I guess I’ve always been intimidated by these little rolls of goodness, probably because I was afraid that my rolls will be ugly and sloppy. But once I’ve finally made them, they seem to me like a pretty easy appetizer after all. Just with a little practice, they are very easy and fun to make. Dipped in a homemade peanut or chili sauce (or both), these rolls are a great healthy appetizer or light lunch.
One of the best parts about this dish is that you can mix and match ingredients, but today I’ve decided to play safe and make these light and healthy Vietnamese-style veggie rolls. I filled them with avocado, sliced oranges, rice noodles, and plenty of fresh herbs and vegetables for flavor and crunch. Once your ingredients are prepped, the rolling “fun” begins. It’s not hard to roll them, but you need to concentrate and be very gentle. The quantity needed for each ingredient is approximate because it’s pretty hard to measure exactly how much you need to use for each roll. Just try not to put too much stuff inside, since your rolls might become huge and not that pretty, but delicious though.
Fresh Homemade Spring Rolls with 2 Dipping Sauces
Ingredients:
- For the peanut sauce: -
- creamy peanut butter - 3/4 cup
- water - 1/3 cup
- freshly squeezed lime juice - 2 tablespoons or to taste
- mirin sauce - 2 tablespoons
- light soy sauce - 5 tablespoons
- chili sesame oil - 1 teaspoon, or to taste
- garlic clove - 1, minced
- For the spicy chili sauce: -
- fish sauce - 1/4 cup
- water - 1/4 cup
- lime juice - 1/4 cup
- red chili pepper - 1 small, finely chopped
- sugar or honey - to taste
- rice vinegar - 1 teaspoon or to taste (optional)
- For the spring roll: -
- dried rice vermicelli - 4 oz
- rice paper wrappers - 1 pack
- shredded carrot - 1 cup
- peeled cucumber - 1 cup, cut into thin, long sticks
- blanched asparagus - 5-6, cut into 1 1/2 inch long pieces
- ripe avocado - 1 big, thinly sliced
- orange - 1, sliced into wedges (all membranes need to be cutter off)
- fresh mint leaves - 1 small bunch, chopped
- fresh Thai basil leaves - 1 small bunch, chopped
- fresh cilantro sprigs - 12, chopped
- lettuce leaves - 8-10, cut in halves