Free Inquiry #4: Vietnamese Rice Wraps

This fourth recipe was another meal inspired by my amazing mother Debbie. She loves her healthy wrap dinners. This meal is incredibly colourful, fresh and delicious. The only downside of this dish is that it is pretty labour intensive to make. I find myself taking longer to prep the wraps than I do to eat them. That being said, I hope you too are inspired by this meal and add this to your weekly repertoire.

Ingredients

• Carrots – matchsticks
• Green onion – Long thin slices
• Cabbage (red/white) – thinly sliced
• Bell Peppers – sliced into strips
• Cucumber – long strips
• Garlic – minced
• Ginger – minced/grated
• Sesame oil
• Vermicelli Noodles
• Cilantro – plucked
• Rice wraps
• Chicken Breast
• Prawns
• Sambal
• Peanut butter
• Soy Sauce
• Limes
• Coconut Milk
• Salt
• Pepper
• Garlic Salt
• Paprika
• Cayenne Pepper
• Sugar

Servings

This recipe serves 4-5 people with about 4-5 rice wraps each. Feel free to adjust the portions accordingly.

Instructions – Peanut Sauce

1. To start the peanut sauce add the diced garlic, ginger and 1 tbs sesame oil to a small pot over medium-low heat until fragrant.
2. Add half a cup of peanut butter and stir until smooth and melted.
3. Add 1/4 cup of coconut milk to the sauce and mix well.
4. Add the juice of 1 lime, 2 tbs of soy sauce, 2 tsp sugar, 1tbs sambal and mix well.
5. If the sauce is too thick you can add some water, if it is too thick you can add a bit more peanut butter.
6. Taste and season, more soy sauce for salt, sugar for sweet, water to balance.
7. Heat under low heat, stirring occasionally until you are ready to serve.

Instructions – Rice Wrap Filling

1. For the vegetables, our goal is to cut everything into long strips. Cut the carrots into “matchsticks”, cucumbers into similarly long strips, the green onion into strips, the cabbage finely diced, and the bell peppers into strips. Place all cut vegetables onto a big platter for serving and rice wrap formation.
2. For the chicken and prawns, season with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic, I also used lemon pepper seasoning, and olive oil to mix the seasonings.
3. Cook the prawns and chicken in separate pans until well cooked, cover the pan if needed.
4. Slice the prawns in half and the chicken into small pieces.
5. For the noodles, place the vermicelli noodles in boiling water until they are fully cooked, strain and rinse under cold water until you are ready to serve.

Instructions – Assembly

1. To assemble, first place the rice wrap in hot water (I usually boil water and mix 1/2 with cold tap water) until it is malleable.
2. First, add the cooked noodles, followed by any vegetables you like, the protein, and then the peanut sauce.
3. Wrap the sides on top and then roll like a burrito. If any part is stuck together, you can brush on some water to help with the folding.
4. Tip: Have an extra plate ready for hold extra cooked rice wraps so that you can have multiple on the go while you are assembling the wraps to speed up the assembly line process.
5. Enjoy!

Adaptations

Similar to my previous recipe, the lettuce wraps, there is less room for adaptations here. However, I will still mention some of my favorite.

• If you are vegetarian, I recommend using using tofu as your source of protein or simply just veggies. Air-frying or pan-frying for a bit of a crunch.
• Feel free to change up your protein to whatever your favourite is. My favourites are chicken, prawn, or tofu.
• If you prefer something a bit more sweet, feel free to dip your wraps in sweet chili sauce.
• If you want even more crunch, you can lightly fry the wrap once it is formed. The outside will be nice and crispy!

Pictures

Reflections

Another recipe that I absolutely love and the peanut sauce is to die for. You can use this sauce for so many other amazing recipes like chicken kebabs, Thai noodle salads, rice wraps, or just for any protein. Another reason I love this recipe, is because it is so fresh, healthy, colorful and delicious. You can impress your friends with this recipe and a great “hands-on” meal. I hope that you make this dish, enjoy it and share it with all your friends.