I bought this pack of Vietnamese rice paper a while ago and decided to make a surprise supper for my other half last night. I had about 1 ½ hours before she came back and I wanted to try hand rolling these things coz I’ve never done it before. I have eaten a lot of Vietnamese cuisine (even had dog meat in Hanoi) but never actually wrapped even a single spring roll myself.
I was quite surprised to find out that the Vietnamese rice paper are hard, flat circles like a tortilla wrap. You actually have to dip it into warm water to soften it up. My better half later told me that she’s seen a documentary to that effect – the rice paper are mass produced as flat, solid circles.
I first defrosted the fresh Chorizo sausage (had one left over) and took out a Chinese sausage (lap cheong). I could insert a joke on the relative sizes here but I can’t think of a tasteful one. Haha! Geddit?
Anyway, I fried up the Chinese sausage and Chorizo sausage (found out later that it’s better to first fry them both whole before cutting) and also a bit of shrimp. No seasoning! I reckon the two flavored sausages would do well.
I also made a pile of carrot shavings and slices and used a couple of winged beans for the vegetable bit. Winged beans are called kacang botol here and people usually eat it as ulam (traditional Malay raw vegetable side). I had wanted it to stick out like the picture but that was harder than I thought. Haha!
My first two attempts to make one failed – the Vietnamese rice paper are really gooey and sticky after the warm water treatment and it’s not very conducive to wrapping. You cannot mess it up! *One* mistake and the entire wrap is ruined!
I put one sliced sausage of each type, a couple of shrimp, then some carrots before sticking in a winged bean and wrapping the works up.
It took my third try for a slightly acceptable wrap and some came out looking like phalluses which is completely unintended, I assure you.
I chucked it into the fridge to chill and it was really tasty! I made five and my dear ate 3 of them when she came back and left 2 for me but I wasn’t hungry so I only ate it later on in the night as a midnight snack (to the background noise of my neighbor arguing with his girlfriend and telling her not to come over any more and some scuffling and punches – there goes the neighborhood).
The crunchy and crispy texture of the winged bean (kacang botol) with the two sausages made for a really good cold spring roll! It certainly wouldn’t have tasted as good in a tortilla wrap, it needs something more refined, less pushy, and the translucent Vietnamese rice paper fits the bill perfectly! I’ll make this again! 🙂
My better half came back with cupcakes, which is perfect coz I had a 4 pints of two different ice cream in the freezer. Heh.
HB, wing bean look good but too bad they do not sell it in states. Like using rice paper wraps for other dishes too. I made sticky rice roll with it with lup cheong and dry shrimps wrap up like sausage. Great take to go places.
I think winged bean does grow in the states! 🙂
You might know it under a different name – Goa bean, asparagus pea, four-angled bean.
I Googled it coz I was interested in this – it’s available throughout Asia and can be grown in most part of the US. Might need to look around for it, may be a seasonal plant over there?
Yeah, it’s my first experience working with rice paper too! I love it, it’s very subtle, the translucent and light wrap is a contrast to the heavier tortilla wraps I’ve been using. 😀
Oh i love those winged beans, what a healthy meal, i like to dip those rolls with thai chili sauce with a touch of lime juice, very refreshing and down to earth 🙂
Yup, I love winged beans too! 🙂
It’s nice to eat raw, one of the things I’ll eat as ulam (the raw dish Malays traditionally eat). I agree, these Vietnamese rice paper rolls are awesome stuff!
It’s not as heavy as tortilla wraps or even our own popiah / wantan skin.
