While with my friend SW last Saturday night, she mentioned making Fresh Spring Rolls to me. My mouth watered at the thought. I've made these once before, and they are surprisingly easy to make. The only challenging part is getting them to wrap up nice and tight! (I give myself a 6 out of 10 on tight wrapping skills. Completely ripped one, much to my frustration.)
Spring rolls, like all Asian cuisine, are 70% preparation and 30% actual cooking. (You could argue its 80/20, honestly.) First I made and prepped all my ingredients: pan-fried shrimp for extra flavor, boiled rice vermicelli (available at Kroger, fyi. A similar noodle is mai fun), avocado slices, lettuce leaves, basil leaves, julienned carrots, and then the dried rice wrappers (also available at Kroger. If you can't find these ingredients at your local grocery, then head to an Asian grocery store.)
To fold them: have you ever been to a Chipotle before? Did you watch how they make the burrito? Pile up all the goodies in a line in the center. Fold two of the sides in. Turn it and start rolling, keeping the pressure constant. Rice wrappers are sticky, a bit like saran wrap, so it won't be as easy as tortilla rolling, but the idea is the same. Dip the wrap into a large bowl of hot water (don't burn yourself, people), for just a few seconds. It'll go limp immediately. Lay it out on a dry surface, place your ingredients, and Chipotle roll. Should be a short, round, chubby little thing when finished, about the width of your palm.
These are a delicious appetizer, any time. I pulled the original recipe off of Allrecipes.com. The hoisen/peanut butter sauce I make to go with it came from there too, but from the comments, not the actual recipe.
Two shrimp cut in half to each roll is how I make these. Some versions you see the shrimp left whole, which makes for an interesting image from the outside. I think that cutting them in half makes the layering and rolling easier, however, and spreads the shrimp per bite ratio better. These would be excellent with tofu, or no meat whatsoever, too. Cucumbers, bean sprouts, pickled daikon, thinly sliced beef... I can think of many ways to change these up!
So good! Crisp, refreshing. John loves these, he ate the majority.
Fresh Spring Rolls
A refreshing, exotic tasting appetizer.
Ingredients
- 2 oz (about 2 handfuls) vemicelli noodles
- 1/2 avocado, sliced
- 1 TBS fresh basil leaves, cut up
- 2 lettuce leaves, chopped into 1/2" square pieces
- 1/2 carrot, julienned
- 16 pan-fried shrimp, cut in half (alternatively boil them)
- 8 rice wrappers
- Sauce:
- 1 TBS Hoisen
- 2 TBS Crunchy peanut butter
- 2 TBS water
Instructions
For the rolls: 1. Boil the vermicelli until al dente, cook the shrimp, slice and chop all vegetable ingredients, laying all out before rolling. 2. Using a large bowl filled with hot water, gently dip rice wrapper in, leaving for a second or two until all parts are soft. Lay out on a dry, clean surface, not cloth or paper towel. (Skin will stick.)3. Working quickly, lay desired amounts of all ingredients in center of wrapper, including 4 split shrimp pieces. I used 2 basil leaves, 4 lettuce pieces, a small amount of vermicelli, a few carrot slices, avocado chunks, and then 4 shrimp pieces.4. Bring the uncovered sides in. Taking one of the unfolded sides, gently but firmly begin rolling. The stickiness of the wrapper should hold it together.For sauce:1. Mix 1 TBS Hoisen, 2 TBS crunchy peanut butter, and 2 TBS water together in small microwave safe dish. Microwave for 15 seconds, remove and stir. Return sauce for another 15 seconds. If too thick, add more water.
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