Rice Paper Rolls

These babies have been sitting in my ‘to blog about’ list for over a year now.   Each time we make them I forget to take photo’s, or the lighting is really bad, or our rice paper rolls are so slapped together I really didn’t want you to see just how messy they can get.   The lesson there is that they do take practice, but it’s amazing what following the instructions on the packet can do….and they are so delicious we have been quite happy to spend the time practicing to get them right for sharing with you all.   I’m still going to say ours have a homey look to them, check out a more professional version on her blog, Please Pass The Recipe, from my Mum who has been making them for years and years to see what they eventually should look like.

Mum was the inspiration for getting us to try these in the first place.  She posted them on her blog and it started a conversation about her eating these almost weekly in summer and often just putting all the ingredients on the table for people to make their own. Re-reading her blog post again to link for everyone, I’m already thinking about trying out a version with an asian style coleslaw inside to add to the flavour burst.

Back to the rice paper rolls we made for dinner the other night.  The contents are really only limited by your taste buds and what you have in your refrigerator.  They are great as a healthy snack, gluten-free, can be vegan, vegetarian or full or meat depending on your preference.  Great for summer and those warmer months when you don’t really feel like cooking, and definitely don’t want to be turning on the oven or standing in a hot kitchen.  Cut up the bits in advance and share these with your friends over a lazy Sunday for a bit of fun and a creative meal or have the wrappers on standby as a great option for when you can’t be bothered cooking but want to eat something healthy.

What do you need to make these babies?

• rice paper wrappers – you should be able to get these from any asian grocers or if you’re in Australia they are available at most big supermarkets.

• some kind of dipping sauce – go for sweet chilli, hoi sin, soy, plum or the dipping sauce recipe below.
• herbs of some kind make them super tasty, go for coriander, Vietnamese mint or even a bit of dill.
• all your vegetables cut finely so that they are easy to bite through, or turn them into a salad to make your rolling easier
• cold meat like poached chicken, prawns or pre-cooked fish, optional
• fine rice noodles, optional

• spring onion, Julienne
• carrot – grated or Julienne
• celery, Julienne
• coriander (cilantro)
• crushed peanuts
• poached chicken breast
• tomato, sliced
• snow peas, Julienne
• hoi sin sauce

The Sauce

• 2 tbl sp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp rice wine vinegar

Put all sauce ingredients into a jar or bowl and combine well. Left overs will keep in the fridge for a few weeks.

How to Make The Rice Paper Rolls

1. Fill a bowl with warm water to dip your wrappers into.  Have a plate handy to lay out the skin as it will get very sticky and fragile once its fully absorbed the water.
2. Place the wrapper onto the plate & smear with some sauce towards one edge of the wrapper leaving about 8-10cm gap for rolling.  I went for hoi sin, but you could use sweet chilli, or anything else that takes your fancy.
3. layer your vegetables onto the meat, keeping the amount to no more than about 3cm wide & high…ie about hand holding size. sprinkle some peanuts for texture & we’re ready to roll.
4. Lift your short edge and fold over the filling.
5. Then fold in each side.
6. Roll over once, at this point I got tricky and places a coriander leaf for decoration as it will show through to the outer edge. Totally optional if you want to do this.
7. Next step is to roll right to the end. 
8. Now repeat making as many combos as you like.I served sprinkled with some left over peanuts and garnished with some coriander for a delicious, and healthy dinner.

Happy Rolling & Happy Eating

Leah

ps. here’s the official folding guide from the back of the packet to help everyone out (it definitely assisted me!)