Some friends were telling me recently when then went on holidays, they stayed with a few friends in different places, every household seemed to have ingredients with well meaning intentions to make rice paper rolls, however they never made it past the cupboard!
Hopefully this little step by step guide will encourage you to whip up some rice paper rolls for your family and friends this summer. They are quick and easy when we have a few pointers:
First step to make life a little easier and get more rolls done in one hit is to get yourself some rolling trays. You can get these on Ebay, or alternatively Roll’d sells them for $10 for 10 trays if you have a store near you.
Also, I have a great little peeler/grater I picked up at a market which shreds the ingredients nicely, you should be able to find one of these fairly easily if you were interested (pictured below).
Makes 20 rolls
Ingredients (can always use other veggies if you like!)
¼ Red cabbage
2 medium Carrots
1 continental Cucumber or 2 Lebanese cucumbers
1 small packet vermicelli noodles
1 packet rice paper
Fresh coriander
Edible flowers
Lettuce/baby spinach
Flavoured tofu/Vegetarian mock meat/ avocado
Peanut Dipping Sauce:
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup sweet chilli sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Juice of one lime
Method:
Soak the vermicelli in HOT tap water for at least 15 minutes, until they soften a little. You don’t want them to be soggy, so keep an eye on them. Rinse with cold water and strain excess water off them. Use a pair of scissors to cut them up a bit, this makes it much easier to handle them.
Shred your cabbage and grate the cucumber and carrot (best to leave the inside part of the cucumber out of it to minimise moisture). Mix together.
Lay out your trays, place a large bowl of cool tap water on the bench to dip your rice paper in. Now I always thought previously that the paper needed to be in the water until it softened, however its much better to just quickly dip it, then lay it on the trays right away. As you assemble your ingredients the paper will soften, and you can roll it when it’s soft.
If you want to make the rolls a little fancy, get yourself some edible flowers (Bunnings have them on sale, or you can possibly try your local organic store). Place the flowers face down so when you roll them, they are showing nicely.
Assemble your ingredients on top – tofu first, then your vermicelli mix.
Make a rectangular shape with your ingredients. Then fold in the left and right sides of the paper. The paper will stick together in the middle, then fold up and over from the bottom and roll over.
Once rolled, don’t let them touch each other (yet). Place a generous amount of sesame oil on your hands and coat each roll well. This tastes great and stops them from sticking to each other.
When placing on your tray or in your container, place some lettuce or baby spinach on the bottom first then your well-oiled rolls on top. A sprinkle of black sesame seeds is a nice touch also.
I hope you feel inspired to share rice paper rolls, happy cooking 🙂
Namaste,
By Louise
@prasadam_eats on Instagram