Rice Paper Rolls (With A Twist)
Bursting with freshness, color and textures, these rice paper rolls are a perfect light appetizer before any meal. Check out the pink wrappers! Serve with your choice of dipping sauces.
Servings (change as needed): 8 rolls (or 24-32 pieces)
Ingredients
- 8 rice paper wrappers, 6 or 8.5 inch round
- 1 can sliced beets or vacuum sealed package of cooked julienne or whole beets
Filling options
- 1/2 cup (70 g) cooked rice vermicelli replace with quinoa if you like
- vegetables: 1 carrot, 1 seedless cucumber, 1/2 avocado, Note 1
- 4 basil leaves or lettuce leaves, sliced
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup spicy sweet chili sauce with a squeeze of lime juice, Note 2
Instructions
- PREP ALL INGREDIENTS: Grate or matchstick carrots. Thinly slice or finely dice other veggies. Remove excess water by dabbing with paper towels. Make rice vermicelli according to package directions - set aside to cool. Gather hoisin, sesame seeds, rice wrappers, clean cutting board and plate/platter. Fill a medium shallow bowl with 3-4 cups of hot (not boiling) water. Add about 1/2 cup beet juice or cut up cooked beets to turn water dark pink/red.
- SOFTEN RICE WRAPPERS: Dip a rice paper wrapper into the hot water bowl with beet juice, ensuring all parts are soaked. When rice wrappers soften to a pliable form in about 10 seconds , place carefully on cutting board. If you're a newbie at making rolls and the wrappers are thin, use two wrappers at a time - less likely to tear.
- FILL WRAPPERS: Lay some vermicelli along length of wrapper, 2 inches from bottom edge. Place some cucumber, carrot, avocado on top (or any veggies you are using). Drizzle a thin strip of hoisin sauce along the veggies. Add a couple of julienne beet strips (if desired) and basil or lettuce leaves. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. The total filling should be about 1-1 1/2 inches (2.5-3-8 cm) thick.
- TUCK AND ROLL: Fold the bottom of wrapper over filling and tuck snugly under filling. Be careful not to tear wrapper. Continue to tightly roll, tuck, roll, tuck until summer roll is complete. Wrapper is sticky so roll will stay together.
- REPEAT PREVIOUS 3 STEPS for remaining cold rolls.
- SERVE: Rolls can be served whole, but I like to cut them into pieces to show the pretty insides. Cut 1/2 inch off each end, then cut roll into 3-4 pieces, depending on the size of the wrapper. Turn cut sides up or stack on a plate. To keep moist and fresh for up to 2-3 hours, cover with a well dampened tea towel (no need to refrigerate). Serve with sweet chili sauce with splash of lime juice (or other sauces of your choice).
Notes
- Vegetable fillings: Choose whatever you like, trying to balance color, flavors and texture with fresh veggies, crunch veggies and fresh herbs. Carrots, beets, avocado, green onion slivers, alfalfa sprouts, watercress, pea shoots, bean sprouts, cucumber, basil leaves, lettuce, tofu, cilantro, chives, mango, red bell peppers, mint leaves, shredded purple cabbage (or undressed coleslaw mix) are good choices. Other fillings: quinoa (instead of vermicelli), cooked shrimp cut in half to make thinner, thinly sliced cooked pork.
- Dipping sauce options: instead of Thai sweet chili sauce, try spicy peanut sauce, hoisin or a traditional Vietnamese dipping sauce known as Nước chấm (sweet and tangy). Here's a recipe for a quick peanut sauce.
- Shortcuts
- Skip the beet juice and use plain colored wrappers.
- Use ingredients that don't need a lot of chopping like carrot matchsticks, alfalfa sprouts or pea shoots, undressed coleslaw, chopped red cabbage, leftover quinoa or snap peas.
- Use a store-bought sauce like Thai sweet chili sauce, peanut sauce, etc
- Make Ahead:
- The general consensus for maximum freshness is that you can make cold rolls up to 2-3 hours ahead. Cover the rolls with a damp tea towel until serving to keep them moist.
- If you have to make them the day before (or you want to store leftovers), wrap the rolls in plastic wrap and seal them in a ziploc bag or airtight container. Then refrigerate and bring to room temperature before serving.
Calories: 121kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 2mg | Sodium: 336mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1313IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg