Sadly, I’m down to my last jar of kim chi. I started with five jars, but when you put kim chi on everything it tends to disappear pretty quickly. Recently I’ve made kimbap, kim chi eggs with goat cheese, kim chi quesadillas, kim chi and avocado toast, kim chi pizza bagels, kim chi tartine, kim chi on tomato barley stew (gross), and kim chi in my ramen (well, naturally). This morning it was kim chi in my spring rolls. YES!

These are so light, fresh and tasty it’s like biting into a salad of nutritious goodness. I felt like every bite was doing my body good. And really so needed after the wintery, snowy weekend of excess. I had to shield my eyes from all the empty wine bottles in the recycling bin. Oh dear.

I used my homemade vegan radish kim chi for these, but any kim chi will do.

Ingredients
Spring roll skins
rice, glass or mung bean noodles
tofu
kim chi
soft lettuce

Vietnamese dipping sauce
soy sauce (or fish sauce if not vegetarian)
vinegar or lime juice
sugar
red onion
red chili
fresh garlic
cilantro (optional)

First make the dipping sauce

1) I’m sorry I make these sauces so often that I don’t measure anything. Start a small portion and add more ingredients to make it to your taste.
2) Add some soy sauce to a small bowl (perhaps 1/4 cup) and then about half that of rice vinegar or a tsp of fresh squeezed lime juice.
3) Add 1/2 tsp sugar, one thinly sliced chili, about 1 tsp of minced onion and 1 clove of minced garlic.
4) Stir to combine and taste. Should have a nice balance of salty/sour/sweet/spicy. If it’s not quite right, add more soy or vinegar or chili to correct it. There’s no cement rule about these sauces.

To make the kim chi spring rolls

1) Cut the tofu into thin slices and shallow fry in oil until crispy and golden.
2) Wash lettuce and cut away any hard stems. I used the green soft parts of gem lettuce.
3) Soften the noodles according to the recipe on the packet. I used mung bean threads which only had to be soaked in hot water for 10 minutes. Then drained.
4) Prepare a small plate of cold water and a clean flat area for rolling.
5) Take a spring roll skin and dip it into the cold water briefly. Shake away excess water and lay on rolling surface. It will start to soften very quickly.
6) My technique is to start with lettuce, then a pile of noodles, the tofu and then the kim chi. Carefully and as tightly as possible, roll up the sides. Then fold the bottom of the spring roll skin over. This may take a few tries to get right. I have made probably a hundred spring rolls and I’m still crap at rolling. The main thing is you don’t want them too baggy or it will all fall apart when you take a bite.

Serve with the dipping sauce and enjoy!!