Vietnamese Spring Rolls

[Carmella]

We just looooooove coconut wrappers! They have such a delicate flavor and can make a delicious, light snack in a few minutes! As Vanessa points out, you can use whatever veggies you have on hand as filling for these. For our part, we like to put a little lettuce or arugula, add a few scoops of Chop Suey, roll up and munch away. Mmmmmmmmmm

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with spicy citrus dipping sauce
By Vanessa Sherwood
Posted on GLiving's GreenChefs

If you don’t feel like making the coconut ‘rice’ wrappers, you can either use the lettuce as a wrapper, or just use regular store bought rice wrappers that you’ll find in the Asian section of most grocery stores.

Coconut ‘rice’ Wrappers
1 Cup Young Coconut Meat
1/2 Cup Coconut Water
1/4 Cup Flax Meal (Optional)
Pinch of Salt

Filling:
Butter Lettuce
Cucumber, thinly sliced
Scallions, thinly sliced lengthwise
Bean Sprouts
Star Fruit, thinly sliced
Basil
Cilantro
Mint Leaves

Nuoc Cham (spicy citrus dipping sauce):
Lime, Juiced
1 1/2 Tablespoon Nama Shoyu
3 Tablespoons Water
1 Serrano Chili, minced
1-2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Teaspoons Agave
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

For the Coconut ‘rice’ Wrappers:
In a Vita Mix or high speed blender, blend everything until completely smooth. Now comes the tricky bit. You should be able to make four wrappers on each teflex lined tray of your dehydrator, unless you want to make one huge wrapper on each tray- it’s your choice. Pour out 2-4 tablespoons of the coconut custard and spread out thin with a spoon or spreader/spatula. Dehydrate at 105- 110 degrees until completely dry, 6-12 hours. When they are done, you will be able to peel them off of the teflex sheet.

For the Filling:
There are no rules here. You can put whatever you want in the wrappers.

Fill the coconut wrappers with the veggies. If you are using the coconut wrappers, be warned that they will get soggy quite quickly. It’s best to roll them as you are eating them. If you are using the lettuce as your wrapper, it won’t be an issue.

For the Nuoc Cham (spicy citrus dipping sauce):
Whisk all the ingredients together. This is your dipping sauce.

I have been craving spring rolls so glad to find this recipe. My question is if I use the flax would it be possible to make the wrappers in advance and freeze them, perhaps between sheets of wax paper, or does their tendency to get soggy make this an impossibility?

I only have a 5-tray and am having difficulty figuring out how long things need to dehydrate so I can put the next batch in. So far the times I have needed were at least double what the recipe said! (Had a rainy spell here that might have affected that.)

[bluemoon]

Oh, man! Those look fabulous!

I have got to stay out of here, I still have 42 days to go. LOL


I have been hunting around for the perfect meal to have after I have sufficiently broken my juice feast, I think this is it! Thanks for posting it Carmella!

I think these are fantastic. I love how the dipping sauce brings out the magic of the cilantro.

On the down side, I need to get much better at understanding dehydrating because my wraps cracked and split when I rolled them.

Tonight I will put my soaked chia with the coconut and lay them thicker - maybe then they will hold up better. For now I am going to spritz my current wraps with a bit of water and see if they roll better.

I substituted kiwi and mango for starfruit since I don't see those in the stores here, ever.

[carolg]

This recipe sounds fabulous! Luckitri I have tried starfruit and not a big fan of it; but love your kiwi and mango thoughts. I love mango to max...the softer the better...like mush.

I'm not great at rolling out wraps myself but may make them thicker if possible or maybe chia seeds is your trick.

I can see the dipping sauce as a salad dressing or dip for other veggies to marinade in perhaps. I don't use nama but probably miso and hot is hard for my tongue so have to find out what works to give it a zing but slight one only.
carolg

Let it be known to the world that Luckitri invented chia/coconut wraps on 6/7/09! Hee hee! If someone else already did chia/coconut wraps I really don't know about it. So was mine an invention or a natural progression? Bleh. Just trying to be semi-funny.

This recipe has got me goin'. I am eating it a 2nd night since I have so many ingredients for just one person. I was able to cook the SAD dinner and not have a bite of it.

Another tweak I am doing to the recipe is to make 6 wraps out of a teflex sheet. I find the smaller ones much more manageable as the dipping sauce can run into the wrap and make it disintegrate quickly.

It also has me on a wrap/roll. After my coconut/chia wraps are done I am going to do more tomato wraps and then, spinach wraps. I am weary of the taste of flax so I will be trying psyllium with the spinach. Spinach is 49 cents a bunch right now. If anybody has any suggestions on working with psyllium as a binder I am very curious.

Oh, carolg, I sliced the mango very thin with a special slicer I have so it is barely there.

I was thinking of adding ginger to the sauce.

I also cannot handle much spice anymore but I am not having any problem at all with the finely diced pepper in the sauce.

Tomorrow night I will just throw all the ingredients in the Vitamix including ginger as this dicing is also too time consuming. See how that sauce turns out.

[carolg]

Who has time to make a sauce and dice when the Vitamix or something comparable does the work? My food processor is great, have Bosch blender that replaced the Bosch mixer for bread making way back, and also a Personal Blender from Tribest I love.

Keep me posted.

Enjoy.

Oh, wouldn't it be gr8 to have a raw neighbor?

carolg

We ARE raw neighbors!

I signed up for local meet-ups but honestly my health is too fragile still to make such a commitment. And to be truthful I am really not very social at all. Kind of phobic about people. Internet is good for me. I can come and go as I am able.

The one rawluck I was at oh so long ago, the people were great but the food? Eh. Nothing that rawked my world. The guy who had it was the one who had the only raw food place in the greater Phoenix area and I heard that the food was not so good. But that seems to be all SAD people's idea of raw perhaps. I know I LOVE these spring rolls but dh was just disgusted. I think they are such a flavor blast but his taste buds just didn't get it. He made a face like they are mushy cardboard!

Ah, the sauce. Not sure what made it not so good. Didn't have any more limes so used lemon and also used the Vitamix. So I am sure the lack of lime as well as I think that the diced garlic and pepper gives a different flavor. It lacked the magic of the original.

Hmmm. . . . I need one of those Pop Lock and Chop It thingies as seen on TV. Ha Ha.

[Lydia]

I've been wondering how those rice wrappers affect your digestive system. With trying to eat everything raw and all (and making some exceptions for healthy "living" foods), are rice wrappers really bad for you? I would love to be able to use these sometimes with all my fresh veggies, it would be really delicious. Used to love vietnamese spring rolls. Any input would be appreciated!



PS: I suppose it also all depends on what "level" of raw we want to stick to...

[freespirit]

I wouldn't say "rice wrappers are really bad for you" I believe our attitude to food is also important. I guess now and again they are fine. What bothers me though is that they are very processed. I would also love to feel ok about using them as one coconut costs the same as a bag of rice papers here and I would need two coconuts for this recipe. I think for people transitioning or guests its ok. At least they get to eat all their veg!

[Pansy]

I love spring rolls! Carmi's looks really good!