Traditionally, this Vietnamese dish is a rice paper roll wrapped around rice noodles (rice vermicelli), bean sprouts, mint leaves, shrimp and pork, and dipped in a sauce made from Hoisin sauce, water, and crushed peanuts. For my version, I replaced the shrimp/pork with carrots and snow peas. Carrots and snow peas (and the crushed peanuts) have protein although they're obviously not as protein packed as meat. (Which really isn't a bad thing considering diseases like diabetes come from too much protein consumption.)
Sauce Ingredients
2 Tbsp Hoisin sauce or so, depending how many people you're serving/spring rolls you're eating
1 tsp water or so, to thin
crushed peanuts
Sauce Instructions
Heat Hoisin sauce in the microwave, about 30-40 seconds. Add water to thin sauce until it is less thick than originally, but is not liquid. Add crushed peanuts. Stir.
Roll Ingredients
1 pkg rice vermicelli (there will be leftovers)
2 handfuls bean sprouts, root end picked off, soft sprouts discarded (they're old/bad)
1/2 pkg Thai mint
handful of baby carrots or 1 medium carrot, peeled
handful of snowpeas
Roll Instructions
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Boil noodles for 8 minutes, then rinse in cold water (This ensures the noodles aren't too sticky). Let stand, cool. Rinse all vegetables thoroughly. Julienne the carrots (cut them into thin sticks). To prepare the wrappers themselves, just run them under a slow stream of cool tap water, on both sides until they are wet, but not soaked. Now, if you have the special spring roll plates that have little holes in them for the water to drain through, then use them and stack the prepared wraps up, 1 wrap per plate. If not, then prepare rolls one at a time. Take about a handful of the cool (room temperature really) noodles, and place it in the middle of the wrap. Top with the vegetables. Roll it together burrito style, then dip in the sauce and enjoy.
excuse me while i salivate
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