Real Life Recipes

Vietnamese Rice Paper Wraps
As prepared by Chef Mike Benninger of Thyme Management
“A light fresh dish, often served in Asia consisting of the freshest sweet peppers, fresh mint leaves, julienne of carrot, noodles and fresh cilantro, all wrapped up in a rice paper wrap. These are usually served well chilled with 2 different styles of dipping sauces, one hot and spicy and one sweeter. The ingredients are easy to prepare and easy to find at any larger supermarket or in the ethnic markets located in most larger cities.”

Preparation method:
“Start by washing up sweet peppers of different colours such as red, yellow, orange and green, as well as a carrot and a bunch of cilantro. Cut off the top and base of the peppers slicing them very thinly. Peel the carrot and then using a julienne cutter, slice it into long pieces. Boil the noodles until just cooked, rinse well and then drain, then add some lime juice and sesame oil to keep separate. Wash the cilantro very well and them shake the excess water out and then pick off all the leaves, discarding the stems.

Assembly:
“Fill a large bowl with warm water. Remove a wrap from the package and holding both sides of the wrap, hold under water until it softens, usually about 45 seconds to a minute, depending on how thick the wraps are, and then place it on a damp cutting board so it is flat and stretched out as much as possible. About a 1/3 of the way from the bottom, lay out some mint leaves so they cover a line about 2/3 of the width of the wrap. On top of them add a few lines of coloured peppers and a few carrot slices. Place a line of noodles on top of the peppers/carrots and a line of cilantro leaves behind them.”

Rolling:
“You roll it like a fajita, starting with the bottom, lift the bottom edge up over the line of peppers and roll it forward. Then, like a fajita, pull in one side so the seam is 90° from the roll, then so the same with the other side. Roll up the rest of the wrap from the bottom, keeping it pulled snug. When it is rolled all the way up, rub a few drops of sesame oil on it and place it seam side own for 2 minutes to set. They can now be cut into 1” pieces bite-sized or sliced on the bias to show the colours, or kept whole and served with the dipping sauces like a sushi roll.

“These are just about my favourite appetizers to serve in summer, they have very bright flavours, are quite healthy and can be adapted to whatever vegetables you like, and you can even add shredded cooked chicken or pork to make them into main course.”