These vegetarian nems are golden and crispy on the outside, soft and savoury inside. You can make them in the air fryer or in a pan – no deep-frying in lots of oil.

The filling makes 10 nems. One round sheet of rice paper per nem is enough if you fill it carefully and roll it up tightly.

Vegetarian Nems with Vegetables and Glass Noodles

Crispy rice paper spring rolls filled with Chinese cabbage, carrots, leek, spring onions and glass noodles.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Cooling time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 40 minutes mins

Servings: 10 pieces

Course: Snack

Ingredients Equipment Instructions Notes

Ingredients

  

• 60 g glass noodles dry
• 80 g carrots approx. 1 medium, cut into thin matchsticks
• 100–150 g Chinese cabbage finely sliced
• 80 g leek approx. ½ stalk, finely sliced
• 30 g spring onions approx. 2 spring onions, in thin rings
• 10 sheets rice paper round, 1 sheet per nem
• 10 ml vegetable oil approx. 2 tsp – for frying the filling and for brushing or pan-frying
• 15–30 ml soy sauce optional, approx. 1–2 tbsp
• salt to taste, go easy if using soy sauce
• pepper optional, to taste
• ginger optional, freshly grated or ground
• garlic optional, finely chopped or ground

Equipment

• 1 frying pan non-stick
• 1 air fryer or cook them in a pan

Instructions

 

Preparing the filling

1. Soak the glass noodles in hot water according to the packet instructions, drain well and cut them a little shorter with scissors.
2. Finely slice the carrot, Chinese cabbage, leek and spring onions.
3. Heat about 5 ml vegetable oil in a pan. Stir-fry the vegetables for 4–5 minutes until slightly softened.
4. Mix in the glass noodles and season to taste with soy sauce, salt, pepper, ginger and garlic.
5. Let the filling cool for about 5 minutes so the rice paper doesn’t get too soft while rolling.

Rolling the nems

1. Dip a round sheet of rice paper into lukewarm water only briefly and lay it on a clean, slightly damp work surface.
2. Place about 2 tbsp filling on the bottom third. Fold in the sides and roll up the rice paper as tightly as possible.
3. Repeat with the remaining filling until you have 10 nems. Set the rolls down with a little space between them so they don’t stick together.

Option A – air fryer

1. Brush the nems all over with a very thin layer of the remaining vegetable oil and place them in the air fryer with space between them.
2. Cook at 190 °C for about 12–15 minutes until crispy. Turn carefully about halfway through. Cook in batches if needed.

Option B – pan

1. Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
2. Place the nems in the pan with space between them and fry for about 6–8 minutes in total until golden all over, turning carefully.

Notes

The nutritional values are rough guidelines per piece, without dip (calculated with 15 ml soy sauce). They depend mainly on the sheet size, the amount of oil and the sauce.

Tips & Notes

Only dip the rice paper very briefly: it keeps softening as it sits and is then easier to roll.

A filling that isn’t too wet and a little space between the nems help the wrappers turn crispy.

For more flavour, add soy sauce to the filling or serve it as a dip; without soy sauce, season with a little more salt to taste.