Fresh rice paper spring rolls: translucent, crunchy inside, with a dipping sauce
Fresh spring rolls that are never fried: rice noodles, raw vegetables in fine batons, mint, prawns and peanuts wrapped in rice paper softened for 10–15 seconds in lukewarm water. The paper soaks for less time than instinct suggests, because it keeps softening on the counter. Alongside, a sharp sauce of soy, lime and garlic.
Your own work in that: 35 min.
- Noodles softening 10 min
- Chopping 15 min
- Rolling 20 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneSoak the rice noodles
Cover the noodles in a bowl with hot water from the kettle and leave 8–10 minutes, until the strands are soft but springy. Drain, rinse under cold water and dry them on a cloth; wet noodles would soften the paper from the inside. Cut into 5 cm lengths with scissors.
Ingredients: 12 pcs rice paper · 100 g rice vermicelli
TipFine rice vermicelli doesn't need boiling: in hot water it softens by itself and stays in separate, springy strands that are easy to spread out in the roll. In boiling water it quickly overcooks into a sticky mass.
Eight minutes in hot water, not in a potCut everything into batons
Cut the carrot and cucumber into fine 6 cm batons — running along the roll, not across it. Cut the seedy core out of the cucumber. Halve the prawns lengthways, tear the tough ribs from the lettuce, pick the mint leaves, chop the peanuts roughly. Lay everything out on a board in rows.
Ingredients: 200 g cooked prawns · 2 pcs carrots · 1 pcs cucumber · 12 pcs butter lettuce leaves · 1 bunch fresh mint · 50 g peanuts
TipBatons, not dice. Anything lying lengthways in the roll can be cut through in one stroke; dice falls out as you slice and the roll collapses.
6 cm batons, everything within reachMake the sauce
Stir the soy sauce with the juice of both limes, the sugar, crushed garlic, chilli flakes and water until the sugar dissolves. Taste: it should be salty, sour and sweet all at once. Too sharp? A spoon of water.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp soy sauce · 2 pcs limes · 2 tbsp sugar · 2 cloves garlic · ½ tsp chilli flakes · 2 tbsp water
Salty, sour, sweet — in equal measureDip the paper for seconds only
Fill a wide bowl with lukewarm water. Submerge one sheet for 10–15 seconds and lift it out while it is still slightly stiff — like a wet sheet of paper, not like a rag. Lay it on a damp cloth; over the next half minute it softens the rest of the way on its own.
TipRice paper keeps absorbing water long after it leaves the bowl. Held until fully soft it glues itself to the cloth and tears at the first fold. Always take it out a few seconds too early.
Ten seconds, lift it out still stiffFill and roll tightly
On the lower third of the sheet lay a lettuce leaf, then a handful of noodles, the carrot and cucumber batons, a few mint leaves and a pinch of peanuts. Above the filling, nearer the middle, set 2 prawn halves cut side up, pink side against the paper — they will show through. Fold the bottom edge over the filling, press it down, tuck both sides in and roll upwards, keeping the pressure on with your fingers.
TipTight means genuinely tight: well-soaked rice paper is elastic and takes firm pressure, while a loose roll falls apart at the first dip in the sauce. Press as though you were rolling a sleeping bag.
Prawns pink side to the paper, then tightRepeat and keep them apart
Roll the rest, soaking the sheets one at a time, just before wrapping. Set the finished rolls on a plate so they do not touch: wet rice paper bonds to itself permanently and tears when pulled apart. Cover with a damp cloth.
Not touching, under a damp clothServe at once
Serve whole or cut on the diagonal, with the dipping sauce and the rest of the peanuts. Spring rolls are eaten the same day; in the fridge, tightly covered with a damp cloth, they hold for 4 hours, after which the paper hardens and turns rubbery.
Cut on the diagonal, sauce alongside
Before you start
Fried
The same rolls, wrapped tighter, without the lettuce and cucumber, fried in oil heated to 170 °C for 3–4 minutes, until golden and blistered. Rice paper fries up crisp; fry 3 at a time, as they stick together in the oil.
Vegetarian
Sliced avocado and smoked tofu in batons instead of prawns, and a spoon of peanut butter in the sauce. The roll holds together just as well and the flavour is rounder.
Assemble at the table
Set out a bowl of lukewarm water, the board of filling and the sauce, and let everyone roll their own. The paper is then soaked one sheet at a time and nobody fights a drying stack.
