These rice paper rolls are the epitome of summer food. They have all the textures and tastes that you want to eat; crunchy veggies, soft rice paper, smooth and creamy peanut dipping sauce, tangy dressing, fragrant herbs and salty peanuts. Are you hungry yet? Good.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cucumber roughly cut into julienne pieces
• 1 carrot, julienne
• cos lettuce or butter lettuce leaves (1 per roll)
• coriander
• mint leaves
• fresh or smoked salmon
• salted roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
• Rice paper sheets

For the dressing:

• 1 Tb rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• pinch of sugar

For the peanut dipping sauce:

• 1 Tb crunchy or smooth peanut butter
• 2 tsp soya sauce
• squeeze of lime juice (around 1 – 2tsp)
• 1 tsp sriracha sauce
• a little bit of milk to thin to desired consistency

How to assemble

Step 1. Get all your veggies ready. This is what I had on hand, you can use whatever you like.

Step 2: Mix the dressing ingredients and dipping sauce ingredients in two separate bowls.

 

Step 3. Set up a work space as you need to be organised here, it goes quite quickly and you need a clean workspace! Soak each rice paper sheet for 1 minute or as per the packet instructions. If you soak it for too long it will break, if you don’t soak it for long enough it will still feel waxy. When it starts to feel gelatinous its ready.

Step 4. I started with one mint leave and a leaf of cos lettuce. Remove the stalk at the bottom because it can pierce the sheet when rolling. In a separate bowl take some cucumber, carrot, coriander and add a drizzle of the dressing and toss to coat. Then place it inside the lettuce leaf. This makes it easier to roll and avoids tearing the sheet when rolling. I topped with smoked salmon and crushed peanuts. You can use fresh salmon or leave it plain. Roll the top and bottom to the middle, like a spring roll, then roll from one side to the other (left to right). The lettuce helps as a guideline to keep them all the same size.

Step 5. Continue with the others then enjoy dipping your hard work into the peanut sauce.

Tips: If you want to make this vegetarian or vegan, omit the salmon. Use pan fried tofu if you wish.