Spring rolls are a much lighter appetizer than the fried variety, and go together ever so much quicker! I made mine with a peanut sauce, because the chili-garlic sauce I tried to buy ended up way too spicy for me (and everyone else at the bridal shower I took these to). But chili-garlic sauce was one of the options that my recipe gave to eat spring rolls with, so go get yourself a jar of chili-garlic sauce if you like spice!
A quick overview of how spring rolls go together:
1. Cook your noodles and prep your fillings.
2. Soften each wrapper in warm water, then add your fillings.
3. Fold the ends in, and roll each spring roll. Moistening them in warm water makes them sticky, so rolling them and squeezing them together to make them stick is all you need!
4. Prep your sauces.
Where to find spring roll wrappers? That’s a good question! My neighborhood Walmart that delivers groceries to my porch each week is carrying them now. If you have an Oriental Market, they would have them too. [Actually, if you have an Oriental Market within driving distance, you need to go check it out for more than spring roll wrappers, especially if you’re gluten free. They have THE BEST rice out there, and the prices on their rice noodles can’t be BEAT.]
VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS
Ingredients
2oz vermicelli rice noodles (I used the noodles from a package of Thai Kitchen Instant Rice Noodle Soup)
16 rice wrappers
16 large shrimp, cooked and cut in half
Chopped lettuce
Chopped fresh mint leaves
Chopped fresh basil leaves, fresh Thai basil if you can find it
Chopped fresh cilantro, if you’re somebody who doesn’t think it tastes like soap (I am)
Gather all your ingredients. Make sure everything is prepped, chopped, and cut.
Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and rinse WELL in cold water.
Fill a large bowl with warm water. You need a bowl with a flat bottom, large enough for the rice wrappers to fit in. Warm is fine, it doesn’t have to be boiling. Your hands are going in this!
Dip one wrapper in the warm water to soften for a few seconds.
Lay it flat on a cutting board. Place two shrimp halves in a row across the center. Add some cooled noodles, lettuce, and fresh herbs. You want this in a row down the center, leaving enough space on each end to roll it in.
Fold the uncovered ends down toward the middle, then roll tightly. I rolled them basically like a burrito, if that helps anyone. The moist rice wrapper should be sticky enough to stick to itself, so you should be able to have it hold once you roll it up. If it’s not, reach back into the warm water with a finger or two and moisten it a bit more.
Repeat with remaining wrappers.
Ingredients
1/2C smooth peanut butter
1/4C soy sauce (be careful of your soy sauce if you are GF! It’s usually made from wheat. Get something specially marked GF)
1/4C water
1T rice vinegar (not seasoned! Just straight rice vinegar)
1T sugar or maple syrup
1t minced garlic
(Optional) Crushed red pepper
Whisk peanut butter, soy sauce, and water together until smooth. Add other ingredients, and stir until well mixed.
