I realize that "waging war" is not exactly the mantra I want to portray, but that is exactly what happened in my kitchen last night. Come hell or high water, I was determined to make the raw vegetarian spring rolls sold at Wild Oats. I brought out my 3 different brands of rice paper (two were made from some type of flour, not rice) and started them soaking. Then the fun began. I brought out my new OXO mandoline and attempted to make julienne carrots. What a joke! Chuck finally had to take over because I just wasn't strong enough to push the carrot down with the stupid hand device. Fortunately, he could somewhat work the thing. The mandoline actually worked pretty well with the cucumbers and jicama (which I added because my cucumbers weren't crisp). Did I mention that the first thing I did was cut my thumb dropping the jicama? Then we started rolling the ingredients in a piece of lettuce, and tried out each of the 3 types of papers - I say 'we' because it took the two of us to figure out how to roll the papers - me being one-handed with my thumb wrapped in plastic trying not to bleed all over the vegetables! Chuck looked pretty funny trying to pick up dissolving rice papers out of a pan and laying them out flat. We rolled about 12, but it wasn't until the last 5 that they actually looked like the real thing. The picture isn't mine, by the way, but it is a pretty good facsimile.
Lessons learned: 1) don't overstuff (very crucial), 2) use a soft lettuce with no hard centers on the leafs that will poke out and tear the paper, 3) don't use tapioca-flour papers, 4) don't oversoak the rice papers, 5) make the rolls at least an hour before eating, and 6) buy an electric mandoline - which I ordered today on the Internet.
Lessons learned: 1) don't overstuff (very crucial), 2) use a soft lettuce with no hard centers on the leafs that will poke out and tear the paper, 3) don't use tapioca-flour papers, 4) don't oversoak the rice papers, 5) make the rolls at least an hour before eating, and 6) buy an electric mandoline - which I ordered today on the Internet.They actually tasted and looked like the real thing, especially since I found a bottle of Thai sweet chili pepper sauce at Wild Oats that must be the exact stuff they include with their spring rolls. Warning - the Wild Oats spring rolls package doesn't mention it contains sugar, which is the main ingredient on the bottle I purchased. I'm now going to try and come up with a sauce recipe that uses agave or raw honey and possibly add psyllium or agar-agar to thicken it.
The moral of this story? I'm hoping it's practice (and using the proper equipment) makes perfect.
The moral of this story? I'm hoping it's practice (and using the proper equipment) makes perfect.
5 comments:
Thanks for learning all that for us. The roll ups look yummy though.
Where did you order the electric mandoline? That's exactly the problem i had. I wasn't strong enough to really handle holding, pushing and slicing all at the same time. But like I said, T loved it! Thought he had "found" a new toy and was happily slicing vegetables.
I stopped at wild oats and picked up eel sushi. Yum!
I'll try making mine up tomorrow. Thanks for blazing the trail. What do you think of spraying them with water rather than soaking them. Would that work? I will have to try it out tomorrow.
QVC.com. It's the Cook's Essentials Electric Mandoline Slicer w/ Removable Tray for a total of $57.33 with tax.
I'm not sure spraying the papers will work but it sure doesn't hurt to try. I had to let them soak until pliable, 3 to 5 minutes. Just don't soak them for 15 to 20 minutes like I did with the first batch.
QVC? LOL ok ok!
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