I am going to try (again) to make these. I can't seem to get the
filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for them
to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice noodle -
or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if I can find
some....I don't know what else.

Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened paper
towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over night. Would
the rice paper get gluey?

I am planning on making the pad thai from the chez pim blog. Really
outstanding recipe.

-Tracy

Tracy wrote:
> I am going to try (again) to make these. I can't seem to get the
> filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
> dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for them
> to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice noodle -
> or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if I can find
> some....I don't know what else.
>
> Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
> them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened paper
> towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over night. Would
> the rice paper get gluey?
>
> I am planning on making the pad thai from the chez pim blog. Really
> outstanding recipe.
>
> -Tracy

Sometimes my Spring Rolls are a little too baggy, but they still taste
good. lol If you soak the wrappers too long, they will get soft and
fall apart. Keep practicing, you will get better.

As far as ingredients, we use very thin rice noodles, romaine lettuce,
cilantro, Thai sweet basil, and a long blade of a scallion. We add
chicken, thinly sliced pork tenderloin and shrimp, but Vegetarian spring
rolls should be pretty good, too.

http://www.cruisemaster.com/fridge.htm

If I have leftover spring rolls, I will moisten a plate, put the spring
rolls on the plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. They gently
stick together, but they come right apart. I have put a leaf of lettuce
between them, and they did not stick together at all.

Just for grins, here are the ingredients I use in my sauce:

Peanut Sauce

peanut butter
hoisin sauce
chili garlic sauce
ketchup
rice wine vinegar
minced garlic
brown sugar
sesame oil
soy sauce
fish sauce
water

Best of luck Tracy, and please let us know how they turn out.

Becca

Tracy wrote:
> I am going to try (again) to make these. I can't seem to get the
> filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
> dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for them
> to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice noodle -
> or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if I can find
> some....I don't know what else.
>
> Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
> them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened paper
> towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over night. Would
> the rice paper get gluey?
>

I just made these for the first time the other day. One ingredient I
used that I thought worked well was radishes. I cut them in fine
matchsticks. Mine weren't vegetarian. The other (non flesh)
ingredients were cilantro, thai basil, carrots, spring onions, and
rice noodles. I intended to use cucumbers but forgot. I had so many
other ingredients it didn't matter.

Bean sprouts also strike me as something that would be good in these.
I had no trouble with wrapping them tightly enough. My biggest
problem was determining the right amount of time to soak the rice
paper. A few seconds too long and you've got a sheet that's like
Saran Wrap stuck to itself.

I had 2 left over and wrapped them individually in wax paper bags.
They were fine the next day and didn't stick to the bags.

Good luck!
pat

Tracy wrote:
> I am going to try (again) to make these. I can't seem to get the
> filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
> dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for them
> to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice noodle -
> or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if I can find
> some....I don't know what else.
>
> Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
> them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened paper
> towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over night. Would
> the rice paper get gluey?
>
> I am planning on making the pad thai from the chez pim blog. Really
> outstanding recipe.
>
> -Tracy

I think you may be making summer rolls if you are concerned about them
sticking. Spring rolls are deep fried.

I usually make them right before they will be eaten. I imagine you could
wrap them in lettuce leaves or parchment.

If you can't find the Thai basil mint leaves are also good. Red peppers,
mung bean sprouts and cucumber also go well in them.

Becca wrote:

some snippage.....


>
> If I have leftover spring rolls, I will moisten a plate, put the spring
> rolls on the plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. They gently
> stick together, but they come right apart. I have put a leaf of lettuce
> between them, and they did not stick together at all.
>
> Just for grins, here are the ingredients I use in my sauce:
>
> Peanut Sauce
>
> peanut butter
> hoisin sauce
> chili garlic sauce
> ketchup
> rice wine vinegar
> minced garlic
> brown sugar
> sesame oil
> soy sauce
> fish sauce
> water
>
> Best of luck Tracy, and please let us know how they turn out.
>


Thanks Becca. I might do two sauces and I definitely wanted one to be a
peanut sauce. This looks good.
I haven't decided yet if I am going to make them in advance or have my
friend help make them. But if there are leftovers - I will try the
lettuce trick.

