Brown Rice Chicken and Prawns Spring Rolls

Fresh, colourful spring rolls with chicken, prawns, herbs and a homemade honey nuoc nam dipping sauce.

These spring rolls are inspired by the fresh, delicious versions I first tasted at my in-laws’ home. I’ve given them a little twist with brown rice paper, brown rice vermicelli and cooked chicken, perfect for using up the chicken from a homemade stock.

They are wonderfully fresh, quick to assemble and lovely to make with children. Serve them as a light lunch, starter or shared dinner, with plenty of the honey-sweetened nuoc cham sauce for dipping.

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What you need for 4 servings:

For the nuoc nam sauce

• ¼ cup lemon juice

• ¼ cup fish sauce

• ¾ cup water

• 1–2 tsp honey

• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

• 1 finely grated carrot

For the spring rolls

• Wholemeal rice-paper sheets

• 200 g wholemeal vermicelli, cooked and cooled

• 4 cooked skinless chicken thighs, shredded

• 300 g cooked prawns, halved lengthways

• Leaves from one Romaine lettuce, tougher ribs removed

• 100 g beansprouts

• 1 small bunch each of mint and coriander

The recipe:

To make the sauce: Mix everything together in a small bowl.

To assemble the spring rolls:

1. Dip one rice-paper sheet briefly in warm water and place it on a damp tea towel.

2. Add a little lettuce, vermicelli, beansprouts, chicken, mint and coriander towards the bottom third of the sheet.

3. Place three prawn halves in a line towards the top of the sheet.

4. Fold in the sides, then roll tightly from the bottom to the top, enclosing the prawns.

5. Keep the finished rolls covered with a damp tea towel while you make the rest.

Serve straight away with the nuoc nam sauce for dipping. Any leftover filling makes a lovely fresh salad. Et voila!

The benefits:

• High in protein from the chicken and prawns

• Swapping whitte rice for brown rice slightly increases fibre.

Per serving:

Protein: 45 g | Fibre: 7 g