Salad Rolls with Dipping Sauce

I posted about salad rolls when my sister and I first started writing this blog. But it’s a recipe that bears repeating. For one thing, I didn’t own a good camera when I wrote the first post and instructional photos are kind of helpful for the rolling technique. Also, I recently made salad rolls with the young chefs of the Brooklyn Apple Academy Run a Luncheonette Cooking Camp and the version that they created was delicious! I’ll include both my standard recipe with shrimp and the far more elaborate vegetarian version created by the boys. I brought in a huge selection of vegetables for the boys to choose from, fully expecting many of them to be nixed by one kid or another who didn’t like this or that. However, these young men are culinary adventurers who fly in the face of the assumption that kids don’t like vegetables. They included every ingredient that I offered and pronounced the final product to be delicious! If you are going to go the elaborate route, it’s helpful to have a bunch of friends who can form an assembly line, like so…

If you would like to see that assembly line in action, which I highly recommend, follow this link!

ERIN’S SIMPLE SALAD ROLLS WITH SHRIMP

carrots, peeled and shredded
jicama, peeled and shredded
cilantro leaves, washed, dried and picked off of the stems
mint leaves ,washed, dried and picked off of the stems
Basil leaves (Thai basil if you can get it), washed, dried and picked off of the stems
Cooked, peeled shrimp
Rice paper wrappers (go for the large ones if you can find them!)

Heat some water in a kettle. While it’s heating, set up your work area with a large shallow dish for wetting the rice wrappers, a large dry work surface such as a cutting board, a container to receive finished rolls, and all of your prepped fillings.
Pour some hot water into the shallow dish and keep the kettle handy to add more hot water as needed. Place a rice wrapper in the water. Try to get the entire thing wet right away by swishing it around. If some parts remain dry, they will curl and crack after a few seconds.
When the rice wrapper is as soft as fabric, carefully lay it onto the work surface. Imagine that your wrapper is divided into five columns. Pile a little bit of each ingredient along the second column of the wrapper.
Fold the edge of the wrapper over the filing and then roll it one time. The rolled portion should be right in the middle of the wrapper now.
fold the short ends up on either side.
Continue rolling until it is totally closed.
Eat it with some dipping sauce (recipe below)!

ELABORATE SALAD ROLLS WITH MARINATED TOFU A LA APPLE ACADEMY

FOR THE TOFU

Slice a few cakes of fresh, firm tofu no more than 1/2 inch thick. Lay them out on a few layers of paper towel. Put more paper towels on top and then weigh them to press the excess liquid out. Meanwhile, improvise a marinade.

to improvise a tofu marinade

Choose an oil. Some options are…

toasted sesame oil (highly recommended)
mild oil such as sunflower or canola
olive oil

Choose a salty Asian condiment. Follow this link for info about gluten-free Asian pantry items. Some options are…

tamari
soy bean paste
fish sauce
oyster sauce
miso

Add something sweet (unless you used oyster sauce, which is already sweet). Some good options are…

honey
sugar
agave

Add some flavorings and seasonings. Some good options are…

minced fresh garlic
minced or grated fresh ginger
minced fresh lemon grass
minced scallions
lime leaves
star anise pods
Sichuan pepper
Chinese five spice
chili paste or sriracha sauce
crushed galangal root

Combine your ingredients, tasting and adjusting until you have something that you like. You can start with about 2 Tablespoons of oil, 1/4 cup of the salty condiment, 1 Tablespoon of sweetener (if needed) and little pinches of the seasonings.

Add your dried tofu to your marinade and let it sit for at least 3 hours and up to overnight in the fridge. You can reuse your marinade once. Remove the tofu from the marinade and bake them on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven until they are browned and firm. Meanwhile, you can prep all of the other ingredients.

FOR THE OTHER FILLINGS

Choose any or all of the following fillings…

lettuce leaves, washed and dried
raw red cabbage shredded, washed and dried
avocado peeled, pitted and sliced
cucumbers, peeled (or not depending on how waxy they are), seeded and cut into long spears
carrots washed and shredded
jicama peeled and shredded
bean sprouts
red or yellow bell peppers washed, seeded and cut in to long strips
mint washed, dried and pulled off of the stem
basil (Thai if you can get it) washed, dried and pulled off of the stem
cilantro washed, dried and pulled off of the stem
bean thread noodles soaked in hot water until soft, then run under cold water and drained
baked marinated tofu (recipe above).

Follow the same instructions as the simple recipe above. The larger size of rice wrapper is totally worth seeking out for these mondo sized salad roles!

HOW TO IMPROVISE A DIPPING SAUCE FOR SALAD ROLLS

Choose something nutty. Some good options are…

chopped roasted peanuts
peanut butter
almond butter
cashew butter
black sesame powder
tahini

Choose a salty Asian Condiment. Some good options are…

hoisin sauce (my favorite, although very hard to find gluten-free)
tamari
miso

Add a bit of sour. Some good options are…

lime juice
rice wine vinegar

Add a bit of sweet (unless you used Hoisin, which is already sweet). Some options are…

sugar
honey
sweet Thai chili sauce
ketchup

Add some flavorings and seasonings. Some good options are…

minced fresh garlic
minced or grated fresh ginger
minced onion or shallots
Chinese five spice
chili paste or Sriracha sauce

Combine your ingredients, tasting and adjusting until you have something that you like. You can start with about 1 cup of the nutty stuff and add the other ingredients in splashes and pinches until you get something that you like. You ay need to add some hot water to achieve the desired consistancy.