Five spice meat rolls (lobak)

Often served at celebrations, and also a popular street food, lobak is a little like Malaysia’s answer to the sausage roll. In this version, a chicken and mushroom filling is wrapped in bean curd sheets and fried.

Five spice meat rolls (lobak).

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 4 large fresh bean curd sheets (see Note)
• Vegetable oil for deep frying
• Sweet chilli sauce, to serve
• Green coral lettuce leaves, cucumber and tomato, to serve
• Sesame seeds, to garnish, optional

Filling

• 300 g chicken mince
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 egg white
• 4 grey oyster mushrooms, chopped
• 4 water chestnuts, chopped
• 1 tsp five spice
• 1 tsp sugar
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Combine the filling ingredients together and mix until sticky.
2. If bean curd sheets are large cut in half (see Note). Lay on a flat surface and divide the meat mixture between the sheets, creating a line of filling near one edge. Roll sheets over meat mixture to form sausage rolls (fold over the edge nearest to the filling, fold the sides in, then roll up).
3. Heat oil to 180°C. Fry the lobak until golden and then drain on a paper towel. Serve with a side of lettuce leaves, tomato and cucumber and the sweet chilli for dipping.

Note

The number of rolls made will depend on the size of the bean curd sheets you use. If you can’t get hold of fresh bean curd sheets, dried and rehydrated sheets can be used instead.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.