the easiest hard thing you'll ever make- 6/09

we all have "those dishes" in our head that we say we'll never make. too hard. too messy. too expensive. i decided just that the first time i had summer rolls at a vietnamese restaurant. the translucent wraps were far too delicate for my mitts to manage. and the layers of herbs and perfectly cooked chicken--all cool yet crunchy in the chewy rice wrap. but who has the time!?

in a moment of bravado a few months later i took a stab at it. and it went great! though there are traditionally many ingredients--rice wrap, rice noodles, various herbs and crisp veggies--you can pick and choose to your liking or availability. mint and basil are so cheap and fragrant at the farmers market lately that i got the hankering again and recreated them this weekend.

google spring or summer rolls. you want them to be uncooked, not fried like an egg roll. i used this one from chow.com http://www.chow.com/recipes/10641

you need a bit of space and an assembly line for efficiency. you can see my notes to myself. there were TEN ingredients! and even with the sticky notes i don't think any two rolls were alike. (the 2 lychee martinis may not have helped).



take your time. the rice paper wraps are fragile but more forgiving than you'd think. i added hot peppers to half for me. more shrimp on the ones for the hubs (who LOVES these). makes 8. plenty for a meal for two or snacks for 4-6. this time i also made my own peanut sauce. there is a good one at the bottom of the chow.com recipe http://www.chow.com/recipes/10658 i don't know what hoisin sauce is let alone own it. a quick google and i subbed 1 tablespoon maple syrup. I also added a few extra shakes of soy sauce. i subbed 1 teaspoon of tomato paste and a few shakes of tabasco for the chili-garlic paste. DELISH.



what difficult dish are you wanting to try to re-create next?

oh, and if you want a lychee martini for your own you need vodka and a can of lychees (asian fruit, like a sweet weird giant grape you can find in with the other canned fruit). equal parts vodka and lychee juice from the can. shake with ice and strain in to a martini class. the lychee isn't cute but works as a garnish--and a snack after you down the deliciousness. cheers!