Misadventures in Spring Roll Making

Nicole left lots of goodies from her brief stay here last summer, things I rarely, if ever, buy. Things like arborio rice, nori and spring roll wrappers. I'd been eyeing those spring roll wrappers for some time and I had most of the ingredients from my pad thai experiment earlier in the week. So Saturday I invited my boy over to make spring rolls.

As we julienned cucumbers and soaked rice noodles, I realized that I needed hoisin sauce (for the marvelous dipping sauce) and limes (to create a dressing for the vegetables within the rolls). N. graciously agreed to run around the corner to A. Chau for me. He returned, wowed by the vast array of products in a tiny space. When we had finally finished all the prep work (the rice noodles were cooling, the shrimp had been poached), I decided to clean my work area and set up for the assembly process. I have to laugh at myself now, I mean, I went to all this trouble to make spring rolls and I couldn't even find the wrappers. N offered to go back, yet again to A. Chau, although I was worried they might become suspicious of this man returning hourly to buy inconsequential items. But go he did, thanks honey, and now we were just minutes from our very own, homemade spring rolls.

The spring roll wrappers are soaked in warm water, one at a time, for a couple of minutes before the ingredients are laid down; first the cilantro and basil, then the minced jalapeno, sticks of cucumber and carrot, topped with lettuce, rice noodles, nestle some shrimp along the top and sprinkle chopped peanuts over the lot. I am not an adept roll wrapper so they came out very large and not very tight. I'll just have to keep practicing!

Dressing
2 T. lime juice
1 t. sugar
1 T. fish sauce

Filling
1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 c. shredded carrot
1 cup lettuce
2 oz. cooked rice noodles
1/4 c. cilantro
1/4 c. mint (I used thai basil, still delicious)
2 jalapenos, minced
1/2 c. minced peanuts
1 lb poached shrimp
spring roll wrappers

Dipping Sauce
1/4 hoisin sauce
1/4 peanut butter
1/4 c. water (I used shrimp stock)
2 T chili-garlic sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 c minced peanuts


Toss the first three ingredients together and put aside. Prep the vegetables and pour the sauce over the top and mix. While I was doing this, I brought a couple of cups of water to a boil. Once boiling, I turned off the heat and added the shrimp. They cooked for 3-4 minutes, then I drained them but reserved the liquid. Once cool, peel and discard shells/tails. You don't really need the liquid but I saved it to make the dipping sauce, which by the way, you just mix all ingredients until smooth and top with peanuts. This sauce is so good, make sure you have this on hand or the spring rolls won't be nearly as good.

As for the assembly, get a clean work area with all the different ingredients within reach. Add damp kitchen towels and a pie plate with warm water to your station. The first step is soaking the spring roll wrapper in warm water until pliable, about 2 minutes. DO ONE AT A TIME! Once softened, lay on damp towel, add vegetables, then rice noodles, then the shrimp and lastly the peanuts. Fold over once, then fold each side in over itself and continue to roll up. I made the mistake of filling them too full so they were enormous and unwieldy. Place the finished rolls on a plate and cover with a damp towel to keep them from drying out.