Summer Rolls – A Great Dish Anytime of Year
I know, I know! It is not perfect foodie behaviour to eat out of season, but sometimes those cravings are too hard to ignore. When it comes to Vietnamese style summer rolls, I don’t think I am actually eating out of season. Summer rolls, often called Spring rolls, or Gỏi cuốn as the Vietnamese call them, the season part is only, and wrongly, in the name. Gỏi cuốn literally translates from Vietnamese to salad roll, not spring roll and, I will hasten to add, that the use of the name “summer” is something western folks seem to have arbitrarily given them. So, I am eating summer rolls in winter. Oh, did I mention that all this nonsense really does not matter. These salad, spring, summer rolls (whatever) are just plain delicious! They are a great light meal, tasty snack or great party food! And, they can be filled with practically anything you like.
Making them is easy. Perhaps the most difficult thing about summer rolls, is the rice paper wrappers. And when I say difficult, I mean difficult in a sense that you might have to make an extra stop at the Asian market to get them. The preparation of a rice paper wrapper is only dipping them in some warm water and waiting a few seconds so, no real difficulty here. Plus, a trip to the Asian market is fun. So much cool stuff to see!
Filling a summer roll is simple, too. While you are at the Asian market for the rice paper wrapper, picking up rice noodle is a breeze. Typically, rice vermicelli is used, but in a pinch some angel hair pasta will do the trick. In the past, I have used wider rice noodles and guess what, nothing unusual happened. Making these little substitutions is what makes cooking interesting and what makes life 10 times easier, because we don’t let a recipe control us. We control the recipe. No sense worrying about little tweaks that don’t matter.
One of the largest contributions of taste power in summer rolls is the fresh herbs. The pop of fresh basil, mint and cilantro is fantastic in so many ways and always has me looking for ways to work in more of these fresh herbs into salads. For a twist, 2 items to put on the list at the Asian market are Thai basil and cilantro root. Although typically Thai, if you want to add a boost to your Summer rolls, use these instead of regular basil and cilantro. They are both flavorful and different in a great way. As with the mint, they too do well with the other supporting veggies – carrot and cucumber and avocado. No, the avocado is not traditional, but it seems to me that a summer roll is the perfect vehicle for avocado. The creaminess of avocado adds a bit of contrasting texture to the crunchy vegetables and a small bit of richness.
A summer roll would be delicious in vegan or vegetarian form, but typically shrimp or pork is added. Another addition to try is smoked or stir-fried tofu. Since most anything wrapped with some noodles, fresh herbs and veggies will be tasty, summer rolls make a great vehicle for leftovers.
Summer rolls are typically served with a sauce to add extra zing. Who doesn’t love to dip! I am a fan of the traditional fish sauce based dip with a little sriracha to give it some spice. A little lime juice, fish sauce, sriracha, and sugar to taste is all you need. ZING!
Here is how I make Summer Rolls with shrimp or smoked tofu…
- 12 rice paper wrappers - 8.5-9 inches in diameter (the bigger they are, the easier they are to roll up!)
- 1/4 lb of rice noodles (angel hair pasta will work in a pinch)
- 2 medium carrots
- 1/2 of an english cucumber or one medium regular cucumber
- 1 avocado
- 1 oz of fresh basil
- 1 oz fresh cilantro
- 1 oz of fresh mint
- 1/2 lb of cooked medium shrimp (about 36 pieces for 3/roll) or 8 oz of smoked tofu
- 1 lime
- 5 tbsp of fish sauce
- 2 tbsp of sugar or to taste
- 1 tsp of sriracha sauce or your favorite spicy chilli sauce or to taste
- Cook the rice noodles per the manufacturer's instructions. Drain, rinse and set them aside.
- Peel the carrots. Cut the carrots into 2 inch pieces. Slice the pieces into planks. Slice the planks into match stick size pieces.
- Peel (optional) the cucumber. Cut the cucumber in half horizontally. Slice the halves into planks. Slice the planks into thin sticks that will fit in the rice wrappers.
- Cut the avocado equatorially. Twist open the avocado and remove the seed. Peel the avocado halves and slice each half thinly.
- Wash and dry the fresh herbs.
- Peel the cooked shrimp or dice the smoked tofu into small cubes about 1/4i x1/4 inch.
- Fill a bowl that is large enough to lay the rice wrappers in with warm water from the tap.
- Place one rice paper wrapper in the warm water at a time. After placing the wrapper in the water let it soak 8-10 second and then flip it, soaking another 8-10 seconds. The wrapper will start to get pliable. When it is pliable, but not perfectly soft, (it will continue to soften) remove it from the water and lay it on a work surface like a large cutting board.
- On the bottom end of the wrapper, make a small bed of noodles leaving 1/4-1/2 inch space between the noodles and the edge of the wrapper. On top of the noodles, lay a few sticks of carrot and cucumber. Add a layer of avocado slices. On top of the avocado add some basil, mint and cilantro leaves. Top the herbs with a 3 shrimps or cubes of smoked tofu.
- Gently fold the wrapper over the filling as tightly as possible. Fold in the wrapper on the sides. Roll the roll over the remaining wrapper to seal. Set on a plate or platter and repeat until all the rolls are made.
- Cut the lime in half. With a reamer, juice the lime into a small bowl. Whisk in the fish sauce, sugar and sririacha. Adjust the ingredients to taste.
- Serve the summer rolls chilled with the dipping sauce.
- Rice paper wrappers and smoked tofu can be purchased at asian markets.
- The summer rolls can be stored sealed in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving. Be careful not to make them too long before service as the rice paper can dry out.
Keep Eating! Keep Innovating!
How do you make your summer rolls? Do you call them something else? Let us know all about it in the comments or on Facebook.
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I made the chili sauce but because of the fish sauce, mine wasn’t clear and pretty. The fish sauce made it dark. Also it was very runny. What has everyone’s else’s results? The summer rolls turned out perfect though.
Hi Sandra! Very glad you enjoyed the spring rolls! The sauce is indeed runny. Nothing in it that is very thick – a light dip for a light food. Sometimes a fish sauce can be dark, no worries, still tasty!
Yes Matthew it was tasty!