Easy summer rolls
Spring rolls? Summer rolls? My friend who grew up in Vietnam tells me that the rolls that are translucent, not fried and have fresh ingredients are summer rolls, and the fried ones often made with a flour wrapper are spring rolls. I’m seeing conflicting things online, but I’m going with my buddy for now.
I haven’t delved too deeply into Vietnamese cuisine, but it is a treasure trove of allergy-friendly foods, especially if you’re cooking at home. It is one of the more wheat-free-friendly cuisines out there since a lot of items are made with rice and rice flour. And the flavors are bold and bright and amazing.
Based on my superb Googling skills, here is a quick primer on some common ingredients in Vietnamese cooking: rice paper, fish sauce, star anise, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cloves, vinegar, peanuts, coconut milk. Very different from the Korean pantry, yes?
Today we’re talking about these summer rolls that are so beautifully customizable that a recipe is kind of hard to put together? But we’ll give it a try anyway!
An important note: I am not Vietnamese and I’m definitely not an authority on what variations are traditional and what are not, but this is the best I can do for now. I feel like this is important for me to say because we are toeing the line of cultural appropriation (a big no-no) when we take a food that is very traditional to a certain cuisine and make/suggest changes to it. It’s complicated and I’m still trying to figure it out. Please feel free to reach out if you have feedback regarding my content and cultural appropriation. I’m constantly learning!
It’s a long list of possible ingredients, but you choose from the list what you want as your filling, as well as choosing which dipping sauce you want to make.
I’ve bolded the top allergens.
Easy summer rolls
Makes…as many rolls as you want to make!
Ingredients for summer rolls
1 package of rice paper/rice wrapper rolls
Some traditional ingredients for the filling; choose what you like!
Shrimp, cooked and cooled
Thin-sliced pork belly, cooked and cooled
Thin rice noodles, cooked and cooled
Lettuce
Herbs like mint leaves, cilantro
Garlic chives
Some non-traditional suggestions
Fresh mung bean sprouts
Carrot, julienned
Thai basil or basil
Rotisserie chicken
Edamame (soy)
Tofu cubes
Ingredients for nut sauce
1/4 c nut butter of choice (I used Trader Joe’s mixed nut butter)
1 TBS tamari (soy) or soy sauce (soy, wheat)
1 TBS rice vinegar or white vinegar
1 TBS brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
0-4 TBS warm water (depending on the consistency of your nut butter)
Ingredients for nut-free classic Vietnamese dipping sauce
1/4 c fish sauce
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c water
2 TBS lime juice
2 tsp rice vinegar or vinegar
1 clove garlic, pressed or finely minced
Directions
Prepare your sauce of choice. The nut sauce should be about the consistency of ketchup or mustard. Your classic Vietnamese dipping sauce will be more pungent than it will be fishy-tasting. Don’t be scared!
Prepare all vegetables so your wraps are ready to be assembled. Prepare a wide bowl or pie plate with at least 2 inches of warm water.
Submerge rice paper into warm water for 10-15 seconds, until it is mostly soft but still has a little bit of structure. The rice paper will continue to hydrate after you take it out.
Fill: Place rice paper on a plate. Place a little bit of each summer roll ingredient (less than you think!) in the center of your rice paper. You’ll get a hang of how much to fill your wrapper as you go along.
Fold: Fold the bottom of your rice paper up toward the center, staying flush against your fillings, and fold the top down the same way. Fold the right side tightly over your fillings and the bottom and top folds. Then, take the entire wrap and fold it over the excess wrap on the left side to make it as tight as possible.
Repeat until you’ve made your desired amount of summer rolls.
Dip into your dipping sauce and enjoy!
Contains:
peanuts or tree nuts (for peanut-free, use a nut butter; for peanut-free and nut-free, try this bright Vietnamese dipping sauce made with fish sauce, sugar and lime juice)
soy (for soy-free, substitute coco aminos for tamari)
