Daily Vegan Lunch for 14 April, 2013: Fresh Mango Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

YUM!!!

Makes about 6 rolls

ROLL INGREDIENTS:

Rice wrappers
2-4 cups water
1/2 a cucumber, julienned
2 cups cabbage, julienned
1 mango, pitted, peeled, and chopped
About 1.5 cups tofu, cut into small slices or cubes
1 cup cilantro

PEANUT SAUCE INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon agave nectar, maple syrup, or 2 teaspoons sugar (see directions below)
2 drops of sesame oil (optional)
1 teaspoon Tabasco or Sriacha, or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Other optional ingredients I did not use this time:

Pineapple
Avocado
Cooked vermicelli or rice noodles
Carrots
Daikon radish
Spinach leaves
Green onion

DIRECTIONS:

Rice wrappers, a.k.a. banh trang or spring roll wrappers, are from Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. You can get them in Asian markets or in the Asian food section of the grocery store.

Prepare all your filling ingredients ahead of time and lay them out in piles on a cutting board or in small bowls.

They are kind of annoying to work with but the spring rolls are so yummy it is worth it. To use them, heat 2 cups of water until the water is warm but not hot. Pour the water into a dinner plate with sides. Take one of the hard, translucent disks out of the banh trang package and lay it in the water. As soon as the water begins to absorb, flip it over. The disks are usually stamped with a pattern. The kind of banh trang I have a pattern that looks like a tire tread. The moment the tire tread is gone, lay out the banh trang on the board and fill it with ingredients. Don’t stuff it too much, think of it as a rice burrito. Fold the outer edges in over the ingredients and then roll it up like a burrito as tightly as you can. Banh trang are stretchy which is why they can be difficult to work with. Yes, they totally look like rice condoms.

Make the peanut sauce. If you’re using normal sugar, mix it with the water and microwave for 1 minute to melt sugar. Add all peanut sauce ingredients together and beat until smooth with a fork. Thin it down with more water if you like thinner peanut sauce.