At the risk of being too twee, I present
to you the perfect recipe to celebrate this beautifully progressing summer:
summer rolls. I’ve been obsessed with these since my grandparents began making
them, following instructions provided by some Laotian friends who we knew back
from the days when we all lived in New York State. And, in a charming turn of
events, they are really a great hot weather food—filling, but not heavy, a
breeze to make, and, bonus, there is no heat involved in cooking them. They can
even be made ahead of time and kept covered in the fridge.
Think of the summer roll as the spring roll’s thinner cousin. Often
called the Vietnamese spring roll, the dish originated in South Vietnam, where
they are called Gỏi cuốn, which
according to the great all-knowing Internet means “salad rolls”—an apt title,
as they consist of fresh vegetables (or whatever you choose) rolled up in a
rice wrapper, bypassing the whole cooking-in-oil part associated with spring
rolls.
Though the fillings of traditional summer
rolls vary greatly by region, the ones my grandparents make typically consist
of lettuce, shrimp, carrots, cooked rice noodles, and cilantro. At some point
in the history of our fabulous family, the summer roll was ushered into the
menu of our New Years Eve festivities, which is already a heady blend of
international cuisines—pizza, meatballs, anisette and spritz cookies, and
enough creamy dips to make any ’60s housewife proud. This kept my summer roll
lust mostly satiated, but when I moved across the country and the Gỏi cuốn
beast raised its demanding head, I had to take matters into my own hands. I.e., make them myself.
The ingredients of my summer rolls are not
a certain thing, changing rather like the tide. (That’s my fancy way of saying, “depending
on what I have in the fridge”). For instance, I strongly prefer spring rolls
with sliced avocado. However, the avocados here usually cost around an
arm, a leg, and your first born; so I didn’t use any in this round of spring
rolls. (They’re a dollar thirty-nine, by the way. Avocados are a dollar
thirty-nine. It seems like a lot to me). I’ve never used celery before these,
and I really liked the crunch it added. Sometimes, I add a little chopped
spinach for some extra greens.
Also, if you’ve never worked with rice
wrappers before and don’t feel confident rolling them, there are plenty of
tutorials on the internet to lead you on your journey. You basically just wrap
it like a burrito. If you don’t know how to wrap a burrito, you are probably a
boring person and should just go learn how to do that before you do anything
else.
In other news, summer roll rice wrappers
may not be carried at your local grocery, but any Asian grocery in your area
will certainly have them. And there is always the online market: this is the kind that
I have always used.
Ingredients:
4 lettuce
leaves, whole
4 rice
wrappers
1 medium
stalk celery, trimmed, sliced thinly
1 large
carrot, thinly sliced
½ medium
cucumber, cut into spears
¼ green bell
pepper, sliced
2-4 tbsp
chopped fresh cilantro
Firm tofu
2 tbsp soy
sauce
A dash of
garlic powder
1 tsp
sriracha sauce
1 tbsp lime
juice, approximately
To assemble:
Press tofu in
paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Slice into strips. Mix soy, sriracha,
lime, and garlic and pour over tofu to marinate while you prepare the rest of
your ingredients.
Wash vegetables, and slice them all as
thinly as possible. If you like, separate into fourths to be sure veggies are divided equally amongst wrappers.
Fill a bowl with warm water—not hot—and
submerge your first rice wrapper. Allow it to soften for 5-10 seconds,
it shouldn’t be soggy and fragile, but nearly translucent and not at
all stiff or resistant to manipulation. I usually hold the wrapper over the
bowl for a few seconds to allow the excess water to drip off.
Lay wrapper on a plate and place the lettuce
leaf on top—this will act as a dish for the rest of your ingredients. I usually
press on the spine of the lettuce to flatten it. Add vegetables and tofu, then
roll wrapper up like a burrito. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Curry Peanut
Dipping Sauce:
1 tsp curry
powder
Zest of
approximately ¼ - ½ a small lime
Juice of ½
small lime
Grated ginger
to taste or ginger juice or ground ginger (I recommend around ½
tsp)
1 ½ tsp soy
sauce
1 tsp
sriracha
2-3 tsp of
water for thinning consistency, if desired
Peanuts +
chopped fresh cilantro for garnish, optional
Mix
ingredients together, adding water to reach desired consistency. I typically
add the excess tofu marinade as well—if you do this, add it before the soy
sauce, adjusting to taste after.
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| Aren't they kind of adorable, in a bizarre way? |
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