Just what is it about summertime and eating with our hands? Maybe it's part of the general informality of the season - wearing fewer clothes, going barefoot, having meals outdoors, roasting things over the campfire. Eschewing utensils, we use our hands to hold corn on the cob, burgers and dogs, chips and dip, cookies, watermelon slices, and drippy stone fruit. The garden hose (or lake, or sea) is right there for rinsing off and it just feels right to engage with our food like this in the summertime.
And though we may be sandy and sweaty and sticky, I also enjoy the fact that there is more personal touch this time of year. Playing with the kids in the lake, their knobby knees and pointy little toes digging into my legs and back... running around kicking the soccer ball and slamming into each other on the grass... jostling to pick berries and smearing the over-ripe ones on each other's cheeks... holding hands as we tramp through the forest in search of wild treasures. No mittens or gloves or long sleeves and pants to separate us from each other. Just sun-kissed, mosquito-bitten, epidermis on epidermis.
Likewise, whether you all gather at the kitchen table or set up the fixings out on the deck, summer rolls are best enjoyed as a full-contact activity. 'Cause where's the fun if someone just presents you with a platter of them, ready-made? For children, there are carrots to be shredded, herbs and greens to be picked and torn apart, bean thread noodles to be cut up with scissors...and then there is the actual spring roll making. Even for the youngest kids unable to roll them up while still keeping the filling inside, there is dipping to be done. From experience, I can vouch for the hygienic and aesthetic benefits of setting out individual bowls of peanut sauce. :-)
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| Ready to roll... |
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| ... now dip! |
The making of summer rolls (or spring rolls, as we like to call them the rest of the year) isn't rocket science, but it can be frustrating for the perfectionists among us. As someone who often overstuffs, the approach I've developed is to just relax and eat them as they tear (and many will). That way when all is said and done, you have a full tummy and a plate of beautiful summer rolls to share with a friend or enjoy the next day.
A few technical points of note:
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| Depending on where you live, these might be hanging out in the Asian foods aisle at the supermarket! |
The spring roll wrappers are quite stiff out of the package, but as they are basically just rice starch, slipping them individually into a cake pan or baking sheet filled partway with warm water softens them up in a few seconds. Likewise, the bean thread noodles, which are made from mung bean starch, become soft enough to use shortly after you've poured boiling water over them.
The basic method is to set out all the ingredients ready in little bowls, including the drained noodles. Then you boil a kettle of water and set it out near the cake pan or baking sheet so that as people are busy filling and rolling, a new wrapper is always ready for the next round. You can make a bunch and then eat, or you can make and eat as you go. It can be quite a messy process, with tofu chunks falling into the bowl of carrots, bean thread noodles flying everywhere, and participants crowding each other to get what they need from the bowls.
One person will surely emerge as the designated 'wrapper', as this is a specialized task and ultimately, people won't want to have their rolls break every time. But it may surprise you who turns out to be the most naturally gifted - at our house it's the 7-year-old who exercises the most restraint when filling and therefore never tears her wrappers. The other key to wrap fairly tightly, but not so tight as to force the filling to puncture the wrapper. Loosey-goosey wrapping will result in a noodle salad explosion; it's best to keep several forks handy for this possibility.
When you've run out of ingredients or stuffed yourselves to the point where you can't look another spring roll wrapper in the eye, it's time to abandon the whole mess and go play badminton. Rock paper scissors determines who does dishes!
Fresh Summer Rolls
- 1 package spring roll wrappers
- 1/2 pound of firm tofu, diced into 1/2" cubes
- 2 tbsp Braggs liquid aminos, soy sauce, or Soyaki sauce
- 1 bundle mung bean thread noodles, soaked in hot water and drained according to pkg directions
- 1/2 cup fresh herbs/edible flowers, such as cilantro, Italian or Thai basil, mint, lemon balm, nasturtiums - a mixture is nice
- 2 cups torn salad greens, any type
- 2 medium carrots, shredded
- 1/2 cup peanuts, chopped finely
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Peanut Dipping Sauce
- 4 tbsp natural peanut butter
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tbsp Braggs or soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
To make the sauce, heat peanut butter and water together in a microwavable glass measuring cup for about 30 seconds, or in a small pot on the stove, until they can be easily stirred together. Add the other ingredients and mix well. Taste and add more of any ingredients it may need (this part is highly personal and I cannot tell you whether you like your peanut sauce sweeter or more tart, just as I cannot guess your preference for creamy or crunchy peanut butter. For the record, I prefer crunchy but am overruled in the house, so creamy I must use). Also, do add more water if needed - the goal is to have a sauce that's not too thick, because it will be harder to dip your spring roll that way.
Jer gan mai! (I'm not entirely sure if spring/summer rolls are considered Vietnamese or Thai, but this is one of the few Thai phrases that has stuck with me over the years - it means, see you later!)
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