From Camp 2011 Public Wiki

Rice paper rolls are in fact known under variety of names around the globe. You may be familiar with spring rolls, summer rolls, egg rolls, lumpias or other variety. What all these types of rolls share in common is that they are produced from rice paper and that their filling, whatever it may be, is wrapped into the paper. Since the wrapper can be then prepared and served in numerous ways, I decided to speak about rice paper rolls.

Contents 1 Ingredients 1.1 Basic 1.2 Stuffings 1.3 Dipping sauce 2 Equipment needed 3 Preparation Time 4 Instructions 4.1 Rice paper 4.2 Stuffings 4.3 Dipping sauce

Ingredients

Basic

a package of rice paper

frying oil

egg (optional)

Stuffings

(assembled and combined according to your preferences)

rice vermicelli

shrimps

eggs

tofu

carrots

tauge (bamboo shoots)

sprouts

Chinese cabbage

tempeh

mint

surimi

peanuts

cucumber

soy sauce

oyster sauce

scallions

mushrooms (shiitake, oyster mushroom, black fungus, champignons)

ginger

galang

coriander

basil

Dipping sauce

sweet chilli sauce

soy sauce

ginger

chilli or chilli paste

sugar

lime

oyster sauce

peanut butter

garlic

water

rice vinegar

Equipment needed

a large bowl

a clean baking tray

a piece of cloth

deep pan or wok for frying

scooping ladle

plates for cooling down

cutting board and a sharp knife

Preparation Time

• 30 minutes

Instructions

Rice paper

1. Remove a sheet of rice paper and soak it in lukewarm water for approximately one minute, until it becomes smooth and soft
2. Be careful when soaking in order not to make holes in the paper!
3. Place the unfolded sheet of paper on a lightly wet surface such as a wet piece of cloth
4. Scoop a spoonful of selected stuffing into the lower part of the paper
5. Start by folding the lower round rim of the paper over the stuffing and tightening it up carefully
6. Fold both the left and the right rim of the paper over the stuffing now, again tightening it up carefully, so that the package holds well but the paper is not being torn
7. Slowly and carefully roll the wrapper with the stuffing upwards towards the upper rim of the paper, so that a tight bundle is created
8. Once a roll is formed you can

• Eat the roll straight away (given the stuffing does not require heating) in fresh form as the summer roll
• Deep fry or pan fry the rolls, turning it over so that the wrapper becomes crispy as the spring roll
• Coat the roll in beaten egg and fry it in this manner as the egg roll
• Apply different methods of heating, such as steaming (just as won tons) and baking
• Apply a second layer of rice paper to make the roll sturdier and possibly if holes were formed in the process of rolling. Such double wrapped rolls can be then eaten fresh, fried, egg fried, steamed and baked and resist better, unlike to unfold or fall apart

Stuffings

The traditional Vietnamese and Thai stuffing is prepared as follows:

1. Chop the cabbage, the carrots and the scallions into thin slices
2. Prepare the rice vermicelli according to instructions on the package. This usually means putting them in a pot of boiling water and cooking them for 1-3 minutes until done.
3. In a bowl, mix together the cabbage, carrots, scallions, rice vermicelli, mint or basil leaves, soy sauce, lime juice and ginger
4. The amount of individual ingredients used should be balanced, but you cna adjust it to your own liking, i.e. the amount of lime and soy sauce
5. Use a spoonful of the stuffing for every roll
6. These rolls are traditionally eaten raw but can be also fried or double-wrapped and fried

Another traditional stuffing is prepared as follows:

1. if frozen, remove the shrimps from freezer and place in a bowl of cold or lukewarm water to taw
2. Once unfrozen, remove the shell
3. Cut the tofu into longer slices
4. Chop the scallions
5. Grind peanuts into smaller pieces or semi-powdered state
6. When wrapping, place two small shrimps symmetrically on the bottom (red)
7. place two pieces of tofu (white) above them
8. sprinkle with peanuts, scallions and a bit of soy sauce
9. Add two leaves, again symmetrically, of basil or mint on the top (green)
10. Roll carefully
11. If you rolled well, the final effect would be a nice combination of red, white and green visible through the transparent rice paper
12. These rolls are traditionally eaten raw, but may be fried

All other fillings, including such as were not mentioned here, may be prepared following these two principles, either of mixing ahead or of carefully laying down the ingredients to create colorful combinations. You must not forget to fry or otherwise heat those ingredients which require heating (egg, raw meat). Plenty of inspiration ad tradition are to be found on the internet.

Dipping sauce

Different sauces may be used with the rolls. The simplest are the sweet chilli sauce and the soy sauce. Other are prepared by combining the ingredients given in the sauce section. The traditional dipping sauce is prepared as follows:

1. Combine rice vinegar/lime juice, soy sauce and/or oyster sauce, chilli pepper paste/chilli peppers, crushed garlic, sugar and ginger in a bowl
2. Stir well until the ingredient blend
3. You may add any of the elemnts to strenghten different aspects of the sauce: vinegar and lime juice to make it more sour, soy and oyster sauce to make it saltier, chillies to make it spicier and sugar to make it sweeter
4. Don't forget that the oyster sauce is animal-based product and thus is not suitable for vegetarians and vegans!