NO COOK RICE PAPER SPRING ROLLS

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Prep: 30 min - Cook: Uses cooked shrimp - Total: 30 min
Easy, best when served fresh.
Yield: 12 spring rolls

These no-cook Vietnamese-style spring rolls are made with wonderfully pliable rice paper; you can use left-over shrimp (or chicken, or pork). It takes a while to get the ingredients together, but the actual rolling goes fairly quickly, especially once you've practiced on a batch or two. These are so good that we allow 5 per person.

INGREDIENTS:

DIPPING SAUCE:

• 1 small fresh chile, minced, or 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon rice or other mild vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam p/a, available at Asian markets) or soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

SPRING ROLLS:

• medium-to-large shrimp, cooked, peeled, and cut in half the long way (precooked shrimp are okay, as are pork or chicken leftovers, diced) - if using small shrimp, allow 2 shrimp per roll
• 1 cup peeled and grated, shredded, or jullienned carrots
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 2 scallions, cut into slivers the long way then cut to length of finished roll (3 - 4")
• 1 tsp per roll roughly chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 tsp per roll roughly chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 tsp per roll roughly chopped peanuts (salted are okay)
• 1 tsp per roll roughly chopped Thai or Genoa basil (slight absinthe or licorice taste)
• rice paper, 8 to 10 inches in diameter, one sheet per roll
• 1 tsp plum sauce per roll

 Bowl larger than diameter of spring rolls so that you can completely immerse the skins in water to soak and soften them; small individual bowls for the ingredients; clean, dry kitchen (dish) towel; ample work surface to deploy ingredients, soak wrappers, roll wrappers.

METHOD:

NOTE: You can leave out almost any two ingredients (basil, cilantro) and these still taste great! These might work with tofu or other vegetarian filler, but haven't tried it.