Vietnamese Summer Spring Rolls #eattheworld

Vietnam is this month's destination in #eattheworldchallenge. Vietnamese cuisine has more influence from the neighboring countries. The north has influence from the Chinese and the southern has influence from India. I love their pho. Who wouldn't? I do make the vegetarian version and we love that. For this challenge, I wanted to try something different from pho. There are quite a few which we love - Sticky rice, crepes, avocado shake, noodles, and of course their vibrant spring rolls. 

And I settled on the vibrant spring rolls for posting, as always I love veggies and love the vibrant color. Also, during the summer, a friend of mine made it and from that time my mind was just fixed on the summer spring rolls. We enjoyed making it as a family. Be sure to check cultureatz if you would like to join.

The summer spring rolls are very simple and addictive. Veggies with a protein source are rolled in rice paper. Serve with a peanut-hoisin dipping sauce. I checked out a few books from the library. I modified the recipe from the book Authentic Vietnamese Cooking Food: From A Family Table by Corinne Trang, to make it vegetarian for my dipping sauce. We loved that version. Keep everything on the rice paper dipped in water, roll like a burrito. Serve with dipping sauce immediately. Am sure everyone would love these rolls. These rolls are versatile and you can substitute protein as you wish. Leftover tofu fry could also be used. This is very healthy as it includes colorful veggies which would invite anyone. I added a few glass noodles as my kids like that. Rice noodles are good too. Noodles can be omitted too if you don't want to. In any method, you will have a wonderful salad based spring roll which is not deep-fried - a very healthy version.

Ingredients

makes about 15

Purple cabbage - 1.5 cups, thin shreds

Carrot - 1 cup, thin shreds

Bell pepper - 1 cup, thin slices, colorful

Tofu, extra firm - 6 oz block

Green onions - 2 tbsp

Cilantro - 2 tbsp

Glass noodles or rice noodles - 1/2 cup

Lettuce - a few leaves

cucumber - 1/2cup, matchsticks

Salt

Sesame oil - 2 tsp

Black pepper - 1/4 tsp

Hoisin sauce - 1/2 tsp

Soy sauce - 1/2 tsp

Rice paper - 15

Method

Drain the water completely from the tofu. Marinate with salt, pepper, soy, and hoisin sauce for 30 minutes. Heat  2 tsp oil in a pan and fry till crisp on four sides. Keep aside. 

To assemble the rolls, dip the rice paper in a bowl of water for a few seconds. If you leave for longer, it will break easily, and rolling wouldn't be easy.  Keep the paper on a plate or on a wooden chopping board. In a corner, keep a little lettuce, one or two tofu pieces, noodles. Top with a little cabbage, cucumber, carrot, cilantro, and green onions. Sprinkle a little salt. Fold in the paper (the portion closer to the veggies) over the veggies, then fold the sides to make a long rectangle. Roll tightly from the fold to a spring roll shape remembering to tuck in the veggies as you roll, like a burrito. Repeat the rest in the same manner. Serve immediately.

Check out all the wonderful Vietnamese dishes prepared by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us! 

Pandemonium Noshery: Bánh Tráng Nướng 

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Making Miracles: Vietnamese Style Beef with Garlic, Black Pepper, and Lime 

Kitchen Frau: Vietnamese Caramelized Ground Pork Rice Bowls

Palatable Pastime: Vietnamese Inspired Marinated Bean Salad