by Lynn Bain •
Air frying is one of the latest things in cooking techniques and as appliances go, air fryers have come to the fore in the last five years or so. In recent times, there has been a quest to reduce the amount of deep fried foods in the everyday diet of western civilisation. Frying in an air fryer instead of a deep fryer is the answer. You get the crunch without the oil.
Air fryers quickly find favour with those who use them. They seem a little quicker than the oven (possibly because the compartment is smaller and the fact that air fryers seldom need to be preheated for as long as an oven).
As well, pretty much anything that you deep fry, oven bake, microwave and or stove top grill can be cooked in an air fryer.
I love spring rolls, so I set out to develop an air-fried version and it worked. There really ins’t that much to it, and you should be able to knock it all together in a matter of just under half an hour or so!
Here it is!
Ingredients
250g cooked prawns
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 red chilli, de-seeded and very finely chopped
1tsp sesame oil
1 packet vermicelli or glass noodles, broken into two or three pieces
3-4 green shallots
A handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 packet of spring roll wrappers
Cooking oil spray
Handy hint: you can substitute very finely shredded and blanched cabbage for the vermicelli noodles.
Step 1
Cut the prawns into small pieces and add them to a bowl. Combine the prawn pieces, garlic, ginger, chilli and sesame oil. Mix together well to coat the prawn thoroughly in the mixture. Allow to marinade for about ten minutes.
Step 2
In another bowl, pour sufficient boiling water (from a jug or kettle) over the vermicelli noodles to cover them. As the noodles start to soften in the boiling water, loosen them with a fork to help the softening process along.
Step 3
Add the chopped green shallots and the roughly chopped coriander leaves to the prawn mixture. Mix together well.
Step 4
When the noodles are completely soft, drain them well to avoid soggy spring rolls. Lay out a spring roll wrapper. For a large spring roll, place two heaped tablespoons of the prawn filling in the middle of the wrapper. Spread the filling out slightly.
Step 5
Fold the bottom edge of the wrapper up over the filling. Do the same with the top edge and then one side. Continue to roll up the spring rolls from the side into a roll.
Step 6
Place your rolls into the air fryer in a single layer in the basket of your fryer and cook for about 10 minutes at 180C. Cooking time will vary depending on the model of air fryer that you are using. You may like to turn the spring rolls over at the five minute mark. You can also spray or brush the spring rolls with cooking oil – this will help them brown a little.
Step 7
Serve with a dipping sauce, such as a mixture of soy sauce and chilli sauce or one of each.
Enjoy!
