Rice Paper Spring Rolls

(Spring rolls or hand rolls) Until yesterday I didn't even know what a hand roll was. I know I'm late to the party, but I'm not really crazy about sushi. My daughter brought some hand rolls home and they looked pretty interesting.  She also picked up some supplies so we could try making them.

rice papers
sticky rice
cooked shrimp
carrot
cucumber

Ma vinaigrette

This was one of our first attempts.

Start by cooking the sticky rice, then set it aside for 1 hour to cool. Once cooled you can try adding a little vinaigrette to the rice or just leave it plain. Cut the carrot and cucumber into very thin strips. You can leave the shrimp whole or slice them.

Take a sheet of rice paper and dip it into lukewarm water. (We left the first one we tried in the water for just a few seconds and it turned into a sticky mess, literally dip it in and out of the water!) 

We then laid the sheet on a piece of parchment paper for ease of handling. We waited 1 minute for the rice paper to become pliable then started adding the filling. Before putting a layer of sticky rice down we sprinkled some parsley on this sheet. 

Here's my daughter placing the whole shrimp, carrot and cucs on top of the rice. Then she used the parchment to lift and roll similar to rolling a jelly roll cake with a dishtowel. Don't forget to tuck in the ends.

For the next one I tried strips of carrot on top of the rice paper, then the layer of rice, sliced shrimp and cucumber strips.

She had the idea of squirting some Ma vinaigrette down the middle before rolling. Good idea!

We had alot of fun making these. It was the first time but it won't be the last.