Saturday 30 June 2012

Rice Paper Rolls

Ever wondered how to make your own Vietnamese rice paper rolls? I wouldn't say mine would be the most authentic and 'visually appealing' method, but here is how I made my rice paper rolls. If you want or NEED a light meal that's healthy and low in fat (e.g. when I'm having too much fried or fatty foods for too many days), this would be the perfect meal to have. It's also great for when you have friends or family over at your place. Try to demonstrate the assembling process to them once or twice, and I'm sure your guests will have one of the most fun and interactive dinners! I would imagine this would be perfect for kids as well :p 

Ingredients (serves 15 rolls) 


  • 250-300 g chicken tenderloins, sliced and cooked in boiling water
  • 1 carrot, sliced into long thin strips (Julienne)
  • 1 packet of beansprouts, washed and dried
  • 1 oak leaf lettuce, washed and dried
  • 6 spring onions (green part), washed and dried
  • 1 packet of large round rice paper wrappers


Dipping sauce


  • 2 tbs sugar
  • 2 tbs fish sauce
  • 2 tbs lime juice
  • 3 small clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 finely chopped red chilli
  • 2 tbs water


Method

Preparation

1. While boiling the chicken tenderloin pieces, prepare all the ingredients. Slice carrots and spring onions evenly into the length of the rice paper rolls (3-4 inches). Roughly tear lettuce leaves into smaller pieces. 

2. To make the dipping sauce, place all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined.

Assembling the rolls

1. Quickly soak one piece of rice paper in a pot of warm water (1:1 ratio of hot boiling water and room temperature water) for 2 to 3 seconds. Place it on a clean plate. Don't worry if it's slightly hard in the middle, it will continue to soften as you wrap the ingredients. The hotter the water is, the less time you need to soak the rice paper to soften it.

 2. Place the lettuce leaves, spring onion, carrots, beansprouts, and chicken 1 inch from the top end of the rice paper. Fold the top end of the rice paper tightly over the fillings.


3. Fold both sides of the rice paper towards the centre.


4. Roll it down all the way , making sure that the fillings are tightly wrapped in the rice paper.


5. It's done! Repeat the process until your tummy feels satisfied :p

Suggestions 

  • You could use any other type of protein to substitute the chicken. Prawns, eggs, pork, beef, even tofu if you're vegan.
  • You could add rice vermicelli in the fillings. I omitted this to have a lower carb rice paper roll. Which also means I can fit more vegetables into my rice paper rolls.
  • You can use any of your favourite vegetable E.g. cucumbers, capsicum, etc. Use your creativity!
  • Herbs add great flavour to the rice paper rolls. E.g. Coriander, mint, basil leaves. I omitted them purely because of cost.

These rice paper rolls are very easy to make as you don't need much cooking. Let your (or your kid's) creative juices flow and you'll be ready to rock and roll with these rice paper rolls!



5 comments:

  1. Love rice paper rolls! so easy to make too!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Shanshan!Yes, and it means you get to wash less dishes too! :p

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  2. I love eating these especially during summer. I make them like you do without the noodles and they are tasty and healthy! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lorraine! Perfect for a summer's picnic but perhaps not exactly the best meal for winter hehe... Maybe serve it with a bowl of Vietnamese beef soup?

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  3. Chicco, thank you for linking this in to Food on Friday. We are now getting quite a collection of rice/grain dishes together. Do stop by some of the other links to check them out!

    Ps I have just signed up to follow your blog. A follow back to Carole's Chatter would be wonderful – or have you already followed? Cheers

    Ps If you would like email reminders of future Food on Fridays, just pop by and comment and include your email - I won't publish it - and the reminder will be by bcc so it will remain private

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