salad roll in my big bowl

I have been craving salad rolls recently, so much so that I have made them twice in the past week. I think it may be because I saw them being made on a cooking show on television. I have also been remembering some particularly delicious ones that my sister Barb made for us when we visited her in June. It's funny how a particular taste can haunt and beckon you. Salad rolls are like that for me, right now.

Salad Roll

1 bundle of thin rice vermicelli (I found some brown rice vermicelli, but any kind will do)
4 rice paper noodle rounds
lettuce - choose a kind with soft, medium-sized, curly leaves
pea shoots or bean sprouts (I like pea shoots for more flavor)
protein (I used some crab meat, but you could use shrimp, chicken, tofu - it should be cooked, and cut into small pieces)

Inside Sauce
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. fresh lime juice
pinch of sugar to taste

Dipping Sauce
1 Tbs. hoisin sauce
1 Tbs. natural peanut butter
2 tsp. hot water

Put the kettle on to boil with a few cups of water. Put the dry vermicelli noodles in a big bowl.

While the water heats in the kettle, prepare the fillings for the rolls. Make sure everything is clean and cut up, ready to go. I used lettuce, vermicelli, pea shoots and crab. You could add in or substitute some other good vegetables like carrots, cucumber, bell pepper. Thin julienned strips work best. If you have a mandolin cutter it's a breeze, but you could also chop them by hand.

Then prepare the 2 sauces. The one that goes inside the salad roll is made of fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and bit of sugar to balance the saltiness and sourness. You won't need much of it. Mix it together in a small cup. Set it aside and mix the hoisin, peanut butter and hot water in another cup. That's your dipping sauce.

By now the water in the kettle should be hot. It doesn't need to be boiling. Pour it over the vermicelli noodles in the big bowl, and push the vermicelli under the water. Let it sit for a minute or two. Test a noodle to make sure it's firm but biteable, then drain off the water.

Now it's time to build the salad rolls. Put one rice paper noodle round on a cutting board. Dip your fingers in a bowl of warm water and wet the noodle round all over. Flip the round and wet the other side. Wait for about 30 seconds, and the noodle round will be soft. Put  lettuce leaf (or part of a leaf) over the middle of the noodle round. Arrange the vermicelli, veggies, and protein on top of the lettuce leaf in a horizontal sausage shape, leaving a margin of about and inch on either side of you pile of fillings, and lots of space for rolling above and below it. Sprinkle a few drops of the "inside sauce" (the one with fish sauce and soy) onto the noodles/veg/protein pile. Flip the sides of the noodle round over the fillings then roll up the round from the bottom to the top, catching all of the fillings inside. Play around with it. You will start out making messy rolls, but they will get tighter. If you make a mess or poke a hole in your rice paper noodle, don't despair. You can wet another noodle round, and wrap the messy one inside another layer of rice paper noodle. It will look much better and still be yummy.

Once you make your rolls, let them sit for a few minutes before serving them. They will firm up a bit.

Serve the salad rolls with the hoisin/peanut butter sauce for dipping.

I also made a little Asian-style slaw. I used bagged slaw mix from the veggie store, and whipped up a little dressing with vegetable oil, a dash of sesame oil, a bit of soy sauce and some fresh lime juice. It was a nice accompaniment.

These rolls can be stored tightly wrapped in the fridge for later, but they really are best freshly made and gobbled up right away.

I hope that you have the opportunity to cook and eat something you crave this week!