In January, I decided my recipe repertoire needed some livening up, so my kids and I visited an Indian restaurant for tasty ideas. In February, we followed up with a visit to a Greek restaurant. This month, continuing my quest for new recipes, I visited a friend and fellow cooking teacher, Van Sengmavong.
Van owns a Thai restaurant in Brooklyn Park called Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine (actually a mix of Thai, Lao, and Hmong cuisine). Her food is really amazing, and I consider her one of my best sources for new and exciting Asian recipes. Plus, I love her food and don’t need an excuse to eat at her restaurant.
When I asked her for a new recipe, especially one that is fun to make, she suggested spring rolls. She said that the rolling takes a little practice, but the end result is rewarding. She gave me the recipe and I was off to forage for the ingredients.
Lucky for me, the Asian food store Golden Lion is two storefronts down from her restaurant, and I picked up the ingredients for my recipes there. Most of the food is labeled in English, and the employees are very helpful if you can’t find something. It’s got the some of the best products I’ve seen in the Twin Cities and very reasonable prices. If you go, be sure to check out the seafood tanks in the back of the store. My kids love to see the live “giant” fish and crabs.
When cooking with young chefs, you may want to divide this recipe into several stages: 1) cut up the vegetables, 2) roll the spring rolls, and 3) make the dipping sauces. If your kids get frustrated with long activities, do step 1 ahead of time and let them start with step 2. Once they are done assembling the spring rolls, have them make one of the dipping sauces (the garlic-soy is my favorite). If they still have energy (and you still have patience), have them make the second sauce.
Bridget O’Boyle teaches kids and adults to cook at Cooks of Crocus Hill
Vegetable spring rolls with two dipping sauces
1 cup shredded Iceberg lettuce
1 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup finely sliced green onion
1 red pepper thinly sliced
¼ cup bean sprouts (optional)
½ cup chopped cilantro
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Large spring roll wrappers (sometimes called rice paper, they are thin, dried sheets. Don’t confuse them with egg roll wrappers)
1 large bowl of warm water
Combine all vegetables in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Dip each wrapper (one at a time) gently in the bowl of warm water, holding both sides of the wrapper so it doesn’t stick together. Let it soak in the water for 10–15 seconds, or until it starts to soften. Pull it out of the water and let the excess water drip off before laying it on a very clean flat surface. Put one-eighth of the filling in the bottom third of the wrapper, fold in the sides tightly, and roll towards the unfilled part of the wrapper. Roll as tightly as possible, without ripping the wrapper. (Don’t worry if you rip a few wrappers at first; you will get better at it with practice.) When you are a few inches from the end of the wrapper, dab the wrapper with water and roll tightly to finish. Serve with dipping sauces.
Garlic-soy dipping sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons peanut or canola oil
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Pinch of sugar
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
Peanut dipping sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, finely chopped
Combine first five ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Add cilantro just before serving.