I will try and take a couple of pictures too.

Tracy

Cryambers wrote:
> Tracy wrote:
>> I am going to try (again) to make these. I can't seem to get the
>> filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
>> dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for them
>> to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice noodle -
>> or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if I can find
>> some....I don't know what else.
>>
>> Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
>> them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened paper
>> towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over night. Would
>> the rice paper get gluey?
>>
>
> I just made these for the first time the other day. One ingredient I
> used that I thought worked well was radishes. I cut them in fine
> matchsticks. Mine weren't vegetarian. The other (non flesh)
> ingredients were cilantro, thai basil, carrots, spring onions, and
> rice noodles. I intended to use cucumbers but forgot. I had so many
> other ingredients it didn't matter.
>
> Bean sprouts also strike me as something that would be good in these.
> I had no trouble with wrapping them tightly enough. My biggest
> problem was determining the right amount of time to soak the rice
> paper. A few seconds too long and you've got a sheet that's like
> Saran Wrap stuck to itself.
>
> I had 2 left over and wrapped them individually in wax paper bags.
> They were fine the next day and didn't stick to the bags.
>
> Good luck!
> pat

Hi Pat,

Beansprouts! I forgot about those. I will have some too, since I am
making pad thai. Not sure about the radishes though - maybe too peppery?
We will see what is available at the produce market on Sunday - which
will determine what goes in 'em. Luckily, I live close to a very good
produce market.

Tracy

Tracy wrote:

> Beansprouts! I forgot about those. I will have some too, since I am
> making pad thai. Not sure about the radishes though - maybe too peppery?
> We will see what is available at the produce market on Sunday - which
> will determine what goes in 'em. Luckily, I live close to a very good
> produce market.

I thought the peppery effect of the radishes worked well with the
other ingredients (but I also had pork and shrimp in mine). It didn't
stand out to me as a separate flavor, and I liked the little crunch
they added, along with the carrots.

pat

George wrote:
> Tracy wrote:
>> I am going to try (again) to make these. I can't seem to get the
>> filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
>> dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for
>> them to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice
>> noodle - or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if
>> I can find some....I don't know what else.
>>
>> Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
>> them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened
>> paper towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over
>> night. Would the rice paper get gluey?
>>
>> I am planning on making the pad thai from the chez pim blog. Really
>> outstanding recipe.
>>
>> -Tracy
>
> I think you may be making summer rolls if you are concerned about them
> sticking. Spring rolls are deep fried.
>
> I usually make them right before they will be eaten. I imagine you could
> wrap them in lettuce leaves or parchment.
>
> If you can't find the Thai basil mint leaves are also good. Red peppers,
> mung bean sprouts and cucumber also go well in them.


I was under the impression that spring rolls can be fresh too - not
fried. I am no expert and when I googled I found lots of different
recipes for fried and not - both called spring rolls - with some labeled
"fresh" and not fried and some not labeled fresh and also not fried. Go
figure.

Thanks for the mint suggestion - it is in a lot of recipes that I found
- but I just don't like mint in savory dishes. I would like to put red
pepper in them - but alas, friend hates - really - hates bell peppers.

Good to know you have had experience making them the night before. I
don't want to drive myself crazy and spend too much time in the kitchen
when she visits - ya know?

Tracy

Cryambers wrote:
> Tracy wrote:
>
>> Beansprouts! I forgot about those. I will have some too, since I am
>> making pad thai. Not sure about the radishes though - maybe too peppery?
>> We will see what is available at the produce market on Sunday - which
>> will determine what goes in 'em. Luckily, I live close to a very good
>> produce market.
>
> I thought the peppery effect of the radishes worked well with the
> other ingredients (but I also had pork and shrimp in mine). It didn't
> stand out to me as a separate flavor, and I liked the little crunch
> they added, along with the carrots.
>
> pat

Yeah, I am thinking if I had meat in them, the radishes would be nice -
but I will have a lot of veggies in there already and I don't need the
extra crunch. I almost always have radishes around too - the DH loves
them. Maybe I will try some in one or two.

