Emu rice-paper rolls

MAKES 24

350 g (12 oz) emu fillet, thinly sliced (see note)

¼ teaspoon white pepper

½ teaspoon sichuan peppercorns, dry-fried, then crushed using a mortar and pestle

vegetable or peanut oil, for pan-frying

24 round rice paper wrappers

1 carrot, julienned

1 Lebanese (short) cucumber, seeded and julienned

6 spring onions (scallions), cut into thirds, then thinly sliced lengthways so you have long matchsticks

100 g (3½ oz) enoki mushrooms, trimmed and pulled apart

100 g (3½ oz) bean sprouts, trimmed

100 g (3½ oz) snow pea (mangetout) sprouts

10 g (¼ oz/½ cup firmly packed) Vietnamese mint leaves

DRESSING

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoons lime juice

1 red bird’s eye chilli, chopped

1 tablespoon grated palm sugar (jaggery)

DIPPING SAUCE

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

For the dressing: Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl.

For the dipping sauce: Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Season the sliced emu with the white pepper, sichuan pepper and some salt. Add a splash of oil to a frying pan or wok and heat over high heat. Add the slices of meat and cook briefly to sear — (it will continue to cook after you remove it from the heat), set aside.

Soak the rice paper wrappers a few at a time in water until soft. Take them out of the water and stick the top edge to the edge of a bench and let them hang there for a couple of minutes — this will make them more elastic.

Mix all the other ingredients together in a large bowl and then very lightly cover with the dressing.

Place a rice paper wrapper on the bench and lay a slice or two of the emu in the middle of the roll, then layer a small amount of the dressed vegetables on top of the emu — do not overfill. Fold the left edge over the emu and vegetables and then fold the top down and the bottom up so that they stick to the left folded edge. Now roll to the right trying to keep the roll firm so that the filling is tightly tucked inside. If you have done it right you should have a tightly rolled mini spring roll type shape. Serve with the dipping sauce.

If you can’t get emu then try making these with kangaroo fillet, or some good old regular steak.