Spring roll wrappers can be the starting point for an easy, delicious and even portable meal. This week Martha Rose Shulman takes the spring roll into fall, filling it with root vegetables and herbs. She writes:
For a long time, a partly used package of rice flour spring roll wrappers has been lingering in my pantry. I’m not even sure when I bought them, but I think it was for some recipes I worked on several years ago. The wrappers seem not to deteriorate at all with age, so I finally decided to spend some time making spring rolls, the uncooked rice-flour wrapped rolls called goi cuon that I always order in Vietnamese restaurants.
Spring rolls (also called summer rolls) can be like little portable salads. They’re traditionally filled with a mix of fresh herbs, rice noodles, vegetables and often a few cooked shrimp. The filling is unseasoned, but the fresh herbs are vibrant, and the rolls are served with dipping sauces. Still, I like to season the filling; it makes for a tastier roll that you can carry in a lunchbox or backpack and enjoy without a dipping sauce.
Once you see the rice flour wrapper as a vehicle for vegetables, grains and sometimes a protein (shrimp, tofu, egg, even strips of cooked flank steak), there are many ways you can go. Let these spring rolls be a starting point for you; you might find yourself filling the wrappers with the festival of leftovers – grain salads come to mind – that end up in the refrigerator at the end of the week. If you’re making eight at a time, the yield of each of this week’s recipes, you’ll need to set aside a good hour, or maybe even a little longer. Have all of your filling ingredients ready in bowls, then dip and fill one wrapper at a time.
Here are five ways to enjoy spring rolls this fall.
Spring Rolls With Carrots, Turnips, Rice Noodles and Herbs: This is a basic vegetable spring roll, vibrant with herbs and tangy because the vegetables and noodles are tossed with rice vinegar before being enclosed in the wrapper.
Spring Rolls With Tofu, Vegetables, Rice Noodles and Herbs: Putting dipping sauce on the inside makes these spring rolls flavorful and even more portable.
Spring Rolls With Beets, Brown Rice, Eggs and Herbs: Uncooked grated beets pair beautifully with spring roll seasonings, and the egg contributes protein.
Spring Rolls With Shrimp, Red Rice and Herbs: This looks like a traditional restaurant spring roll, but the seasoned vegetables and rice inside pack a surprise.
Spring Rolls With Spinach, Mushrooms, Sesame, Rice and Herbs: Choose whatever rice you like for these earthy rolls: Brown, regular basmati or jasmine rice will work.