Brown Rice Shrimp Summer Rolls with Peanut Lime Dipping Sauce
Yield: 4Servings (8 Summer Rolls)
Prep: 25 minutesminutes
Cook: 5 minutesminutes
Total: 30 minutesminutes
Summer rolls, sometimes confusingly known as fresh spring rolls, are Vietnamese in origin, and traditionally made with a combination of pork, shrimp, various vegetables, and rice noodles. Today’s version contains shrimp only! They’re paired with a simple peanut dipping sauce made with unsalted peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, lime juice, fresh ginger, and a touch of sriracha sauce.
Ingredients
Peanut Lime Dipping Sauce:
½cupunsalted creamy peanut butter
¼cup + 1 tablespoon (75 mL)warm water
2tablespoons (30 mL)fresh lime juice
1tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (20 mL)soy sauce
1tablespoon (15 mL)rice vinegar
2teaspoonsfinely grated fresh ginger root
1teaspoonsriracha sauce
Brown Rice Summer Rolls:
2ouncesdried brown rice noodles
8round brown rice paper wrappersplus more in case any break
1lb (16 oz)cooked wild shrimpsliced lengthwise in half
1½cupsvery thinly sliced red cabbageroughly ¼ small head of red cabbage
1large orange, yellow, or red bell peppersliced into thin strips
1ripe avocadopitted and sliced
baby red lettuce leaves
fresh cilantro leaves
fresh mint leaves
Instructions
Make Dipping Sauce: Combine all of the ingredients in the bowl of a small food processor. Pulse until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. If sauce is too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time (and pulse). Season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary. Set aside.
Cook the Noodles: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the brown rice noodles according to the package instructions, drain, and rinse under cold water. Allow noodles to sit in colander and drain of any excess water while you assemble the remaining ingredients.
Assemble Summer Rolls: Refer to this step-by-step photo post if having difficulty. Prepare your ingredients, set them out in an easily accessible manner, and have a clean counter for rolling. Set aside a larger container (or large plate), and line with a damp paper towel. Place a clean, damp kitchen towel on your counter. Fill a large bowl with hot water. Working with one brown rice paper at a time, soak in the hot water (completely submerge) for at least 15 seconds in order to soften. Place wrapper, textured side up, on the kitchen towel.
Lay 5 to 6 shrimp halves in a row, cut side up (depending on their size), in the center of the rice paper. Leave 1 to 1½-inches on both sides of the shrimp. Place a small handful of cooked (and cooled) rice noodles on top of the shrimp, top with shredded red cabbage, 2 to 3 strips of bell pepper, two slices of avocado and a baby lettuce leaf, in that order. Top with fresh cilantro leaves and fresh mint leaves.
Fold over the bottom half of the wrapper over the filling, holding the filling in place as you do so. Fold in the sides, holding filling as you do so. Holding the folds down, carefully roll the wrapper up from bottom to top, as tightly as you can without ripping. Place roll seam-side down on the platter, and cover with plastic wrap while you prepare the remaining summer rolls.
If serving immediately, cut summer rolls in half and serve with peanut dipping sauce.