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A New Foodie Adventure: Spring Rolls
by Guest Writer, Valerie Whitmore One of my favorite aspects of my job is that I get to challenge myself nearly every day. I love to learn new things. New technology, new concepts, new foods. I'm constantly researching things, and in fact I spend several hours a day just "learning"
Of course, being a foodie I particularly enjoy learning new cooking techniques and using new ingredients. I don't get to do this anywhere near as much as I would like since my real work usually comes first. So, when I get a tasty opportunity, I take it.
When I was making our recipe testing list for the week I happened upon a unique sounding spring roll recipe. Now, I've eaten many spring rolls in my life, but I've never actually made them myself. So, I decided it was time for a little foodie adventure.
Spring rolls aren't really that hard to make, they just require a little patience with the technique. The ingredients can be widely varied - from meat filled to completely vegetarian. The one defining ingredient, however, is the rice paper wrapper.
Rice paper is essentially a very thin sheet of edible paper. It's made from rice flour (although there is a rice-paper plant that it's traditionally made from). When dry, the paper is quite firm. When moistened it becomes a very delicate, pliable wrapper.
The recipe I tried calls for soaking the rice paper in rather warm water (it's set over the burner to keep warm). This is really for more experienced users. The warm water softens the rice paper very fast. If you are new to spring roll making, it's better to use room temperature water and let the rice paper slowly soften
Once the rice paper is pliable, you place the filling on the lower portion of the circle and start rolling up. The wrapper feels very delicate. It's surprisingly strong, but very sticky. Very sticky. You'll want to work with them on a surface they won't stick to as easily. A silpat sheet or damp tea towel are both good options
If you need to make them ahead of time, you'll have to cover them with a damp towel and refrigerate them. We ate them right away but honestly, I liked them more the next day (when I ate the leftovers for breakfast)
As far as this particular recipe, overall I liked it. The dipping sauce with it wasn't my favorite, however. I had (fortunately) picked up some dumpling sauce (from the Asian aisle in the grocery store) that came to the rescue. Brent liked the tahini dip, but it was too heavy with tahini flavor for my tastes.
So now, I have a challenge for you: to try something new this week. A new ingredient, a new cooking technique, or just some new way of preparing an old favorite
If you want to try your hand at spring rolls, you can try the portobello spring rolls with cilantro-tahini dip, or one of our other spring roll recipes.
Of course, being a foodie I particularly enjoy learning new cooking techniques and using new ingredients. I don't get to do this anywhere near as much as I would like since my real work usually comes first. So, when I get a tasty opportunity, I take it.
When I was making our recipe testing list for the week I happened upon a unique sounding spring roll recipe. Now, I've eaten many spring rolls in my life, but I've never actually made them myself. So, I decided it was time for a little foodie adventure.
Spring rolls aren't really that hard to make, they just require a little patience with the technique. The ingredients can be widely varied - from meat filled to completely vegetarian. The one defining ingredient, however, is the rice paper wrapper.
Rice paper is essentially a very thin sheet of edible paper. It's made from rice flour (although there is a rice-paper plant that it's traditionally made from). When dry, the paper is quite firm. When moistened it becomes a very delicate, pliable wrapper.
The recipe I tried calls for soaking the rice paper in rather warm water (it's set over the burner to keep warm). This is really for more experienced users. The warm water softens the rice paper very fast. If you are new to spring roll making, it's better to use room temperature water and let the rice paper slowly soften
Once the rice paper is pliable, you place the filling on the lower portion of the circle and start rolling up. The wrapper feels very delicate. It's surprisingly strong, but very sticky. Very sticky. You'll want to work with them on a surface they won't stick to as easily. A silpat sheet or damp tea towel are both good options
If you need to make them ahead of time, you'll have to cover them with a damp towel and refrigerate them. We ate them right away but honestly, I liked them more the next day (when I ate the leftovers for breakfast)
As far as this particular recipe, overall I liked it. The dipping sauce with it wasn't my favorite, however. I had (fortunately) picked up some dumpling sauce (from the Asian aisle in the grocery store) that came to the rescue. Brent liked the tahini dip, but it was too heavy with tahini flavor for my tastes.
So now, I have a challenge for you: to try something new this week. A new ingredient, a new cooking technique, or just some new way of preparing an old favorite
If you want to try your hand at spring rolls, you can try the portobello spring rolls with cilantro-tahini dip, or one of our other spring roll recipes.