Tracy

Tracy said...

> Yeah, I am thinking if I had meat in them, the radishes would be nice -
> but I will have a lot of veggies in there already and I don't need the
> extra crunch. I almost always have radishes around too - the DH loves
> them. Maybe I will try some in one or two.
>
> Tracy


Oh well... I was just reminded, fine julienned or minced water chestnuts.

Are you going to stir fry wilt the filling a little before making the
springrolls? That will dense up the filling and take a lot of the air out of
wrapping them up.

Andy

Andy wrote:
> Tracy said...
>
>> Yeah, I am thinking if I had meat in them, the radishes would be nice -
>> but I will have a lot of veggies in there already and I don't need the
>> extra crunch. I almost always have radishes around too - the DH loves
>> them. Maybe I will try some in one or two.
>>
>> Tracy
>
>
> Oh well... I was just reminded, fine julienned or minced water chestnuts.
>
> Are you going to stir fry wilt the filling a little before making the
> springrolls? That will dense up the filling and take a lot of the air out of
> wrapping them up.
>
> Andy

I had not planned on stir frying...but...maybe I will. Some recipes
called for it - others didn't. If it makes the rolling easier than I am
all for it.
I have water chestnuts on hand too. We'll see about that....depends on
if I feel like cutting them or not I guess.

Tracy

Tracy wrote:

>> I think you may be making summer rolls if you are concerned about them
>> sticking. Spring rolls are deep fried.
>>
>> I usually make them right before they will be eaten. I imagine you
>> could wrap them in lettuce leaves or parchment.
>>
>> If you can't find the Thai basil mint leaves are also good. Red
>> peppers, mung bean sprouts and cucumber also go well in them.
>
>
> I was under the impression that spring rolls can be fresh too - not
> fried. I am no expert and when I googled I found lots of different
> recipes for fried and not - both called spring rolls - with some labeled
> "fresh" and not fried and some not labeled fresh and also not fried. Go
> figure.

I think some of the confusion is the Americanization/translation of
things. Spring rolls are always fried.

>
> Thanks for the mint suggestion - it is in a lot of recipes that I found
> - but I just don't like mint in savory dishes. I would like to put red
> pepper in them - but alas, friend hates - really - hates bell peppers.
>
> Good to know you have had experience making them the night before. I
> don't want to drive myself crazy and spend too much time in the kitchen
> when she visits - ya know?
>
> Tracy

I have never really made them the night before. Most of the work (just
like stir fry) is in the prep. You might want to have that done and then
they can be quickly assembled.

You might also assemble two different sauces. The dipping sauce is an
important part of the dish. You could do a peanut sauce and another with
chili sauce/fish sauce/vinegar/soy/sesame/hoisin.

I have also had some that contained asparagus, pea pods and mango.

Andy wrote:
> Tracy said...
>
>> Yeah, I am thinking if I had meat in them, the radishes would be nice -
>> but I will have a lot of veggies in there already and I don't need the
>> extra crunch. I almost always have radishes around too - the DH loves
>> them. Maybe I will try some in one or two.
>>
>> Tracy
>
>
> Oh well... I was just reminded, fine julienned or minced water chestnuts.
>
> Are you going to stir fry wilt the filling a little before making the
> springrolls? That will dense up the filling and take a lot of the air out of
> wrapping them up.
>
> Andy

It sounds like she is making summer rolls so in that case you don't stir
fry the ingredients. The most you would do is blanch something that is
tough like a pea pod or asparagus.

George wrote:
>
>>> I think you may be making summer rolls if you are concerned about
>>> them sticking. Spring rolls are deep fried.
>>>
>>> I usually make them right before they will be eaten. I imagine you
>>> could wrap them in lettuce leaves or parchment.
>>>
>>> If you can't find the Thai basil mint leaves are also good. Red
>>> peppers, mung bean sprouts and cucumber also go well in them.