It’s light and translucent and makes a nice change as a wrap – refreshing is the word! 😀
Love your culinary posts, HB! Keep them coming! 🙂
And oooh kacang botol!! Love those veggies and have never managed to find fresh ones in Melbourne. 🙁
Thanks Jyannis! 🙂
Yeah, those are quite hard to find and plant down under coz apparently they need not more than 12 hours of sunlight and Melbourne has way more than 12 hours of sunlight during summer!
hey, the phallic spring rolls look plump and tasty … i’d gleefully eat ’em if you threw them my way! and i’ve never seen this combination of stuffings before for vietnamese spring rolls. creative! yep, i wanna see more of your kitchen adventures too (living vicariously through you) 😀 i remember a tip once about how to moisten the rice paper. use something like a small paintbrush (the ones we used for art classes back in school), dip the brush in water, and ‘paint’/spead over the rice paper to moisten it evenly without soaking it 😀
That sounds like an awesome idea! 🙂
Thanks for the tip buddy! Yeah, I never thought about using a brush, that would make working with it much easier.
Haha! Yeah, my inspiration mostly comes from the shelves of the grocer shop or the fridge. Cheers!
Hey, your Vietnamese spring rolls are just like our popiah with a twist. xD
Yeah, I know what you mean about the sausages. Just a mere glance of it, and my mind immediately started thinking that way too.
Yup! The popiah skins aren’t translucent, which is what I like about rice paper though! 🙂
Haha! Yeah, I didn’t do it intentionally, it just turned out that way for some reason…two ends of sausages = spherical shapes.
I’ve still got som eof the paper left – must make some one of these days. Can’t soak in warm water, just dip in and out till soft…so it will not be soggy and sticky. Ummm…I’m talking about the paper for the rolls, if you please. Muahahahahahaha!!!!!
Haha! Yeah, dipping it is the trick! 🙂
I soaked it coz that’s what the package says. It’s made in Vietnam so the English is a bit off.
The water temperature is also too hot, making it soggy really fast. I tried it with room temperature water and it took *ages* to dissolve.
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Oops! Yeah, I was doing my CSS design yesterday morning. 😡
I messed it up and had to backup from an older save, which had keywords due to this dude pretending to comment as other people.
It’s back to the correct settings now. 😀
So much work!! Another passion meal again… 🙂
It pales in comparison to Ling’s version though! 🙂
She tried making it last night and it was awesome! It turned out beautiful and has the correct ingredients, unlike mine.
Delicious too!
Just a while din visit! You become a cook, a family man!
Omg, any girls got married to you, is so lucky^^
Haha! Well, I started cooking quite a while ago:
http://sixthseal.com/2002/05/its-whats-for-dinner/
Sheep’s brains! That was when I just a month after I started my blog in 2002, more than a decade ago! 🙂
Thanks buddy!
I didn’t know the kacang botol tasted so good when is eaten raw. Love the combination of east and west sausages! You know I will be very hungry upon reaching home, so you took the hour to make this for me..Thanks dear. I really appreciate that. Hugs…
Yeah, I always found it in ulam so I tasted it and decided it was good to go. 🙂
I love your version though dear! It has all the proper ingredients and it looks so much better and tastes so much better too!
Especially the dipping sauce! I finished that today. Haha!
Thanks for the cupcakes dear! <3
You are always so thoughtful to prepare meals for your other half. It looks so creative all the time.
Thanks Mel! 🙂
I just thought it would be fun to do.
We cook a lot nowadays, it’s something fun we both like to do.
I usually use the more esoteric ingredients. 😀
Your recipes are so unique! Where do you get your inspiration from?
Thanks Charmaine! 🙂
Hmm…good question. It’s mostly from my brain, the grocery shop shelves and whatever’s in the fridge. Haha!
I like using unusual ingredients to cook, it’s fun!
You ate dog meats!!! So cruel… Bluek!
I love this Vietnamese Rolls and they taste like Chee Cheong Fun being wrapped with stuffs inside. Nice meals!
Haha! Yeah, it was pretty decent too! 🙂
The Vietnamese version was much better than the Korean version coz the latter is so infused with kimchi that it doesn’t actually taste of anything.
Yeah, it’s great when eaten cold!
hey guys, may i know where can i get those rice rolls wrapper? Thanks