Vegetable Rice Paper Rolls | Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I love finding new ingredients to use and cook with when I’m on trips to different countries. I use shopping time to just look for native ingredients that may be very expensive or not readily available back in the UK. On my trip to Vietnam I found rice paper, vanilla pods and dried fruit like mangoes, papaya and pineapple. I absolutely loved them all. 

I wanted to create an appetiser that my whole family would love, and these vegetable rice paper rolls were just great! They took little time to prepare but the flavour was on another level. 

I’ve watched videos on people making these rice paper rolls on the internet and I found that they use 2 sheets of rice paper to fold them up. But I feel that when you double wrap the rolls, they become chewy instead of remaining crispy. So I decided to stick to only 1 layer of the rice paper and fold them slightly differently to prevent them from bursting. And this folding technique worked a treat! I’m so glad I gave it a try. 

I wouldn’t recommend freezing the mixture beforehand or freezing these rolls. They are a quick make and serve idea. You can’t leave them for later. It just doesn’t come together that way. So let’s get started… 

Preparation Time 20 minutes 

Cook Time 30 minutes

Yields 6 rolls 

Ingredients 

1 tablespoon oil 

1 teaspoon garlic and ginger paste 

1/2 cup carrots- finely chopped 

1 cup mushrooms- finely chopped 

1 cup spring onions- finely chopped 

1 cup green peppers- finely chopped 

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce 

12 sheets of rice paper 

Dipping Sauce 

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

4 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce 

1 teaspoon chilli oil 

2 tablespoons spring onions- chopped 

1 tablespoon sesame seeds 

Instructions 

1. For the rice paper rolls, heat the oil in a wok. Sauté the garlic and ginger for 2 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, spring onion and green peppers. Sauté on a high heat for 2 minutes. 

2. Add the soy sauce, salt and pepper. Cook for an additional minute. 

3. Turn off the heat and set it aside to cool to room temperature. 

4. Prepare the dipping sauce and set it aside. 

5. To assemble the rice paper rolls: dip a single sheet of rice paper in cold water for 10 seconds. Place it on a chopping board then add 2 tablespoons of the mixture to one side of the rice paper. Fold it up as shown in the video. Use only 1 sheet of the rice paper. 

6. Pan fry with a little oil for 3-4 minutes each side until golden and crispy.