I stumbled upon this video hack to make Banh Cuon (Vietnamese Rice rolls) using rice paper and I had to try it. Normally, making rice noodle rolls are very time consuming, requiring making a liquid rice flour batter, pouring thin sheets into a flat steamer, and steaming to set, and then filling the rolls. So when I saw this video where you can just take those dried rice paper sheets and soak in water for 15 minutes for rice rolls, I was SUPER excited.
I first tried it with no fillings at all. Just soaked 6 sheets of rice paper for 15 minutes in room temperature water, and then rolled each sheet loosely, and microwaved the rolls for 2 minutes and ate it with some scallions, hoisin sauce and hot sauce. The texture of course is not as good as the real deal. And the rolls were more translucent as well. But they were soft, yet springy with a nice chew. It wasn't mushy from the long soak at all! I was pleasantly surprised.
So with my second attempt, I decided to fill it with shrimp and scallions and have my sister and family taste test it to give their verdict.
Well, its a winner (considering it takes less than 30 minutes to make)!
So if you are in the mood for rice rolls and don't have a good dim sum place near by and don't want to pour your own batter from scratch, try this short-cut using rice paper method. Rice paper is something that has a super long shelf life (without the preservatives), so it is something you can easily stock your pantry for those fresh summer rolls, or this short-cut shrimp rice roll crepe!
The Rice Paper:
I like to get the 3 ladies brand of rice paper. BUT the important thing is really to get the rice paper that is made with rice flour plus TAPICOA flour. The tapicoa flour is what gives it the nice chew and won't turn to mush when soaked for a long time. The rice paper also comes in various sizes and some are round, others are rectangles or squares. Here I used round rice paper that's 22 cm.
Fill a container with clean room temperature water. The container needs to be big enough such that the sheets of rice paper can fit flat without bending. Add a teaspoon of oil to the water, and place one sheet of rice paper at a time into the water, making sure each sheet is submerged before adding the second sheet. DO NOT just add a whole stack into the water. That's a guarantee for the sheets to all stick together. After adding all 9 sheets, let it soak for 15 minutes.
Yields 9 rolls
Ingredients:
- 1.25 lbs large shrimp, deveined and cleaned (about 27 shrimps)
- 2 green onion stalks, diced
- 9 sheets rice paper (3 ladies brand, or a brand with tapioca flour as an ingredient)
- salt
- 1 t neutral oil
Procedures:
1. Clean and devein shrimp. Then add in 1 T salt and massage the shrimp for a few minutes until you start to see foam. Thoroughly rinse off the foam and salt. Set aside.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add massaged shrimp and allow to cook until the shrimp turns orange and opaque. Takes only about 2 minutes. Do NOT over cook. (In fact, you should slightly under cook the shrimp as you will be either microwaving or steaming the rolls later.) Drain shrimp and rinse with cold water. Transfer to a bowl/plate and set aside.
3. Fill a container with clean room temperature water. The container should be large enough to hold the sheets of rice paper flat. Add 1 t neutral oil to the water. Then add one sheet of rice paper at a time to the water. Submerge each sheet completely before adding the next sheet of rice paper. Repeat until all 9 sheets of rice paper are submerged. (DO NOT just add a whole stack of the rice paper into the water as that will cause all your sheets to stick together.) Allow to soak in the water for 15 minutes.
4. When the 15 minutes are up, the sheets of rice paper should have turned white and start curling around the edges. Carefully pick up one sheet of rice paper with both hands and lay it onto a plate. Add 3 shrimps side by side in one row. Scatter some scallions on top of shrimp. Roll the rice wrap to enclose the shrimps. Repeat until all the rice paper and shrimps are used up. You should have 9 rolls with 3 shrimps per roll.
5. Steam the rolls in a covered steamer for 5 minutes OR you can microwave the tray of rolls for 2 minutes, rotating at the 1 minute mark. Enjoy fresh and hot with soy sauce, sesame oil and chili sauce, or with hoisin and chili sauce.