Spring rolls (recipe)

[Lauxa]

An Asian friend showed me how to make these once in college, but I didn't try again for over 10 years. A couple of weekends ago I made a batch and I've been so pleased with these delicious vegan treats that I made them again yesterday and I want to encourage anyone who hasn't made them before to give it a try.

Ingredients:
- cucumber, sliced into spears
- lettuce (I use a pre-washed mix)
- grated carrots (I use pre-cut matchstick carrots)
- vermicelli (rice) noodles
- rice paper wrappers (these are round like tortillias, but very thin and brittle)

Prepare the vermicelli and all the veggies. Then get a rice paper wrapper out of the package, soak in a dish of warm water for about 5 seconds, pull it out and put your veggies and rice noodles in the center. The paper will now be soft and sticky. Fold down on the ends, and wrap one side to stick to the ends. Push your stuffing tightly into the folded side while wrapping up the other side to make a little burrito.

The thing that really makes this is the peanut butter dipping sauce. I use about equal parts peanut butter and Thai green curry paste, with a little water to soften. You could also mix peanut butter with lime juice and spices like ginger, garlic, soy sauce, and/or honey.

If you have extra, individually wrap them in Saran Wrap so they don't stick together and they will keep in the fridge for several days.

[ginkgo]

Traditionally the Chinese make spring rolls with mostly cabbage. That is not a common vegetable so people can use more of it. It has a nice taste similar to sauerkraut. With this vegetable, you do not need any noodles. In Philadelphia, the spring roll is a vegetarian egg roll. A 300 year old Chinese recipe for egg rolls uses a head of lettuce for 20 servings.

[Lauxa]

Thanks ginkgo, after your post I started making them with shredded cabbage instead and they taste so good and fresh. I didn't have my standard veggies last time so I used yellow bell peppers and shredded squash instead of cucumber spears and carrots and they were very good as well.