Spring Rolls

Filled with crunchy vegetables.

An Asian wrap dipped in spicy peanut sauce.

Make dainty rolls (very little filling) or go for the heartier bursting-at-the-seams style (shown below).

Slightly tricky to make.

But totally do-able.

Last Friday I taught 80 students.

First we went over the ingredients, one-by-one. I held up a sprig of mint, pronounced the word, wrote it on the board and then in unison we spelled it out loud.

M - I - N - T

The students are all adult refugees, primarily from Burma, eager to learn our language and assimilate into American life. This English/healthy cooking class is a joy for me.

This is how we made the spring rolls.

Prep the filling ingredients (above, clockwise): Shredded carrots, cilantro, shredded Napa cabbage, Thai basil, shredded red cabbage, mint, green onion (chopped finely or in slender strips), cooked cellophane noodles tossed with tablespoon of rice vinegar and cooked shrimp (middle).

Also needed, rice paper.

NOTE: Skip the shrimp to make it vegetarian. Other types of lettuce can be substituted for Napa cabbage (such as Bibb lettuce). Cucumber spears would add a nice crunch. Experiment with different vegetables but stick with the traditional herbs (Thai basil, mint, cilantro) and use cellophane noodles (or even a thin pasta like vermicelli).

Have EVERYTHING ready before you assemble.

Lay out a kitchen towel and a cake pan filled with warm water.

Place rice paper in water and let it soak (approx. 30 - 60 seconds) until it is pliable and bends easily.

If you soak too long it will become a sticky gooey mess and you will need to start over with new rice paper.

Once the rice paper is pliable, pull it out of the water, lay it on a kitchen towel and quickly blot off excess water.

Immediately fill the rice paper with a layer of shrimp (example, below right) and then the rest of the ingredients (example, below left). The rice paper is transparent when wet so it might be difficult to see in the photo.

Pull the right and left sides of the rice paper over the filling (by about an inch) and roll up (much like you would a burrito). 

This technique gets easier with practice. The last spring roll you make will be incredible!

To complete the meal:

Spicy Peanut Sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced

¼ teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 Tablespoon tomato paste

3 Tablespoons creamy peanut butter

3 Tablespoons hoisin sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

¾ cup water

In a small saucepan, cook garlic and red pepper flakes in oil over moderate heat, stirring, until garlic is golden. Whisk in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, whisking. Then lower the heat and simmer the sauce, whisking, until thickened, about 5 minutes.

Cool to serve.