Rice paper rolls!! It’s almost criminal that I haven’t shared a recipe for rice paper rolls this summer. I love having these as a light dinner and this take on them is super fresh and light, there’s no noodle just loads of colourful vegetables.

  You could actually use any fresh crunchy vegetable you have on hand to fill these. I like the contrasting colours of this combination. The lightly pickled cabbage with the sweet carrot and mild zucchini are so good with the fragrant chicken. Pairing this with a sharp and vinegary dipping sauce helps keeps that light and fresh vibe going on.

A few quick tips to successfully rolling rice paper rolls. Don’t get overly ambitious with the amount you try to put in each roll. If you have leftover filling at the end, who cares. Have it over rice and call it a salad. It’s way easier to roll a tight, compact and easier to eat rice paper roll if you aren’t trying to squeeze too much in. Play around with what quantity you’re best able to roll. If a couple don’t work out it doesn’t matter as they’ll still taste delicious even if they don’t look perfect.

Make sure you chop the cabbage finely and the chicken in thin slices. This will amke rolling things tightly way easier too. You can change up the dipping sauce to your personal favourite combination. This satay sauce is always great.

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 x organic chicken thighs

2 Tbs tamari or soy sauce

1 Tbs ginger, freshly grated

1 birds eye chilli, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/4 tsp sesame oil

2x small zucchini, grated

2x small carrots, grated

1/2 small red cabbage, finely chopped

1 Tbs rice wine vinegarvinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup finely chopped spring onion

2/3 cup roughly chopped coriander

24 pieces of rice paper

1 Tbs toasted sesame seeds

Dipping sauce

2 Tbs soy

1 Tbs rice wine vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp spring onion

1/4 tsp finely chopped chilli

Directions

Place the chicken in a non reactive bowl with the tamari, chilli, ginger, garlic and sesame oil. Toss to coat and allow to marinate for 15 minutes while you prep other ingredients.

Place the cabbage in a non reactive bowl add add the salt and rice wine vinegar. Toss to coat and leave to lightly pickle while you cook and cool your chicken.

Cook the chicken in a non stick pan on medium high heat for 4 minutes each side. Add a little water (1/4 cup) to the pan while the chicken is still in it and stir to remove the flavour and sticky bits from the bottom of the pan,, the liquid should quickly thicken up, turn the thighs in this to coat. When they look nice and glossy remove from the pan and allow to rest for 20 minutes or cool completely. Slice finely.

To assemble the rolls dip the rice paper in a shallow dish of water as directed on the packet. You don’t want them to get to soft and only ever do one at a time.

Place the ingredients in the top third of the sheet, add a few slices of chicken, 2 Tbs each of zucchini and carrot. 1 tsp of spring onion and coriander, and a the equivalent of about 2 Tbs of the finely chopped cabbage. Fold over the top as far as it will stretch to cover the ingredients, fold in each side. Roll up and you’re done! Repeat 24 times!

Make the dressing by combining the ingredients in a small bowl. Taste and adjust flavours as you see fit.

Sprinkle the rice paper rolls with toasted sesame seeds and serve with the dipping sauce.

HH. x