Guts and Gold: Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Sauce

When you really want something fresh and crispy to snack on (or for dinner) these spring rolls really hit the spot. You can personalize them however you want too! I like sprouts, cucumbers, Napa cabbage (or some kind of lettuce), green onions, cilantro and rice noodles to bulk it out. You can add shrimp or tofu if you want to up the protein, or keep it simple without.

You'll need rice wrappers for these. I find mine at the grocery store in the Asian section. They are dried and not refrigerated, packed in a thin disk of plastic. Follow directions to soften them, I use a really large bowl to have freedom of movement and slightly warm water. You can buy your shrimp pre-cooked, but really poaching shrimp in hot salted water takes under 5 minutes! Just wait for them to pinken-up and curl. I cut my shrimp in half down the middle to make them thinner. This makes them go further (more rolls) and be easier to roll also!

I like to add the lettuce/cabbage first to make a base. I'm by no means an expert roller, but that really doesn't matter too much because they taste just as good messy as perfect! I start near one edge, leaving enough on the top to fold over and enough room on the sides to fold in.

Next add your veggies.

And noodles.

Fold your top "flap" over and roll once. Then on what was the bottom, add your shrimp.

Then tuck the last edge of the rice wrapper around and smooth together. Ta-da! Not perfect, but good enough to dip and eat. Speaking of dipping...

I usually just add things willy-nilly when I make a peanut sauce to go with my spring rolls. But I made a recipe just for you this time! Add more of any ingredient you want to make it your own. Feel free to experiment here.

This is the Thai chili garlic paste I use, it isn't terribly spicy. If you use something else make sure to taste it first and adjust to your desired level of spice.