Chinese spring rolls

1. Begin by heating the wok. When hot, add some oil, the red peppers, carrots, bamboo shoots, cabbage and bean sprouts. Cook until the vegetables have slightly softened and their tastes have had a chance to intermingle. I let them like 5 minutes, stirring often.

2. Add the noodles, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper. Mix well, take it off the heat and place into a bowl to let it cool. Place the pan with the oil for frying over a medium-high heat.

3. Place the spring roll wrapper in front of you, with one corner at the bottom so that it resembles a diamond. Brush the four edges of the wrapper with the beaten egg. Next, add the filling in the bottom part of the wrapper in a thin log shape, not touching the edges. Leave the bottom few centimetres clear. Lift the bottom wrapper over the top and tuck it in under the filling.

4. Fold over the left side, and then the right side and roll it up to form a tube. Brush a little more egg along the top part and seal the roll. Repeat until all the rolls are finished.

5. Once the oil is hot, deep fry the spring rolls until lightly brown, which should take only a minute or two. Put them on the towelled tray to let them drain. Serve your crispy spring rolls as you would any appetiser. They go wonderfully with a sweet and sour sauce and many other types of dip.

If you don't have spring rolls, you can make them yourself. You need:

200 g flour

1 tsp sugar

160 ml boiling water

some flour for dusting

Put the flour and the sugar into a bowl. Combine them together with your wooden spoon then add the boiling water. Mix together, until it forms a sticky dough. Next, generously sprinkle the dough with some flour. Then dust the work surface and spoon the dough into the flour.

Begin to gently fold the dough. Then knead it for a few minutes. Don't be afraid to add more flour to the dough, if necessary, as it might still be too sticky. Continue to knead until the dough takes on a smooth, non sticky, elastic consistency. Finally, cover it with a clean tea towel and set it aside for 30 minutes, to rest.

Uncover the dough. Rub the rolling pin with flour and roll into a thin sheet of about 1/2 cm in thickness. You can use a pasta machine like I did. Cut the sheet in 8x8cm or how big you want them. They are ready to be used.