New recipe from Maria-Carin.
Served with sweet chilli peanut and pineapple dipping sauce
One summery Sydney day, my friend Blossom invited me to her father’s for lunch. His girlfriend was Chinese, and she set the table for us to make our own rice paper rolls, which I had never seen or eaten before. I loved them! Years after that, at the Marrickville farmers’ markets in Sydney, my funky flatmate Amity introduced me to theee best rice paper rolls in the world made by Nourishing Quarters. My girlfriend and I were hooked on these rolls, waiting in vain for our weekly fix at the markets. I’m so glad my European taste buds have changed over the years and I can now share with you my personal super healthy, super delicious, feel-good rice paper rolls.
These are recipes from my cookbook Lick Your Plate, available from my website: galasorganickitchen.com. It will also be available from Amazon soon.
makes about 30 rolls
Ingredients
1 packet large rice paper
400g firm gorgeous organic tofu, this amount will make extra to nibble on while rolling
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
2 tbsp coconut oil
200g packet thin rice noodles
More tamari or soy sauce
1 avocado, ripe and ready
1 cucumber, cut in thin strips
1 small carrot, cut into thin strips
1/2 zucchini, cut into thin strips
A bit of radish, cut into thin strips is nice too
1 cup cooked quinoa, 1/2 cup raw
1 bunch mint and/or coriander
and Thai basil
2 tbsp white or black sesame seeds, or even chia seeds
Optional: shredded beetroot and cabbage is also nice!
Action
Marinate the tofu in tamari—best of all overnight, or a bare minimum of thirty minutes. Fry golden brown in coconut oil and cut into strips.
Boil the noodles according to packet instructions (usually 3 minutes), rinse with cold water and let drain properly. Then toss with tamari.
Prepare all the filling ingredients on a plate, so they are ready to go.
Boil some water and pour into a dish wide enough to immerse the rice papers in. You could use a frying pan, as I do. Dip the rice paper—submerge underwater for few seconds—and place on a rolling mat or plate.
Place a fresh herb leaf on the bottom, sprinkle with a touch of seeds, and fill with one piece of every ingredient and a little dollop of noodles. Roll, tucking in the ends, into a perfect spring roll. DO NOT OVERFILL!
It’s worth filling them with fewer ingredients so they are rollable; then you can eat more too. You can also add a spoon of peanut sauce inside if you like, or dip them in the thick goodness at the end.
Tip
Your rolling will be greatly enhanced with a rice paper plastic rolling mat, which you can get in Asian supermarkets, if you don’t have one use a flat plate, chopping board, or a wet tea towel.
Facebook video how to roll: fb.watch
Sweet Chilli Peanut and Pineapple Dipping Sauce
This dipping sauce goes terribly nicely with rice paper rolls. However, you could also use it on a salad of thinly sliced white cabbage, julienne carrots and chicory. I’m sure you’ll come up with some lovely new ideas of your own. Freezes very well so it’s probably a good idea to make double the amount because it really is very nice indeed.
Makes enough for dipping about 20 rice paper rolls
Ingredients
4 tbsp peanut butter, crunchy or smooth
1 tbsp tamari
2 tbsp rice vinegar
100-200ml pineapple juice, depends on desired consistency
2 spring onions, sliced thinly
1 large red chilli, deseeded and diced very finely
1/2 bunch coriander, chopped
Salt to taste
Optional: freshly squeezed lime juice to your liking
Action!
Mix the peanut butter with the tamari, vinegar and pineapple juice until your desired consistency is reached.
Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well, taste test and adjust to your liking.
If you added too much juice, just add more peanut butter and adjust the rest of the ingredients to your liking.
Yum!
Tip
You can use other juices here too, but pineapple is really very fitting with rice paper rolls. The flavour really takes off when the red chilli has a good kick to it; if it doesn’t, which sometimes happens, add a touch of cayenne pepper.
Enjoy!
Related articles
- Lick My Plate! – a presentation of Maria-Carin’s book
- More recipes by Maria-Carin on Osho News
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