cucumber, cilantro and squash: oh my!
These little beauties were modeled after the delicious Vietnamese salad roll, but they make no claims to authenticity: the ingredients used are somewhat unorthodox, but they suit me very well. We ate them two days in a row. The first day we used bean sprouts, carrot, cucumber, many herbs, shrimp and red pepper. The second day we used steamed sweet potato and squash as the main filler, supplemented with carrot, cucumber, herbs, and some had shrimp. C isn’t a big fan of shrimp, actually, so maybe half had shrimp in them.
The first batch featuring bean sprouts were good, but I vastly prefer the ones with sweet potato and squash–they were filling, the sweetness went nicely with the sauce (even if it wasn’t homemade), and with the many Vietnamese herbs we used. They were absolutely delicious. And easy–especially if you don’t prepare them beforehand. We just wrapped them up and ate them at the table, making just as many as we wanted. I recommend you try them.
Ingredients:
1/2 one small squash (peeled, seeds removed)
one small-to-medium sweet potato
one large carrot
a few sprigs each of: Vietnamese perilla (tia to, or Japanese shiso would work), holy or Thai basil, cilantro. You could also use mint, or any Vietnamese herb you like.
one large field cucumber, or a few Lebanese or other small cucumbers
3-4 shrimp/roll
rice paper sheets
sauce:
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp lemon juice
water, to thin
The Method:
Start by steaming the (cleaned & cut to appropriate size) squash and sweet potato until they are soft. When they are nearly done, put some carrots cut into matchsticks into the pot to steam slightly (for the last minute of cooking). Don’t overcook the vegetables, though, they’ll fall apart. My sweet potato and squash were cut fairly thinly, I think they were done cooking in 5-7mins. Remove these from the heat to a plate to cool. While they cool you can ready the other veggies. I washed Vietnamese perilla, cilantro, and holy basil, removed their stems and set them aside. Scrape seeds from cucumber, and cut into sticks.
Dip each rice paper in hot water briefly, and lay it on your work surface (plate or cutting board) to start each roll. Assemble the rolls by placing some of each ingredient on the rice paper, along the edge nearest you, then roll up as sushi roll (ends open) or like a pita (ends folded in). They taste best with lots of herbs. The sauce ingredients just need to mixed together. Dip assembled rolls in the sauce as you eat!
with bean sprouts
Enjoy!
Love,
Meg
Tags: summer, vegetables, Vietnamese
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