Last week I mentioned Chelsea Marshall and her fond memories of my spring lasagna.  This week I’m going to talk about Sarah Marshall (I had the good fortune to live with both Marshall sisters during my year at Keiser House) and my fond memories of her delicious spring rolls.

A month from now, in mid-May, it will be five years since I graduated from Guilford College and moved into Keiser House.  It will also be five years since I first experienced Sarah’s Spring Rolls.  These rolls were the perfect food for a household where money was short and labor was plentiful.  This recipe is a bit of an endeavor, it takes a lot of time and preparation.  However, I remember many happy evenings and afternoons spent being the spring roll wrapper at the end of a friendly assembly line made up of my housemates.

If you don’t live in a house with half a dozen other starving students and are instead preparing these rolls for a dinner party or other gathering I recommend doing a lot of the prep work on your own and then having dinner guests or family help with the assembly.  If one person softens the wrappers in a pan of hot water, a couple of people fill each wrapper, and one crafty-fingered person does the wrapping, these delicious little rolls can get put together in no time and be a fun project.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

For the Spring Rolls

• 16 spring roll wrappers
• 1 container extra-firm tofu
• 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
• 1/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 large carrots
• 1 euro cucumber
• 1/4 cup fresh cilanto or mint
• 8 oz. cellophane or rice noodles*

 

For the Peanut sauce

• 1 1/2 cups chunky peanut butter
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons Thai sweet chili sauce

 

*For a lighter version of the recipe substitute 1 cup of light coconut milk for the regular coconut milk and replace the cellophane noodles with 10 ounces of mung bean sprouts.

1.      Drain the tofu and dry it of as much water as you can: the more liquid you remove, the more the flavorful marinade the tofu can absorb.  This may take several hours.  Personally I take my tofu, wrap it in paper towels, and place a heavy can on top of it to squeeze out the water overnight.

2.      Once the tofu has been drained take a large, flat-bottomed container and combine the dark soy sauce and the ¼ cup sweet chili sauce.  Slice the tofu into 1/8 inch thick rectangles and lay the drained tofu in the flat bottomed container in a single layer.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.  After ½ hour flip the tofu so the other side can marinate.

3.      Scrub the carrots with a rough brush under running water.  Take a vegetable peeler and peel the carrots until you are left with a pile of thin carrot strips.  Set these aside.  Peel the cucumber and slice it in half length-wise.  De-seed the cucumber.  Julienne the peeled, de-seeded cucumber and set aside.  Rinse the cilantro or mint thoroughly and remove the toughest stems.  Chop roughly and set aside.

4.      Remove the tofu from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature.  In a large frying pan add enough sesame oil cover the entire bottom to 1/16^th of an inch.  Heat to medium.  Fry the tofu in batches until golden brown.  Plate these separated by layers of paper towels so that extra oil can drain off.  Set aside.  While frying the tofu add the rice noodles to the boiling water and cook until soft, approximately 3 minutes.  Drain these and set them aside.  Feel free to coat the cooked noodles with a little sesame oil to keep them from sticking together, but use sparingly: you don’t want greasy spring rolls.

5.      Your spring roll filling is now ready.  Feel free to have your helpers skip to steps 7-10 while you move on to step 6 and make the peanut dipping sauce.

6.      In a small pan heat the peanut butter at a low temperature.  Add the coconut milk and the 2 remaining tablespoons of sweet chili sauce.  Keep warm enough to remain thin, but take care not to scorch the bottom or you’ll have a horrible time washing dishes.

7.      You are now ready to start your assembly line.  Take a pan wide enough to hold a spring roll wrapper and fill it with ½ inch of water.  Allow water to heat to the point of steaming, but still be cool enough to submerge your fingers in.

8.      In the pan with the warm water soften a spring roll wrapper by submerging it for about 30 seconds on each side.  When the wrapper is soft place it on a plate (try not to fold it or it will stick together and never unfold).

9.      In the center of the softened wrapper, place a small amount of noodles, then a strip of fried tofu on top of that, then some of the julienne cucumber and a small amount of the peeled carrot.  Top with some of the chopped herbs and a dollop of the peanut sauce.

10.   Take the edge closest edge of the wrapper and pull it gently but firmly over the filling in the center.  Next take the side edges of the wrapper and pull them over the filling so that they overlap the front edge.  Finally pull the far edge of the wrapper over the filling toward you creating a roll.

11.   Continue to fill and fold wrappers until you run out of ingredients.  Set the completed spring rolls on a serving plate and serve with the remaining peanut sauce as a dip.

Up here in Massachusetts, it’s not quite late enough in the growing season for all the ingredients to be available locally, but it’s getting close, especially for farmers with greenhouses or hothouses.  And as soon as I spot a baby carrot or a cucumber at the farmer’s market you know I’ll be ready with this recipe in hand.