Of Fresh Spring Rolls and Goofballs in the Kitchen

I felt adventurous on Saturday and had made a trip to Hong Kong Market, so Nicholas and I devoured my first attempt at fresh spring rolls this weekend.  Not bad and waaaay easier than I thought they would be.  (NB: Easy does not necessarily mean fast -- this is one of those cases.)  I used Slow Cookery for inspiration.  Here's the instructional video.  I find the Slow Cook pretty dandy, but I'm a sucker for goofballs.

What I Did
I took,

1 c cabbage, thinly sliced
1 c fresh basil, chopped
1 c beansprouts
1 carrot, coarsley grated
1/2 cucumber, seeded and julienned
and mixed them in a bowl with the following vinaigrette,
1/2 c rice vinegar
2 T sugar
1 t salt
a few squirts of sriracha

Stir well and let this set.

Then I sliced the tofu and marinaded it in a little soy sauce.

I boiled about 3 oz of vermicelli noodles, drained and rinsed them, and ground up about a 1/3 c cashews.  I arranged everything, including a pie plate filled with water to soak my rice paper wrappers, and I was ready to roll.

The rolling went better than I thought it would, although I will need to make these plenty more (*shucks*) to get a really tight, easy-to-eat roll.  I suspect the soaking time of the wrapper is key in getting good pliability and stickiness, but minimizing the chance for tears.  Overall, I found the wrappers much easier to work with than I'd expected.

So, first you soak a wrapper until it becomes transparent and soft, 20-30 seconds is all.  I did my rolling on a clean firm surface.

First, I laid four strips of tofu on the wrapper situated where a mouth would be if the wrapper were a round face.  I topped the tofu with a few noodles.

Next, I spooned on some cashews (I used cashews because I had them, but the recipe really calls for peanuts, which are probably even better in this capacity).

Then, on went the vegetables.

Finally, it's time to roll.  Pull the bottom of the wrapper as tightly as possible over the contents.  Try not to tear the wrapper, but you can still give it a good pull, it's quite pliable.

 

Essentially, just keep the wrapper as taut as possible around the contents, folding in the sides of the wrapper as you go.

The wrapper is so sticky that it will seal simply by pressing the edge down against the roll.

We ate ours with a few sauces - the leftover vinaigrette, the leftover vinaigrette cooked into a thick sweet & sour sauce, and some satay mixed with soy sauce.

It looks like a lot, but Nick and I made quick work of this mountain of fresh spring rolls.  Most delightfully, I have a bunch of rice paper wrappers left, so we'll be having these again soon!