Summer Rolls
Summer rolls are more than just some raw veg wrapped in rice paper. They are vessels for The Best dipping sauce. And I’m not talking about a sickly sweet straight-out for the bottle sweet chilli sauce. No, I’m talking about a thick peanutty sauce that combines the (culinary) big five: salt, sweet, spice, sour and umami. I am almost ashamed to confess that for me the ‘heat’ in the raw ginger and garlic is enough spiciness for me. Life is too short for a burning mouth so I don’t add in any chili! But as you will see this is less of a strict recipe and more of a list of suggestions so use your own tolerance as a gauge of how hot to go.
These may seem a bit faffy to make but the most time-consuming part is preparing the veg, once you get soaking and rolling the rice paper sheets are surprisingly easy to work with. If you have to buy some of the ingredients don’t worry about them lurking in your pantry, untouched, for the next five years - I have a cold noodle recipe coming in the next few weeks that needs the same ingredients so you’ll be ready for that!
Getting the rice paper rolls is probably the trickiest part – some big supermarkets sell them, check the ‘world foods’ section. Or find an Asian supermarket – if you are doing that I would say get as many of your ingredients here as possible because they will be a lot better value than in the standard supermarket!
These are often made with vermicelli noodles inside but personally, I prefer to have them without this.
I highly recommend taking these to work with a little pot of dipping sauce, it feels so bouji! Just make sure you pop them in a small lunch box so they don’t dry out!
Time: 30 - 40 minutes
Serving size: 6 – 9 rolls depending on size
Ingredients
Dipping sauce
Ginger about 1-inch piece, peeled
Garlic 1 large clove
Peanut butter 1/3 cup or 80 g
Fresh chilli – optional, I don’t add it in because my heat tolerance is rubbish but feel fresh to spice it up! Finely chopped, would suggest starting with ¼ of red chilli and working up to the flavour you want
Soy sauce 1.5 Tbs
Rice wine vinegar 2 Tbs (you can actually substitute with apple cider vinegar, it’s not the exact same flavour but will still be delicious! )
Sesame oil 1 Tbs
Brown sugar 1 tsp
Water 1/3 cup or 85 ml
Rice paper sheets: one sheet per roll, roughly 6 – 9 depending on size. In Cape Town there are so many amazing Asian markets and I have found small sheets which I really like but often shops will only stock the standard-sized ones.
Protein: extra firm tofu thinly sliced approx. ½ a pack– plain or flavoured, I really like smoked tofu/strips of very thin omelette( see below for a recipe) / cooked prawns / leftover cooked chicken / I haven’t tried it but I’m sure any firm plant-based meat substitute would work, just make sure it’s cooked and cooled if required.
Vegetables: the texture is key here, we need thin slices of crunchy veg such as thinly sliced carrots, peppers, cabbage, grated beetroot, slices of cucumber with the middle taken out, spring onion, radish, pre-packed slaw mix is very useful here – just leave it undressed! I like to have some lettuce shredded up.
I tend to use 2-4 different veg otherwise they end up more like burritos! In terms of quantities, an example would be ½ medium carrot, ½ - 1 red pepper, ¼ cucumber, ½ avocado for approx. 8 rolls. Resist the urge to overfill, just make more rolls instead and they will keep!
Since coming to Cape Town where avocados are grown locally and one of the cheapest veg in the shop, I have started adding it into rolls – I like the texture contrast to all the crunch!
Other options that can go in; a drizzle of crispy chilli oil, a sprinkle of sesame seeds or fresh herbs like coriander or mint add a lovely freshness
Optional if you would like to fry the rolls: Sesame oil, Sesame seeds
Serving suggestions: they make a great lunch, if I’m serving them for dinner I serve them with a hefty salad to make it more of a meal. Or else I just serve them with something completely unrelated and have a ‘confused dinner’. Tofu summer roll and soup ? Its fusion.
Method
1. Make the dipping sauce – this can be done in a food processor or just whisked by hand in a bowl.
· Food processor method: chop the garlic and ginger into chunks and blitz until smooth. Add the peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and rice vinegar. Blitz again. Add the water and give a final blitz to combine.
· Whisk and bowl: finely chop and mince the garlic and ginger as best you can with a sharp knife and add to a large bowl with the peanut butter. Whisk to combine. Add the sauce, sesame oil, sugar and rice vinegar and whisk well to combine. For this method, I suggest using warm water as it mixes better. Slowly add the warm water in thirds – whisking well between each addition. It may look a bit odd or curdled but keep whisking and it will come together!
2. Prepare your vegetables and protein
3. If you are making a thin omelette I suggest: 2 eggs whisked with ½ tsp soya sauce cooked on a large frying pan with a little sesame oil. Let cool and cut into strips
4. Fill a large bowl or clean frying pan with warm water, you want it hot but cool enough that you can put your hands in!
5. Soak a rice paper sheet in warm water, fully submerging it. I find I have to soak them for about 15 -20 seconds but sometimes the packet gives instructions so see what your say. You want it soft and pliable.
6. Take it out, and shake off excess water but don’t worry about drying it. Place it on a chopping board. Start filling – layer a few slices of veg and your protein in the very centre.
7. Fold both sides in over your fillings.
8. Take the top and fold down, then roll up from the bottom. See the pictures below! Once you get the hang of it you get quicker and neater!
9. Serve with dipping sauce.
10. Optional – I don’t do this, but my sister rolls them in sesame seeds and fry them for a few minutes in a little oil!
