Recipe: Chicken & cashew summer rolls

They don’t call them summer rolls for nothing – these are addictively fresh and vibrant, the perfect antidote to festive season overindulgence.

Chicken & cashew summer rolls

Makes: About 20

Preparation: 20 minutes, plus marinating time

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Cooking: 10 minutes

Ingredients

500g chicken tenderloins, cut lengthwise into 3-4 pieces

3 tablespoons tamari soy sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup raw cashew nuts

1⁄2 cup coconut cream

1⁄4 cup lime juice

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 small thumb-sized pieces ginger, peeled, finely grated

1 stalk lemongrass, finely chopped

8 kaffir lime leaves, spines removed, finely chopped

1 1⁄2 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded

1 1⁄2 cups red cabbage, finely shredded

1⁄2 small red onion, finely sliced

About 20 x 22cm rice paper sheets

1 red chilli, sliced (deseeded if desired)

2⁄3 cup coriander leaves

2⁄3 cup mint leaves

Method

Put the chicken strips in a dish and add 2 tablespoons of the tamari, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and 3 minced cloves of garlic. Mix well to combine and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

In a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat, toast the cashew nuts until golden brown, remove from the heat, leave to cool then roughly chop and put into a small bowl.

Put the coconut cream in a small saucepan along with the remaining tamari and garlic, the lime juice, maple syrup and 1 grated thumb-sized piece of ginger. Heat gently for a minute or two until the coconut cream melts and the sauce comes together. Set aside. This is the dipping sauce.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining grated ginger with the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and lettuce.

In another bowl, mix together the red cabbage and the red onion.

In a heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil and fry the chicken in batches for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Set aside.

To assemble the rice paper rolls, fill a shallow dish with hot water and soak a rice paper sheet until soft. Put onto a clean work surface.

About a third of the way up the sheet, lay out a few pieces of chilli and several coriander and mint leaves, top with a strip of chicken, a scattering of nuts and then the lettuce and cabbage mixtures.

Fold the bottom half of the rice paper over the ingredients, then fold over the sides before rolling up and placing onto a platter.

Repeat with the remaining ingredients then serve with the dipping sauce.