I bloody love a spring roll, but those little grease sticks aren’t exactly health food. I mean they start off alright, with their innards a mix of meat and veggies, then it goes downhill with a wrapping made of flour and cornstarch, then plonked in a vat of bubbling vegetable oil. Phew, that escalated quickly. And while we’re here, who got to name this awful shite “vegetable oil” when it contains not a single vegetable? I mean talk about misleading. That crap is as toxic as some of my ex-boyfriends. And you want to know where they ended up? In. The. Bin. Exactly where this liquid of evil needs to be. Anyway, as I said, I bloody love a spring roll, so i decided to take the good part i.e.. the veggies and meat, and make it into a big ol‘ bowl of yum. Easy peasy mid-week meal.
INGREDIENTS
- 500g pork mince (chicken or turkey mince is also fine)
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Thumb of ginger, grated
- 3 green onions, sliced (green part reserved for garnish)
- 8 shitake mushrooms, sliced
- 2 large carrots, julienned or shredded
- 1 red capsicum, sliced thin
- 1 Chinese cabbage, shredded
- 10 water chestnuts, sliced (tinned ones are fine)
- 4 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sriracha/chilli sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Sprinkle of sesame seeds to garnish
METHOD
- Mix the coconut aminos, sesame oil, sriracha and rice vinegar together and set aside.
- Heat some coconut oil in a large pan over medium heat.
- Add the garlic, ginger and white part of the onions and sauté (be careful not to burn garlic). Add in the mushrooms and capsicum and stir fry to soften.
- Add the mince and fry off, breaking it up as you go.
- Add in carrots and mix through.
- Pour in sauce and mix through.
- Add the shredded cabbage. It will seem like a lot and look like it won’t mix through, but it will. It cooks down super quick.
- Once the cabbage is incorporated, mix in the water chestnuts to heat them through.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with sesame seeds, green part of onion and topped with a soft boiled egg if you please.Serves 2-4
NOTE – I use a V-slicer with the julienne attachment for the carrots, or the shredder attachment on your food processor would be good. I like these more than a grater as they keep the carrots pieces a good texture without squeezing out too much liquid like grating (grated carrots will break down more in the cooking), but if you only have a grater, that’s cool. There’s worse things that can happen in life. The cabbage just needs to be sliced through thinly with a knife, no special equipment required. You could also try coleslaw mix if you wanted. No water chestnuts? Sprinkle on some roughly chopped cashews for a little texture.