Dipping Sauce
- 1/4 cup apricot jelly
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon chili garlic paste
- 1/4 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon dry mustard powder
- Combine all ingredients in a small pot and set over medium heat. Once bubbling, cook for 2 minutes until syrupy. Allow to cool.
Summer Rolls
- 3 cups water
- salt
- 2 ounces maifun (rice vermicelli)
- 1/3 ounce fresh basil leaves (1/4 cup well-packed)
- 2 ounces soft lettuce or spring mix
- 2 ounces carrots, cut into matchsticks
- 2 ounces cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 8 rice papers
- Put the water and a couple large pinches of salt in a small pot. Set over high heat until simmering. Put the maifun in a medium bowl. Pour the water over the maifun and let sit for 15 minutes until soft.
- Fill a large bowl with warm water. Place one rice paper in the water. Allow to soften, 45-60 seconds. Lay on a flat surface. Layer in one-eighth of the basil, lettuce, carrots, cucumber and noodles about one-third of the way from the edge. Tightly pull the paper over the top and around the filling. Fold in the sides of the paper. Then roll forward. Set aside. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve with the dipping sauce.
Serves 4
It helps to keep the work surface wet to keep the rice paper from sticking to it. Try to keep the filling as tightly packed as possible and roll the rice paper as tightly as possible. I know this is easier said than done. Remove any stems from the lettuce to keep them from poking through the rice paper. It also helps to keep the carrots and cucumber more towards the middle of the roll to keep them from poking through as well.
This recipe is being shared in Meat Free Mondays, Allergy Free Wednesday, Full Plate Thursday, and Gluten Free Fridays.
I love this! I’m going to have to try it without the chili, but I think it will stand up. I’m always looking for alternative dips and this looks yummy!
It says on your site you can have peppercorns. Do you keep Sichuan peppercorns on hand? That could add a bit of a kick.
Huh, I’ve honestly never heard of those before, but they sound like they would do the trick! Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll have to track those down.
Since you can’t have chiles, they might be useful to add to your repertoire. They’re not spicy per se. They frequently get described as having a mouth numbing effect. I got mine from Penzey’s.
The rolls look so interesting. I never tried cooking with rice paper before, but it looks easier than I imagined.
Yep, a quick soak is all it needs. The hard part is perfecting your rolling technique.
I love Summer Rolls, these look fantastic! Hope you are having a fantastic day and we are so excited that you shared your post with Full Plate Thursday.
Thanks so much and Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
These look gorgeous. I definitely wouldn’t manage to make them so neat looking. Thanks for linking up to Meat Free Mondays. Featured, Stumbled, Pinned and Tweeted :)
This was after a few days of practice. And those are most definitely the best looking rolls.