My Big Fat Cooking Blog: 053 - Vietnamese Spring Roll (With a Twist)

Vegetarians! Rejoice!

This week recipe can and will be one of your favorite dish to make at home. Guaranteed!

VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLL is what we’re making today!

Vietnamese version of this humble finger food is awesome in every way. We’re going to use rice paper (instead of the regular wonton paper), and fill it up with all these delicious veggies you have in your fridge! If you don’t have one, then go grab your silly ass up from the couch and go to the nearest market!

Buy local, eat organic, because it is hell of a lot better for you!

The spring roll will be filled with lots of goodness. I’m talking about stuff like Vitamin A-rich Carrots. Then we’ll be adding a lot of crunch factor to it. Remember Peanuts? You know you love it.

The prep time for this dish is minimal, and it can be made in a blink of an eye (sadly, not literally :( )

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For 1 Servings of 4 pieces, you will need;

4 x Rice Paper wraps. You can buy these at most major supermarkets, look in the Asian food section. It should be there. And no, you cannot substitute with anything else.

100 grams of Carrot. Clean and peeled

100 grams of Cucumber. Clean.

100 grams of Lettuce. Wash and clean.

30 grams of Chives. Wash and clean.

20 grams of Coriander Leaves. Wash and clean.

50 grams of Roasted Peanuts.

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Ready? Here We Go!

Step 1 – Cut all your Carrots into match sticks. The easy way to do this is to make a straight cut on one of the sides, and turn it as the base to cut the rests. When you have a square cut of Carrot, slice it about ½ cm thin, and then proceed to cut it into strips. As for the Cucumber, only use the sides, NOT the seeds. Cut it in the same fashion as the Carrots.

Cut one of the sides to turn it into the bottom part

Make even cuts on the rest of the sides, turn it into a rectangle (left side), then proceed to cut into large thin strips

Another look on how to make the thin strips

Cut the thin strips into matchsticks!

Step 2 – Wash the Chives, cut away the white parts, use the green parts only. Continue by tearing the Coriander leafs from the stalks. Don’t forget to chop the Lettuce into small pieces.

Chives

Coriander

Lettuce

Step 3 – Get a bowl or a shallow baking pan, fill it with warm water. Get one of the Rice Paper, dip it whole briefly into the water. Remember, this thing is like sponge, even if you took it out of the water already, it still soaks up the remaining to dehydrate the whole thing. Lay it flat in the wet surface to avoid it from sticking.

Just in case you didn't notice, there is indeed water inside this baking pan

Now that's me dipping the rice paper (OBVIOUSLY, duh)

Add water to the cutting board to avoid it from sticking too much

Step 4 – Go crazy with the fillings! I like to fill it in this order; Lettuce, Carrots, Cucumber, Coriander, Chives, and Peanuts. To wrap it up; (1) Fold the left and right side inward, (2) Fold the short side and tuck it in, (3) Continue folding until it all wraps up nicely.