Yesterday my mom asked me to put together some apps for a party she was going to tonight and I got sooo excited to try some new things! The idea to do these summer rolls came from random Internet searching, basically, but it ended up being a great one because my mom later told me she loves these at the Thai restaurant she goes to! The keys to good summer rolls are: mise en place and "tuck and roll." Mise en place is a French cooking phrase I learned for the first time on Worst Cooks of America, which is an incredibly funny reality show so I highly recommend it. Mise en place basically means to prep all your ingredients - chopping, grating, boiling - before putting it together. Unless you have it all ready in front of you before you start rolling, it gets really confusing and difficult, which I realized as I started to run out of prepped ingredients toward the end of my summer rolling. "Tuck and roll" is something I learned on the Internet as I searched up how to roll these bad boys - basically you want to make sure you tuck your veggies, noodles, etc. into the rice paper as you roll them in so that they stay tight and don't fall apart as you eat them. Great motto.
As always, my measurements are rough because I don't actually measure when I cook. Use as much as makes the rolls full!
This recipe made 14 rolls.
3 cups vermicelli noodles
1 box tofu (hard or medium-hard), cut into "matchsticks"
3 long carrots, grated (or cut into matchsticks)
Spring roll skins
2 bunches green onions, chopped
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
4 purple cabbage leaves, chopped
1 green pepper, sliced
Cumin
Red chili powder
Vegetable oil
Peanut Sauce (inspired by many other recipes online)
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter (use creamy if you have it, I just only had crunchy around)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Sriracha
Warm water (add until desired texture achieved)
Chop, grate, slice all vegetables. Boil vermicelli noodles (takes a really short time). Add cumin, salt and pepper to the noodles once drained.
Pan fry tofu "matchsticks" in vegetable oil. Add salt, pepper, cumin and red chili powder to taste. Get them crispy. Allow to cool.
Immerse rice paper in warm water until slightly pliable (it won't break if you fold it). Place noodles, veggies, herbs and tofu in a pile on the rice paper side closest to you. Starting from the edge closest to you, wrap rice paper around filling, "tucking" everything in tightly as you go. Fold the sides in tightly as you go as well.
My mom said her friends loved the rolls; they said they looked super professional and tasted so fresh. The only recommendation I got was to add some sugar to the peanut sauce, which I hadn't added at all, so that's something to try when you're making your sauce! Enjoy!
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