Vegetable rolls

It has been incredibly hot these days and I even have lost my appetite and gotten sick because of it during last week. I used to (shamelessly) boast to everyone here about my tropical nature that makes me almost heat-resistant and prevents me from getting the commonly known "natsu bate" in Japanese, or in my understanding, "summer sickness". And boy, this time, I was wrong. Very very wrong. It all started with me loosing appetite and not eating enough, continued with frequent dizziness, stomach aches, and fatigue, and ended with laying on my bed for two days realizing that after all these years, the heat finally beat  me. What healed me? A bowl of super fiery spicy hot chicken curry. I don`t know if that was because I finally got hungry at that point or the soup really brought back my appetite, but the bottom line is I got well very soon after the soup treatment. I really don`t know what I will do without chili and ginger in my kitchen.

Now, with my appetite fully functioning, I finally have something fun and colorful to share with you. This is actually only my second time making Thai-style vegetable rolls, or third time if preparing the make-yourself rolls at a Thai buffet restaurant counts, but I think I really should make them more often. 

Start with making the sauce. For this kind of rolls, I want the sauce to be light, sweet, savory, slightly spicy, and tangy. You can use your favorite sauces or condiments, but I used my leftover tsuyu or light soy sauce infused with dashi. Tsuyu is usually served with cold noodles like soba or somen, but I think it has a light sweet savory taste that should go well with the rolls. For the heat, I add Sichuan-style chili sauce or tobanjan.  I also add lime juice to give some refreshing tartness.

Stir everything well and keep the sauce in the refrigerator.

I chose the all-plant option for the filling, so I used julienne bell peppers, carrots, and cucumbers. It is common to include shrimps for the rolls, but I think meat should be great too.

My baby veggies. Look at these colors. 

And these.

And these too.

What you don`t need to julienne are lettuce leaves and cilantro. I really love the lemony note from the cilantro. If you haven`t tried using it for making the rolls, then you should. Really.

 

After all the vegetables are prepared, immerse a sheet of rice paper in lukewarm water for a minute or until it has slightly softened (or follow the instruction on the pack). Overdoing this will make the paper too soft and very easy to get torn. But really, this is not about perfection (obviously, this is me talking), so a few holes here and there should not be problems as long as you can use it to wrap the veggies.

Spread the softened sheet on a chopping board or counter and arrange vegetables on it. I placed them on the middle, but slightly closer toward me. Also, I arranged some part of the veggies so that they came out from both ends.

Start rolling away while carefully wrapping the veggies as tight as possible and secure the edge by sealing the sheet with water.

Wet the blade of your knife with water and cut the roll to your preferred size. 

Arrange the rolls on a plate and serve with the chilled sauce.

What I have here is a plate of the successfully made rolls (or at least I think so) and another one of random-looking rolls. Both looks clearly didn`t bother me and my husband (thank you, sweetie) because we just kept eating and eating. 

Now, my friends, dip the rolls in the sauce and enjoy the crunch and yum moments!

Print recipe

VEGETABLE ROLLS

Serves 2-3 people 

Ingredients:

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3 carrots

2 cucumbers

5-7 lettuce leaves

Cilantro

For the sauce:

100 ml tsuyu (light soy sauce with dashi for cold soba or somen)

1 tsp chili paste

1 tsp lime juice

Method:

1. Prepare the sauce by combining the tsuyu, chili paste, and lime juice. Keep in refrigerator until serving.

2. Julienne all vegetables, except the lettuce leaves and cilantro, and set them aside.

3. Wet the rice paper in lukewarm water until slightly softened and carefully spread it on a chopping board or clean counter.

4. Arrange the vegetables horizontally on the paper with some parts of the vegetables coming out from both ends.

5. Start rolling away and seal the edge with water.

6. Cut the rolls to the desired size and serve with the chilled sauce.