A fresh roll, also called a summer roll, involves no cooking and is made using a variety of fresh vegetables. Rolls can be made with white or brown rice-paper wraps or lightly steamed collard green leaves—and the Mango Sauce is perfect for dipping!
Note: These rolls are best prepared closer to when you’ll be serving them, ideally within 2 hours (since the rice wraps will start to dry out). If you’ll be storing them in the fridge, cover them with a lightweight damp cloth or lettuce leaves, and plastic wrap (or other airtight cover).
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Fresh Rolls
- Prep Time: 25 mins.
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 (makes 8 rolls) 1x
Ingredients
- 8 small-medium soft lettuce leaves (like Butter, Boston or bibb)
- 1 cup carrots sliced into matchsticks or julienned
- 2 thinly sliced green onions (white and green parts)
- 1 cup red or green cabbage, very thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro or basil
- ½ cup mint leaves (2 to 3 for each roll)
- ½ cup chopped cashews (optional)
- 8 sheets of 9-inch-diameter rice paper rounds/wraps
Instructions
- Chop/prepare all the filling ingredients and place them in piles (on plates or in small bowls) in front of where you’ll be rolling.
- Add an inch of barely warm water to a 9” pie pan (water from the sink is fine, no need to boil it). Moisten a clean tea towel (or use a moist surface or the rice sheet will stick to it), fold it in half, and place it close to the pan of water.
- Slide one rice paper sheet around the water for a few seconds until the whole sheet is wet (don’t let it sit in the water). Remove it and carefully lay it flat on the towel or moist surface, and give it 5 to 10 seconds to soften.
- To assemble the first roll, place one of the lettuce leaves in the center of the wrap but a bit close to you. On top of the leaf, add one-eighth each of the remaining ingredients (carrots, green onion, cabbage, avocado, cilantro or basil, mint leaves, and cashews).
- Fold the lower edge up over the fillings, rolling upward just until the filling is enclosed (as snug as you can get it without ripping the rice paper). Fold over the left and right sides of the wrap, and continue to roll it forward until you have a tidy roll. Repeat with the remaining 7 wraps and ingredients (keeping an eye on not using too much in the beginning, so you have enough for all 8 wraps).
- Serve the spring rolls with Mango Sauce (recipe below), whole or sliced in half on the diagonal with a sharp chef’s knife (if your roll is not tight, it might be best to leave it whole, otherwise the fillings may fall out). Refrigerate covered well; these are best eaten within two hours of preparing.
Notes
Filling options: Try these as well, just keep them sliced long and thin: cucumber, tofu, tomato, sprouts, radish, mushrooms, cooked rice, thin cooked brown rice noodles, jalapeños (ribs and seeds removed, very thinly sliced). You can also use soft baby greens instead of butter lettuce.
If you want to do a “peek-a-boo” roll: This is where a certain "star" ingredient is placed under the wrap but showing through on top. Add the star ingredient just in front of the other rolled-up ingredients, and then continue to fold the sides in and finish rolling. The star ingredient can now be seen on top of the roll (under the wrap). Often the start ingredient is small shrimp, but avocado slices work well instead.
Rice paper options: Rice paper rounds come in both brown and white. The white will look more traditional, and appealing in my opinion. You can also forego the rice paper wraps entirely and use lightly steamed collard greens (with hard stem at end removed). You may also want to get more than 8 rice paper sheets in case you break one or two.
Timesaving tip: To save prep time, you can buy already prepared carrots and cabbage in the produce section of your grocery store.
Mango Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 mins.
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Makes ¾ cup 1x
Ingredients
- ¾ cup peeled, pitted and chopped mango
- 3 tablespoons chopped white or yellow onion
- ¼ cup orange juice
- 1 small-medium clove garlic
- 1¾ teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoons apple cider or brown rice vinegar
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a blender, and blend until very smooth.
Notes
Vinegars: Brown rice vinegar is my choice when making Asian-inspired dishes; but if you don’t have it, apple cider vinegar is my next best choice (most other vinegars used in Asian dishes will likely be loaded with salt and sugar, so beware).
Mango: I love using the smaller honey mangos for this sauce, since I find them to be sweeter and less fibrous; but you can use any kind of mango really.
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