In the Kitchen: Spring Rolls

Ben and I love ordering spring rolls at our favorite Thai restaurant so I thought I would try to make them at home. This is a big step for me because I almost ruined the joy of eating pad thai after attempting to make it myself. I totally botched it up and have just recently started eating it while we are out again. Yep. It was that bad- pretty sure the mistake was due to my fish sauce misuse.

Anyways, these spring rolls turned out pretty well! They were light, refreshing and gluten free. You could also make them without the shrimp for those who have a shellfish allergy.

Here's the basic recipe although you can add whatever you like or happen to have laying around:

What you need:

Spring Roll Wrappers or Banh Trang
6 cooked shrimp, tail off and butterflied
2 cups of lettuce
1 cup shredded carrots
1 small red pepper, sliced
6 Thai basil leaves
Wasabi
Soy Sauce
Peanut Sauce
Hot water (not boiling)

The Plan:


Before making each roll, place one wrapper into a shallow bowl of hot water for approximately 30 seconds or until it is soft. Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup soy sauce with wasabi to taste then toss lettuce in soy wasabi mixture. Lay wrapper flat on a cutting board then place lettuce, veggies, shrimp, and basil on the lower quarter of the wrapper. To wrap tightly roll from the bottom up. Once to the halfway point of the wrap, fold the side in and then continue rolling all they way up, sealing at the top. Serve with peanut sauce- we use San-J because it is gluten free and awesome!

Notes: I used the wasabi-soy mixture for the lettuce because Ben and I really like the kick of wasabi- but you could use a whole host of other dressings! Any suggestions?

I'd love to hear of any variations you all come up with! Enjoy!