RE: Christmas Dinner; recipe: Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Dipping Sauce

[Guest guest]

Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Dipping Sauce

 

A delicious and light appetizer or first course. We are fortunate to have an

Asian food store an hour away and we stock up on the first three ingredients

about three to four times a year. The fried tofu can be kept in the freezer for

about 3 months and the other two have a really long shelf life.

 

10 oz pkg banh trang (spring roll wrappers)

2 pkgs abura age (fried tofu); I get the Japanese kind since that is what I'm

used to; a package usually has 3 thin pieces

1 pkg rice noodles or cellophane noodles

fresh herbs (Japanese mint, cilantro, lemon balm, peppermint, and basil are

good, but feel free to experiment---the mint and lemon balm are my favorites)

 

 

Fill a large bowl with hot water and submerge rice noodles. Let soak until you

have prepared all other ingredients and are ready to assemble. Cut the fried

tofu into 2x1/2 inch strips. Pull stems from herbs and only pick the most

vibrant and largest leaves. They will be visible through the wrapper and the

appearance of the large colorful leaves peeking through is lovely.

 

Fill a very large bowl with warm water. Be sure to keep the water warm

throughout the process. To assemble:

One at a time, take a wrapper and very gently submerge it into the warm water.

Holding onto the wrapper, being sure not to let the wrapper fold in on itself,

massage the wrapper and let it soften. They are very fragile and it may take a

time or two to pull one out without it tearing (they are still perfectly fine

torn and no one will really care because they taste so good). Pull from the

water and immediately lay flat on a surface. Start by taking about a half cup

worth of noodles and placing them in the dead center of the wrapper, spread them

out lengthwise about 3 to four inches. Place two or three leaves (depending on

size) along one side of the noodles, and two strips of the fried tofu along the

other side. Placing them on top of one another will make it a bit less

aesthetically appealing. Roll up as you would a burrito, starting by bringing up

the bottom and covering the filling, folding over the two smaller sides, and

rolling up. The paper is

sticky and will close in on itself. They should be slightly larger than an egg

roll in size. As you assemble more, and as the plate fills up, place a dampened

towel between the layers and on top of the finished plate to keep them from

drying out. They will keep that way for about a half hour to an hour, but might

get a bit too gummy or dry out if not eaten after that.

It seems a daunting task, but they go together rather quickly, especially if you

have a group of friends making them with you!

 

Makes about 15 depending on how much filling you use.

 

 

Dipping Sauce

 

1 tbs peanut oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c roasted peanuts, chopped finely

3/4 tsp sugar

1/2 c vegetable broth or water

2 tbs peanut butter

1/4 c hoisin sauce

2 tbs tomato paste

1 tsp chili paste or sriracha sauce (can be omitted)

 

Heat the oil and add the garlic, chili paste, and tomato paste. Fry until the

garlic is golden brown. Add the broth, peanut butter, sugar and hoisin sauce.

Whisk to dissolve peanut butter. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for

3 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool, and pour into individual bowls (or one

small one) and garnish with chopped peanuts. Especially attractive in individual

bowls with a small swirl of the sriracha sauce along one side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

nom nom nom! i am excited to try this at home...

 

On Sun, Jan 4, 2009 at 5:13 PM, jami dodd <jamijamlyn wrote:

 

> Vietnamese Spring Rolls and Dipping Sauce

>

> A delicious and light appetizer or first course. We are fortunate to have

> an Asian food store an hour away and we stock up on the first three

> ingredients about three to four times a year. The fried tofu can be kept in

> the freezer for about 3 months and the other two have a really long shelf

> life.

>

> 10 oz pkg banh trang (spring roll wrappers)

> 2 pkgs abura age (fried tofu); I get the Japanese kind since that is what

> I'm used to; a package usually has 3 thin pieces

> 1 pkg rice noodles or cellophane noodles

> fresh herbs (Japanese mint, cilantro, lemon balm, peppermint, and basil are

> good, but feel free to experiment---the mint and lemon balm are my

> favorites)

>

>

> Fill a large bowl with hot water and submerge rice noodles. Let soak until

> you have prepared all other ingredients and are ready to assemble. Cut the

> fried tofu into 2x1/2 inch strips. Pull stems from herbs and only pick the

> most vibrant and largest leaves. They will be visible through the wrapper

> and the appearance of the large colorful leaves peeking through is lovely.

>

> Fill a very large bowl with warm water. Be sure to keep the water warm

> throughout the process. To assemble:

> One at a time, take a wrapper and very gently submerge it into the warm

> water. Holding onto the wrapper, being sure not to let the wrapper fold in

> on itself, massage the wrapper and let it soften. They are very fragile and

> it may take a time or two to pull one out without it tearing (they are still

> perfectly fine torn and no one will really care because they taste so good).

> Pull from the water and immediately lay flat on a surface. Start by taking

> about a half cup worth of noodles and placing them in the dead center of the

> wrapper, spread them out lengthwise about 3 to four inches. Place two or

> three leaves (depending on size) along one side of the noodles, and two

> strips of the fried tofu along the other side. Placing them on top of one

> another will make it a bit less aesthetically appealing. Roll up as you

> would a burrito, starting by bringing up the bottom and covering the

> filling, folding over the two smaller sides, and rolling up. The paper is

> sticky and will close in on itself. They should be slightly larger than an

> egg roll in size. As you assemble more, and as the plate fills up, place a

> dampened towel between the layers and on top of the finished plate to keep

> them from drying out. They will keep that way for about a half hour to an

> hour, but might get a bit too gummy or dry out if not eaten after that.

> It seems a daunting task, but they go together rather quickly, especially

> if you have a group of friends making them with you!

>

> Makes about 15 depending on how much filling you use.

>

>

> Dipping Sauce

>

> 1 tbs peanut oil

> 2 garlic cloves, minced

> 1/4 c roasted peanuts, chopped finely

> 3/4 tsp sugar

> 1/2 c vegetable broth or water

> 2 tbs peanut butter

> 1/4 c hoisin sauce

> 2 tbs tomato paste

> 1 tsp chili paste or sriracha sauce (can be omitted)

>

> Heat the oil and add the garlic, chili paste, and tomato paste. Fry until

> the garlic is golden brown. Add the broth, peanut butter, sugar and hoisin

> sauce. Whisk to dissolve peanut butter. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let

> simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, let cool, and pour into individual

> bowls (or one small one) and garnish with chopped peanuts. Especially

> attractive in individual bowls with a small swirl of the sriracha sauce

> along one side.

>

>

 

 

--

xoxo,

 

^8^ Reni ^8^

 

when I'm with someone, I just want space to breathe;

and when I'm alone, I just want someone to breathe into.

 

http://how-to-breathe.blogspot.com