Tracy wrote:
>> I was under the impression that spring rolls can be fresh too - not
>> fried. I am no expert and when I googled I found lots of different
>> recipes for fried and not - both called spring rolls - with some
>> labeled "fresh" and not fried and some not labeled fresh and also not
>> fried. Go figure.
>

George then wrote:

> I think some of the confusion is the Americanization/translation of
> things. Spring rolls are always fried.
>

I don't really want to get too hung up on names. I am making fresh
spring rolls. Maybe it is a Thai versus Vietnamese thing. I dunno.


These from a local Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Pastuer:
CHA GIO - 3.95
Crispy spring rolls. A savory mixture of ground chicken, carrot, onion,
rice vermicelli and mushroom wrapped in spring roll and fried golden
brown. Served with nuoc cham on the side. (Vegetarian crispy spring
rolls available)

GOI CUON - 3.95
Fresh summer rolls. Shredded lettuce, mint and rice vermicelli combined
with a choice of sliced pork , shrimp or a traditional combination of
sliced pork and shrimp, then wrapped into a softened rice paper. A low
fat favorite served with peanut dipping sauce. ( Vegetarian fresh summer
rolls with tofu available )

And this from Thai restaurant called Bamboo:

Fresh spring rolls (also served in vegetarian version) $4.45
Shrimp and veggies rolled up in soft spring roll skin served with our
special sweet and sour sauce

Tracy (sorry about all the cutting and pasting....and making some kind
of *******ized ;-) version of both, I guess.

Tracy wrote:
> Becca wrote:
>
> some snippage.....
>
>
>>
>> If I have leftover spring rolls, I will moisten a plate, put the
>> spring rolls on the plate and cover tightly with plastic wrap. They
>> gently stick together, but they come right apart. I have put a leaf of
>> lettuce between them, and they did not stick together at all.
>>
>> Just for grins, here are the ingredients I use in my sauce:
>>
>> Peanut Sauce
>>
>> peanut butter
>> hoisin sauce
>> chili garlic sauce
>> ketchup
>> rice wine vinegar
>> minced garlic
>> brown sugar
>> sesame oil
>> soy sauce
>> fish sauce
>> water
>>
>> Best of luck Tracy, and please let us know how they turn out.
>>
>
>
> Thanks Becca. I might do two sauces and I definitely wanted one to be a
> peanut sauce. This looks good.
> I haven't decided yet if I am going to make them in advance or have my
> friend help make them. But if there are leftovers - I will try the
> lettuce trick.
>
> I will try and take a couple of pictures too.
>
> Tracy

Photos would be nice, thanks.

Becca

On Apr 11, 10:56*am, Tracy > wrote:
> George wrote:
> > Tracy wrote:
> >> I am going to try (again) to make these. *I can't seem to get the
> >> filling rolled tight enough - ever. But a friend is coming over for
> >> dinner on Monday and I said I would try make some. The plan is for
> >> them to be vegetarian. Shredded cabbage, carrot, green onion, rice
> >> noodle - or some other kind of noodle maybe cilantro and thai basil if
> >> I can find some....I don't know what else.
>
> >> Any thoughts on making these? What do you like? Had any luck in making
> >> them the day before? I know they stick together - but a moistened
> >> paper towel protects them for a short while - I wonder about over
> >> night. Would the rice paper get gluey? [snips]
>
> Good to know you have had experience making them the night before. I
> don't want to drive myself crazy and spend too much time in the kitchen
> when she visits - ya know?

What's the point of making them fresh? Isn't it that you want them to
be at their peak of flavor and texture? Some things, such as many
slow-cooked braises, are better if you cook them the day before you
serve them. But many other things are better when "made to order,"
i.e., as fresh as possible. A delicate thing like a spring roll,
whether fried or soft, pretty much demands to be in the latter
category. I have served friends spring rolls and been served spring
rolls by friends many times. If any of those had been made the day
before someone would have been insulted. -aem