Add a spoonful or two of filling in the lower middle and spread it out diagonally. Fold the bottom, then the left, right and roll it upwards. Finally, dab the top with a little extra water and finish rolling.
  10. Do this until all the filling is used up. You will probably end up with some left over wrappers.
  11. (You should end up with about 12-13 spring rolls.)
  12. Cooking the Spring Rolls: It’s best if you cook them in two batches.
  13. Add 2 tablespoons of extra light olive oil in the frying pan and turn the heat to medium high (6). Let it warm up a little, and then put 6-7 spring rolls in the pan. Before you let it cook, coat the spring rolls completely in oil by rolling them until all four sides touches the bottom where the oil is. (Kind of like a pig rolling in the mud…)
  14. Let it sit in the pan cooking for about 5 minutes (it may take more/less time, depending on the power of your heat), and roll it to the next side that is not yet browned. Keep rolling until all four sides have turned golden brown, and then take them out of the pan. The total time it takes to cook should be about 10-12 minutes. Please note that some spring rolls may finish cooking earlier than others, so take out the ones that are done so they don’t burn.

Susanna

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