Veggie Spring Rolls with Crispy Tofu
I’ve been seeing a lot of spring rolls on the internet lately. Some of them are really beautiful with cut-out mango stars showing through the rice paper, or spirulina blue dyed rice noodles inside. These are great but when I look at these spring rolls all I can think about is how much work they must be.
Spring rolls are already kind of time consuming in the way that their ingredients can’t be just thrown in a bowl and tossed together (my kind of meal), so I’m really not trying to add any more work. But they are really easy because they don’t require a lot of ingredients or skill, and are actually fun if you have a little time to roll them.
Even more fun if you have someone to roll them with you! I’ve been making spring rolls for a while now, (the kind that don’t take a lot of work), here’s my favorite way to make them.
For this recipe I used this tofu recipe and this peanut sauce recipe. You could also use shrimp instead of tofu or just leave it out!
Have fun!
- (For tofu and peanut sauce see links above. )
- For spring rolls: (see pictures above for clarity on how to chop, and use as much as you need to fill as many rice papers as you desire, these are just guidelines)
- red cabbage, sliced thin
- napa cabbage sliced thin
- crispy tofu (cooked according to directions in link above)
- red pepper, julienned
- cucumber sliced thin in about 2 -3 inch pieces
- julienned or grated carrot
- mint leaves
- cilantro leaves
- spring roll wrappers (see picture above)
- Prepare veggies, tofu and peanut sauce as directed.
- Fill a shallow pan (big enough to fit your rice paper flat) with hot water. Add rice paper and let sit about 20-30 seconds until it looks like wet toilet paper and is soft and elastic but doesn't rip.
- Shake excess water from rice paper and lay flat.
- Add vegetables (see picture above for helpful sequence of layering) starting at one end.
- Roll up spring roll by folding the closest edge of rice paper over the fillings and pull it towards you to tighten it up.
- Fold in edges and continue to roll until it is compact.
- Serve immediately with peanut sauce.
