Veggie Spring Rolls

We order veggie spring rolls more and more often when we go out to a restaurant because they are a refreshing and tasty appetizer that we can feel good about eating. With such simple ingredients and no cooking required, I set out to make these fresh rolls at home.

The spring roll is made up of three key components: the wrapping, the filling, and the dipping sauce. The filling is the most versatile part, and can be changed based on the ingredients that are in season, or what is on hand.

Ingredients

Wrapping:

• Rice Paper Rounds or Spring Roll Skins (Any kind found in the grocery store’s Asian section should do the trick)

Filling:

• Carrots – julienned
• Jicama – cut into matchsticks
• Red Pepper – thinly sliced
• Water Chestnuts – julienned
• Scallions – greens only, cut into 2 inch sections
• Basil – fresh
• Mint – fresh

Dipping Sauce:

• Plum Sauce or Hoisin Sauce
• Sriracha Sauce

Assembly

1. Dip the rice paper fully in warm water. If the bowl is small, rotate the disc until the rice paper has been completely wetted.

Just slightly wet the rice paper. When the rice paper gets soggy, like in the picture below, it gets very sticky and hard to work with. The rice paper should still be pretty firm when you place it on your work surface, as it will continue to soften.

2. Lay the rice paper out flatly on a work surface and layer on your filling. Consider how the filling will look when the roll is completed. Leaves make a nice outer layer, and keeping all the pieces of each type of ingredient packed together in their own space will make for a nice look when the roll is cut in half.

3. Roll!

• Treat the spring roll as though it were a burrito. I start by folding in the sides. The rice paper will be soggy at this point, and it does stick to itself. So carefully fold the sides inwards to make smooth even sides for your roll.

• Fold up the bottom section.

• Make sure the filling is tight and compact inside the rice paper as you roll it all the way to the end. This will ensure a densely packed roll that holds together well when it is cut and eaten.

4. Slice and serve.

I like to slice mine so I can see all the pretty ingredients inside, but you can definitely chomp right through a whole roll as well.

Serve your dipping sauce on the side. I leave it up to my dinner companions if they would like to combine their sauces, and how much heat they want for each bite.

These rolls lend themselves to lots of variations. They would be great with shrimp, or even tofu, to add protein and make them a complete meal. Try them out for yourselves and let me know what you think.