Thai Salad Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

Book Club potluck, Zombies and Thai Salad Rolls

I'm in a book club with a wonderful group of women.  Our book club reads books that were turned into movies.  Every few months, we pick a book to read - then we gather together to watch the movie and see how far off the movie was from the book.  Our books can range to deep and thought provoking to easy and fun.  We also (the best part), do a potluck usually on the book's theme.  

Our last book was: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion.  It's a zombie teen romance novel. Since we really didn't want to do a potluck based on brains; we were lucky the main character ate some Thai food.  Our next book is "The Hundred-Foot Journey" - can't wait for that potluck.

I love Thai Food.  The mixture of salty, sweet, sour, heat and freshness is amazing.  

I saw a few recipes for Thai Salads, and I came up with this one recipe below.  My idea was to roll the salad into a finger food.  Thought it would be fun.

This recipe is vegetarian and can easily be turned into vegan if you change the honey to agave nectar.  

Cook time: 5-10 minutes for the dipping sauce

Prep time: 1 hour (rolling takes time)

Ingredients:

Filling:

2-3 Carrots, shredded

1 English cucumber, remove seeds and chopped finely

1 Red pepper, chopped finely

2-3 Green onions, chopped finely

1/4 -1/2 Savoy cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 cup Basil, minced

1/4 cup Cilantro, minced

1/4 cup Mint, minced

1 cup  Peanuts, dry roasted, unsalted (this add more crunch)

2-3 tbs Fresh lime juice

a pinch or two of salt

a pinch or two of sugar

1 pkg Rice paper (sold either in the deli or Asian section)

Warm water from the tap

Sauce:

1-2" piece of Ginger, grated or chopped very fine

2-3 Garlic cloves, grated or minced very fine

1 tbs of oil (use peanut or canola)

1 cup of Peanut Butter (natural, creamy is the best)

1 tbs of Soy Sauce*

1 tbs of Sriracha sauce*

Juice of half a Lime (fresh is best)*

1 tbs of Honey (or Agave for vegan)*

a few drops of Sesame Oil*

1-2 cups of water* (use only in small batches, to reach your desired consistency)

1 tbs of cilantro stems (use the leaves for the filling)

     *use to your taste buds, you can add more or less

Tools: Box grater, knife, cutting board, paper towels, spoons, large bowl, rimed platter, sauce pan, citrus juicer, serving dish and bowl.

Step 1:  Chop, shred and minced all the ingredients for the filling and add into a bowl.  Add peanuts and mix the ingredients well. Sprinkle a little of the sugar and salt and some lime juice - mix and add more salt/sugar/juice.  Taste to your liking.  Set aside for 5 - 10 minutes to let the flavors mingle.

Step 2: I just followed the instructions on the rice paper packaging.  It's simple, but you need some gentle hands - these sheets can tear easily.  Plus, watch for over soaking, the sheets can turn it into goo.

In a shallow rimmed platter add warm water from the tap.  Warm water works best and throughout the rolling process. I recommend changing the water when it cools down.  You'll notice the paper not soften easily when the water gets to room temperature.

Put one of the sheets into the warm water for five seconds. Submerge it in the water.

Then, carefully remove from the water and lie it down onto a clean chopping board. Let it sit for 30 seconds before you roll.

Take about 2-3 tablespoons of filling and add just south of center of the sheet.  Fold the bottom over the filling.  Next fold over the ends (see above) and roll to the end.  Just like making a wrap.

Continue these steps until you have used up all your filling.  This recipe make about 12-16 rolls, depending on how much you put in each roll.  Left over rice paper can be refrigerated.

To store the rolls: I use a rectangular baking pan and I put a damp (not wet) paper towel or tea towel on the bottom.  Then I line the rolls on top of the damp cloth, then add another damp towel on top of the rolls.  These rolls can dry up very fast in our Edmonton climate.

Peanut Dipping Sauce:

On medium heat, warm the oil, add the garlic and ginger.  Stir and cook for about 1-2 minutes.  (Smells divine)

Add the peanut butter and add some water to loosen and break up the butter.  Mix well, this sauce needs constant attention. 

When the peanut butter has liquefied, add Sriracha, soy sauce, lime juice, honey and some sesame oil.  

Reduce heat to low and keep adding water to the sauce (little at a time) to get the consistency you would like. 

Taste as you stir, if you want more heat - add more Sriracha or it's too sour add a bit more honey.  Thai food is a mix of flavors, but it's all up to what you to taste.

Add the cilantro stems (optional) to the sauce at the end of cooking.  

The time it takes to cook the sauce can be from 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool down.  You can serve this sauce warm or cold.   

This sauce tastes really good with grilled chicken  or on top of coconut rice.  My husband loves this sauce.

Serve the salad rolls with the sauce and enjoy the flavors.

Local Product:

The basil I used in the filling was grown locally in Morinville, by West Country Herbs.  

I purchased my basil at Andy's Valleyview IGA (9106 - 142 Street, Edmonton).  I've also have seen this basil at the Italian Centre too.  

The local basil sold in the larger 28 gram package was cheaper than the smaller (not local) package.