We had a little impromptu spring roll party today! This also came off the tail end of a conversation we had the night before with one of our friends who recently started the Paleo Diet. He’s been eating strict Paleo for over a month, feels great, is working out hard, has a lot of energy and looks terrific! So anyway, I thought we should celebrate with some veggies and get rollin’! So, I called up some girlfriends and went to the Asian market.
If you’ve never been to an Asian Market, you need to visit one soon. Don’t be scared of things that might seem strange or unfamiliar to you, people speaking different languages or the smell of fish. . it’s all GOOD. Much like any grocery store, I think you can tell if an Asian market is good by their produce. Is everything clean and fresh? If not, then- you can walk out.
Visiting Asian markets takes me back to my childhood. My parents have owned and operated a Korean grocery store for as long as I can remember. We would go there as kids and walk through the candy/snack aisle and run up to my mom asking if we could take some home. When we got older, we would help my mom out every Christmas & New Years by helping her cut Korean rice cake. We didn’t always like it, but I’m glad my parents made us do that. That was kind of our family tradition and made us appreciate our parents and their hard work even more.
My mom was finally able to retire a couple of years ago. She worked hard. I learned so much about having a good work ethic from my parents. In addition to the thousands of other things they taught us and drilled into our heads while growing up- ALWAYS WORK HARD was up there and repeated to us constantly. I always appreciated all of their hard work while growing up, giving us everything we always wanted and needed, paying for our college educations and teaching by example. Their jobs weren’t always glamorous but they always (and still do) have a lot of pride in what they do and have taught us to celebrate being Korean-American.
So, here’s to my parents! My mom actually ate the spring rolls with us today These are great for gatherings with friends. . everyone can roll their own! Hope you give this one a try!
- 1 package Rice Paper Wraps for Spring rolls (available at most stores in the Asian food section or at any Asian market; large round ones are easier to work with)
- 3-4 medium to large carrots, sliced really thin lengthwise or julienned
- 4-6 cups washed hardy greens (spinach, lettuce, basil, cilantro); chopped or sliced
- 1-2 red bell peppers, sliced lengthwise
- 1 large cucumber, sliced lengthwise or julienned
- 1 bunch green onions, sliced lengthwise
- 1-2 avocados (optional, only include if eating right away)
- 1 pound fresh shrimp
- Peanut sauce
- Sriracha sauce
- Fish sauce (optional)
- If adding shrimp, boil some water. Peel and clean the shrimp. Boil the shrimp until the shrimp starts to turn pink; only a few minutes. Then, slice them in half.
- Wash and prep all of your veggies: Wash your greens, and leave them whole in a bowl and set aside. Julienne your carrots and set aside in a separate bowl. Continue with the rest of the veggies, making sure to keep them all separate, either in bowls or on a large platter or cutting board.
- To make the spring rolls, prepare a clean work surface on a counter top or a large cutting board. You can also just use a large plate.
- Get a large mixing bowl and fill it with very hot tap water or water that you have boiled.
- Take a piece of rice paper and dip it in the bowl of water to soften. You may have to dip and rotate the rice paper in order to get the entire thing wet.
- Remove from the bowl and lay flat on the work space or plate.
- To assemble: start laying your shrimp and all of your veggies (lay down more towards the bottom so it's easier to roll).
- Once you have everything you want in your spring roll, start rolling. Roll from the bottom. Roll as tight as possible; without tearing the rice paper. As you are rolling, fold in the ends and roll to close. (If you've ever rolled a burrito, it's the same technique).
- Serve with dipping sauce & enjoy!
- For the sauce, you can do the following:
- Just use the ready made peanut sauce by itself
- Use the peanut sauce and add some sriracha sauce
- Use the peanut sauce and add a little fish sauce
The ingredients to look for at the Asian market:
Yum! I love spring rolls. I have been eating them over the last three months and I have even lost weight! Love it!!
Wow, that’s great! Yes, I am seriously going to be incorporating more veggies into everything I make. I need to cut back on the pasta and bread but it’s so hard!
You that is how I have been losing the weight. I have pretty much cut out pasta and breads. I know, it is so hard. But to see the weight going it great! And I love spring rolls so this recipe is just right for me to take to work for lunch! Thanks!
These look gorgeous! Love your choice of sauces – so good! I am making these again this week – I got so many great ideas!
Thank you! We made these again with salmon and pork (different rolls) in place of the shrimp. They were really good. Next time I want to try your sauce . I just didn’t have access to any almond butter and wanted to see if I could get everything at the Asian market 🙂
One of my favourite dishes!! I make this quite often at home and it’s also fun to make when we have guests over, though only for those guests who we feel would be comfortable eating with their hands 😉
It’s interesting that you call them “spring rolls”. I know them as “cold rolls” or “rice paper rolls”, whilst “spring rolls” are the fried versions which Americans call “egg rolls”. Very confusing but makes for an interesting discussion nonetheless! Actually, in French, these are also called “spring rolls” (roleaux au printemps).
Great Recipie, my only question is how long will these spring rolls keep once made as I’m keen to take them to work for lunch and would ideally make them a few days in advance.
Hi Neil,
Thank you! These should be eaten immediately once made due to the rice paper wraps and veggies, so I would not make them a few days in advance. Sorry!
Responding to Neil Paterson’s question: (sorry, just saw this two years later!) The veggies would definitely be OK for a few days. I don’t know how the rice papers are made – surely, the rice is cooked and would, therefore, keep for a few days as well??
Hi Audrey!
yes, these were shared on Today.com (The Today Show) yesterday so this post has come back to life! 🙂 Yes, the veggies would definitely be ok prepped and cut a few days in advance. But the rice paper wraps (see product shot above) are hard when you buy them. When making the spring rolls, you dip the rice paper sheets in water to soften and then assemble and roll. I personally like to eat my spring rolls fresh, right after they are made. I’ve actually never stored them in the fridge (there are never any leftovers when I make these!) so highly recommend making and eating them right away. . but like I said earlier, you are right! The veggies can certainly be cut and prepped a few days in advance and stored in an air tight container in the fridge. I hope you try these!
Thanks for your quick response! I have never used rice paper wraps before even though, a long time ago, a visiting student from Japan gave me some. There were no instructions included, so I eventually threw them away, sorry to say!
I will try these for one of our lunches (at home, we are retired) and I know we’ll enjoy them. Not sure about peanut sauce, though – it’s OK in restaurants that we frequent, but I’m not crazy about peanuts. Is there another sauce that would be good with them, and is there a recipe for such on your web site?
We’ve made these many times and we wrap each roll in saran wrap and store in refrigerator. They last a couple days in the fridge. The wrapper is a bit tougher but still tastes yummy!
Thanks Jen for sharing!!