Vegan Vietnamese Rolls [ with soy & ginger dipping sauce ]

These rolls are super tasty and easy to make. And they look amazing - finally! The first 2 or three times i tried to make these, i kept splitting the rice paper, or not rolling them properly and it was just a complete mess. Tasted amazing still, but looked horrific! So they take some practice.

Search high and low for rice paper sheets! It took me a while to find some. I spotted a ' make your own' Vietnamese kit in Waitroise and grabbed it. It came with some yucky refined sauce which i obvious threw away within seconds - but rice paper and noodles were included too - score! I think your best best is to go the Wholefoods Market, as i know they have a huge selection of noodles and rice bits, or order online. What you fill these babies up with is down to your imagination! My creativity is flowing at the moment to behold the future Vietnamese roll variations!

Vegan Vietnamese Rolls

Rice Paper sheets

Fine rice noodles

1 Courgette, 1 Carrot, 1 Parsnip [ or filling of choice ]

Spinach

Firstly, place your rice noodles in a bowl of boiled water, and leave for 10 mins whilst you prep your veg. Slice the Courgette, Carrot and Parsnip using a mandolin or spiral slicer to create fine strips. Alternatively just chop your veg really fine . 

To make the rolls, take one rice sheet at a time and place in the bowl of water with your noodles for a couple of seconds. Remove from the water and place on a Bamboo mat [ i don't have one either...] or simply just a flat clean surface. Now is the tricky part. If you fill your rolls with too much veg and noodles, the rice paper will split when you try to roll them up. Place your veggies and noddles on the rice paper! Fold the corners of the rice paper over and roll. The rice paper should stick to itself. If it does not, dab on a little warm water. 

Soy & ginger dipping sauce

1/2 cup Vegan Soy sauce

1/8 cup rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger

1 garlic clove

2 spring onions

2 dates

1 tsp sesame oil ( optional)

This dipping sauce is amazing. Mix all the ingredients in a blender for a few seconds and pour into a shallow bowl - and dip away :)