Vietnamese Spring Rolls Vegan Style
I’ve been on an Asian food kick for the past week or so, and that region of the world and the foods and flavors is what I’ve been working on. The other day it was Thai Basil Fried Rice, made with chicken-style seitan vs. animal flesh. Yesterday I ventured over to The Philippines, and made some Vegan Pancit Bihon (that recipe will be in the Why Vegan Is the New Black cookbook), but here’s a picture of it.
This recipe will be featured in the soon-to-be-published vegan cookbook VEGAN IS THE NEW BLACK. Find out more information by clicking this image.
Then today I woke up with an urge to do a little more culinary traveling, so I made some Vietnamese Spring Rolls and yummy dipping sauce. The first pictures shows the cooked filling mixture before it gets rolled up into the rice paper thin wrappers.
This is how they looked after being rolled. I didn’t have egg roll wrappers in the freezer, but I had some thin rice paper wrappers sitting around so I used those instead. Ummm, not going to do that again. Go to the Asian market and get the correct wrappers in the freezer section. I also suggest if you make this recipe that you make your rolls about half this size – about the diameter of your thumb. These were wayyyy too chubby.
- 1 lb. package of your favorite ground seitan meat substitute (I used Gardein)
- 1 8 oz. package of mung bean noodles (or glass or cellophane noodles)
- 1-1/2 cups shredded carrots
- 1-1/2 cups shredded cabbage
- ½ cup dried black fungus strips (soaked and drained)
- 1 large shallot, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon vegan chicken-style broth seasoning powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 teaspoon vegan fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon Agave nectar
- 2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 3 drops sesame oil
- 1 package frozen spring roll wrappers (8 x 8 square), thawed
- 1 flax egg (1 Tablespoon flax meal in 2 Tablespoons water)
- 4 cups of peanut or grapeseed oil
- Place the noodles in a large boy and cover with warm water. Let sit and soften for 20-30 minutes, turning over halfway if needed.
- Combine the white and black pepper, soy sauce, Agave and fish sauce in a large bowl.
- Add in your thawed ground meat replacement, stir well.
- Once the noodles are softened, drain the water off then cut the noodles into short pieces about 1-2" long, and drop them into the bowl.
- Add in the shredded carrots, garlic, and shallot. Stir to blend.
- Add the pre-soaked and drained dry fungus strips and the sesame oil Mix everything together well.
- Remove one wrapper from the packaging and lay it on a tray. Spoon a rounded Tablespoon full of the filling mixture onto one corner of the wrapper, then fold wrapper twice to form a triangle shape, then close both ends and tighten.
- Roll the wrapper to the end and seal it with a dab of the flax egg. Sit it on a clean, dry platter until you've used all your filling mixture.
- Heat peanut oil in a deep pan over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add a few spring rolls at a time to the oil and fry both sides until roll is a nice golden brown all over.
- Using a strainer basket or slotted spoon, remove the rolls from the oil and sit them on a paper towel covered cooling rack to drain the excess oil.
- Keep warm in over until all rolls are cooked and you're ready to serve them.
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and heat about 5 minutes. Do not boil. Allow to cool to room temperature. Add in ½ red jalapeno or 1 whole Thai chili or serrano pepper, minced.
Category: Appetizers & Snacks
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