That First Time I Made Spring Rolls…

The hardest part about making spring rolls, in Tennessee, is finding the ingredients. I found rice paper, but I wanted CHOICES. These were made with a small diameter paper. I wanted larger ones so I could jump that learning curve, but not this time!  Amazon helps me greatly, but Wowza! I miss having every ethnic grocery store possible within 10 miles. Nevertheless, I pushed forward and made yummy Spring rolls!

The rice paper wasn’t my biggest concern- it was the fish sauce! I do not like peanut sauce, I don’t really LIKE peanuts, so I always do the fish sauce and spice it up with chili paste – the ubiquitous Asian condiment. Friends, the fish sauce for dipping is EASY!  Squeeze a few limes, make a simple syrup add fish sauce concentrate and cool it down in the fridge! Boom! I’m going to put this on everything now that I have the power! (“I’m looking at you tofu salad grain bowl!)

I made “no meat” rolls.  I would say vegetarian, but the fish sauce is made from FISH, so there’s that. These tasted GREAT!  Simple rice paper filled with a variety of rice vermicelli, fresh mint, basil, parsley, cilantro, julienned carrots, cucumber batonettes,  fried tofu, avocado, lettuce, and red bell pepper. The fish sauce is lime juice, fresh peppers (Thai or Serrano) Japanese rice vinegar, Thai chili sauce, water, and fish sauce concentrate. Salty, sweet, spicy deliciousness! Oh so very addicting!

Much like picking berries, I can eat spring rolls faster than I can produce them!
Ah, a Chef’s nightmare- none to share! #sorrynotsorry