Super Easy Raw Veggie Rice Paper Rolls

Hi Food Adventures,

On Saturday I broke out of my usual grocery shopping routine and went to T&T Supermarket.  T&T is an Asian grocery store filled with many items that I have never seen before and many items that most supermarket just don’t carry.  I was super pleased to  find mushroom sauce, rice paper sheets, glass noodles, Kaffer lime leaves, Thai green peppers, cilantro with the roots on, galangal and other items that you can likely find at other grocery stores.  I can now make many more of the Thai recipes from our cooking class.  I had a great time as @OrganicExpert and I searched for items and taught each other new things about the foods we had tried before and shared recipe tips.  If you have never been to T&T and have a friend who has, I highly recommend you go with them the first time as it is a very different shopping experience but the prices and selection are worth the trip.

One of the items I picked up was a package of rice paper sheets to make rice paper rolls.  Having never purchased them before, I picked the variety that had the best ingredients, the nicest packaging and easy to follow instructions in English.   I have never made Rice Paper Rolls before or read a recipe so I made my own recipe up based on what I had and boy were they great!  This recipe is so easy and takes less than five minutes and looks great too.

Super Easy Raw Veggie Rice Paper Rolls

Ingredients

• 4 Rice paper sheets (I used 8 inch rounds)
• Handful of Carrots – matchstick
• Handful of Pea shoots or sprouts
• Handful of Cilantro leaves
• Handful of Enoki mushrooms
• Handful of Beansprouts

Dip

• 2 tbsp Gluten-free Tamari
• 2 tbsp Organic Rice Wine Vinegar

Directions

1. Open the rice paper sheets and take out the sheets that you need and then close the package or the rest will take in moisture and start to warp like a record from the 70’s.
2. Take a clean dish drying towel and totally soak it in water.  Wring out the the excess moisture.
3. Take one (1) sheet of the rice paper and place it on the towel – top and bottom for one minute (use a timer).
4. Take out all of the veggie ingredients and assemble all them on a cutting board or clean surface.  Leave a space in the middle for your rice paper roll to be assembled.
5. Take the prepared sheet and place in the middle of your ingredients.
6. Start the next sheet of to be moistened using the same towel and set the timer for one minute.
7. With the first sheet, place a small amount in a lengthwise direction of the carrots, pea sprouts, cilantro, Enoki mushrooms and beansprouts into the middle of the rice paper sheet as if you were making a wrap.
8. Fold the sides of the rice paper to close in the ends of the raw veggies.
9. Fold over the wrap to tuck in the ingredients with the rice sheet touching the other sheet to hold it tightly.
10. Finish rolling the sheet and moisten the end with some water on your finger before you close it to hold the final edge.
11. Your second sheet should be ready so you can start preparing the third sheet and then fill the second sheet.
12. Continue until the rolls are complete.
13. Make the dip by combining the tamari with the rice wine vinegar in small bowl.
14. To serve, give each person 1 tbsp of drip in a small dish and add two rolls that you have cut in half on a diagonal.

Tips:

• A paper towel will not work to moisten the sheets (I tried and trust me it does not work)
• I got frustrated with the  towel and tried running filtered water on the sheet and then placed it on the damp towel to dry the excess water off.  It actually worked well.
• The rice paper is ready when it is clearer and a bit sticky.  Too sticky and it will be very hard to work with.  Too dry and it won’t hold well.  After you make a few you will see what you like to work with but if it is too dry, it is hard to bite through.
• I added some water to the outside of the first two I made as they were too dry and it seemed to help them.  I just wet my hand and ran it over the roll to coat the outside with water.

To enjoy, dip the ends of the Super Easy Raw Veggie Rice Paper Rolls in the dip and then bite.

May your day be filled with new routines and adventures with food and friends.

To finding the ingredients to make more Thai food,

Jo-Ann Blondin, your 9CupChallenge partner