So trust me when I say that you'll experience the same kind of satisfaction with these vibrant, healthy, gluten-free and frankly, very easy homemade Vietnamese spring rolls.
Mix and match veggies and protein to make for satisfyingly healthy lunch or dinner! I added some cooked shrimp with a dash of fresh lime juice, but braised tofu is also an excellent filler!
Now while I never really drank the brown rice Kool-Aid, growing up with Basmati rice, a long-grain white rice that is buttery and delicious, there is a certain lightness to brown rice spring roll wrappers that makes them less gummy and thick. Instead, you'll taste the crispy, crunch of your veggies, not a mouthful of gooey sticky white rice wrappers...or at least that's what I tell myself to justify a late night trip to Whole Foods in Portero Hill!
The wonton soup was equally as simple and fast. In less than 25 minutes, I've made my "own" broth and fresh wontons. I was quite impressed. The best part is making those little wontons; filling them folding then shaping. You could really TASTE the freshness of using unprocessed ground chicken, fresh spices and herbs. They plumped up quite nicely in the broth, making it a lovely meal on its own.
Again, half this meal is gluten-free (the spring rolls) and has great potential to be vegetarian; I really think my ultra liberal, super-left, living/work situation in San Francisco and Oakland has gotten the better of me...and it's awesome!
I know it seems like there are a ton of steps below, but trust me, it goes by quick! Cut your veggies, wrap and repeat!
Brown Rice Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Shrimp and Ginger-Garlic Chicken Wonton Soup
Adapted from Simple Reem
Ingredients:
- 1 cucumber, seeds removed and cut thinly
- 1 sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1 -2 carrots, peeled and grated ( I didn't have them on hand so I skipped this!)
- Fresh mint springs, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup, cooked shrimp, tails removed
- 1 package brown rice spring roll wrappers
- Lime juice
- Dash of tamari or soy sauce
- Chili sauce (use sparingly!)
- 8 cups of chicken broth
- 1-2 Shanghai bok choy, sliced
- Handful of minced chives
- 2-3 cloves of garlic sliced
- Several slices of fresh ginger
- 1 Tbl olive oil (or sesame oil if you have it on hand)
- 1/3 lb of ground chicken or turkey
- 1 tsp minced or grated ginger
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 Tbl tamari or soy sauce
- 1-2 tsp chili hot sauce
- Fresh lime juice
- 1 cup lukewarm water (to seal wonton wrappers)
- Wonton wrappers (makes about 10 wontons)
For Spring Rolls:
1. Julienne (or attempt to julienne) your veggies for the spring rolls. I used yellow peppers, cucumbers (with the seeds removed) and fresh mint. Grated carrots would be excellent in here, I just didn't have any on hand. Bamboo sprouts would also give this a nice crunch as well. Cut as thinly as possibly without cutting your fingers!
2. Lightly marinate your cooked shrimp (tails removed) with soy sauce and fresh lime juice. Begin assembling your springs rolls! Yes it's that easy :)
3. Remove one spring roll wrapper and follow instructions for softening the wrapper. Usually it involves submerging the wrapper (one at a time, to avoid having them stick together!) in bowl of warm water (not hot!)
4. Briefly soak wrapper in warm water, otherwise the wrapper will become very sticky and start sticking to itself. Remove and place on a plate.
5. Assemble veggies about 1/3 away from the edge of the wrapper. This will allow you to roll the spring roll tightly, leaving enough room for all the fixings!
6. Begin rolling the wrapper, ticking the excess wrapper and placing on the plate, seam side down. Make a few and save for the lunch the next day. Serve with peanut sauce.
Note: I'm not the best spring roll wrapper, but this method certainly kept all the veggies neatly in the wrapper!
For Wonton Soup:
1. In olive oil, over medium heat, add slices of garlic and ginger to a large pot. Cook until fragrant about 1-2 mins.
2. Add chicken broth and chives to pot and bring to a boil. Add in soy sauce (or tamari), rice vinegar and hot sauce.
3. Boil broth for about 10-15 mins, to allow all the flavors to seep into the broth. Remove ginger and garlic slices with a slotted spoon.
4. While broth is boiling, begin assembling wontons.
5. Prepare ground chicken or turkey. In a mixing bowl, combine ground meat, grated ginger, minced garlic, chili sauce, soy sauce and lime juice with your hands to make sure the meat is well seasoned.
6. Wash hands and on a clean surface begin making wontons.
7. Have a cup of lukewarm water handy. This will be the binding agent for the wontons.
8. Take one wonton wrapper and with your fingers, wet edges of the wrapper with the water. Place about 1/2 tsp of ground meat mixture at the center of the wrapper.
9. Fold one edge diagonally, to the other edge, forming a triangle. Press firmly along edges of the triangle, to ensure that none of the filling is seeping out (I overfilled a few wontons and they broke in the soup! Not to worry if this happens, just less is more!)
10. Bring the two corners of the wont wrapper up and pinch them together. Assemble all the wontons before adding to the soup. I made about 10-12 wontons.
11. Add wontons to boiling broth and continue to cook for about 5-7 mins. Then, add in your bok choy. Note: The raw meat will cook completely in the boiling broth, a great way to NOT worry about undercooked poultry. Serve immediately.
