Vietnamese Spring Rolls:

Easy, quick, fresh, healthy, no cooking required:

It’s hard to find all those attributes in a single dish. Enter, Vietnamese spring rolls. I always have a pack of rice paper on hand in the pantry for those days when I’m not in the mood to cook anything major. Besides, I’ve mentioned my love of finger foods before. Grab whatever is handy in the fridge, slice it up finely. Roll it in rice paper and serve with a dipping sauce or soup. As for my kids, luckily they are both open to trying new flavors and will eat this happily. The texture of the rice paper is something you have to get accustomed to. If the sticky uncooked version is not for you, then pan fry it to get it crisp! However, the uncooked version has the added advantage of being served cold. Hence, it can be prepared in advance.

Versatility:

Honestly, rice paper is soooo versatile!  As a child, I loved eating fried rice crackers. Basically, nothing more than dipping a rice paper in hot oil till it puffs up. Sprinkle this with some chat masala, or any type of seasoning, and you have a tasty snack on your hands. It’s great for people on a gluten-free diet, too depending on the ingredients you combine it with.

A Memory Invoked:

Soaking the rice paper is curiously therapeutic. There’s no rushing it. Each paper has to sit a while as you pour warm water over it and swirl it around with your fingers. The water starts to cook the rice paper and it releases some of its starch. As I was making these, I was reminded of how, in Pakistan, we used to save the water after boiling rice in it. That milky liquid, once cooled, would be used to starch all our cotton clothes. Given the hot summer months, cotton is always the preferred fabric. But how I hated ironing those rigid, stuck together kurtas/ shirts! A daily and dreaded ritual during the sultry summers. There was no concept of spray starch back then, and thankfully so, because even though it was hard work, it was a cost effective and earth-friendly alternative! Strange, how rice paper transported me back to a memory from so long ago – the image of stiff shirts, line drying in the hot sun!

Ingredients:

Cucumber
Tomato
Carrots
Green Bell Pepper
Cilantro
Chicken (I used left over rotisserie chicken)
Rice Paper

Dipping sauce:

½ tsp sugar
½ tsp sesame oil
4 tsp soy sauce
4 tsp water
3 tsp vinegar
Pinch of red chilli flakes

(mix all the ingredients till sugar is dissolved. Serve with rolls)

Directions:

1. Thinly slice the cucumber, tomato, carrots, and bell pepper.
2. Spice up the chicken with a dash of soy sauce, salt and pepper and crisp it up by sauteing it.
3. Pour hot water in a shallow pan and submerge one rice paper in it. Leave it for a min. When it becomes pliable and translucent, lay it out on a plate.

4. Stack the fillings on one edge.
5. Roll it up, making sure to tuck the side in as you go.
6. The rice paper is fairly gelatinous and sticky, so the ends will hold well together once it is rolled up.
7. Serve with the dipping sauce, and possibly a bowl of hot wonton soup.

As an alternative filling, try shrimp, avocado, cabbage and red pepper. Yum!!