Spicy Summer Rolls With Peanut Dipping Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Soak vermicelli in water 15 minutes; drain and squeeze out water. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place vermicelli in sieve and lower into water; remove after 5 seconds. Cool and divide into 12 portions.
• Soak one rice paper in lukewarm water until pliable, about 5 minutes. Work with only 1 paper at a time and blot dry before assembling.
• To assemble: Place 1 paper on a clean kitchen towel, leaving 1-inch of the rice paper uncovered on the edge closest to you. Place 1 lettuce leaf on the sheet. Cover with 1 portion of vermicelli, and top with a portion of the cucumbers, carrots, chicken, scallions, and mint leaves. Fold the paper once over the filling, starting from the bottom, then fold in the sides and continue rolling tightly to the end. Keep rolls covered with a damp towel. Serve with Spicy Peanut Sauce.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the curry paste and stir-fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the shrimp paste and continue to stir until the shrimp paste is broken up and one shade darker, about 1 minute. Add the peanuts and stir, roasting until two shades darker but not burned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to cook until the sugar is dissolved and starts to caramelize, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the coconut milk, chicken broth, tamarind concentrate, and hoisin sauce. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce until slightly thickened, about 20 to 30 minutes. The natural oils from the peanuts should have surfaced at this point. Once the sauce has reduced by about 1/3, turn off the heat and add the Thai basil and cilantro. Cover and let cool. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Steps:

• Cook the rice noodles according to package directions. Lay them out on a baking sheet in an even layer. Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut them into 4-inch lengths. Set aside.
• Use a mandoline slicer to shave the orange, red and yellow bell peppers into long, paper-thin slices. Then shave the beets, carrot and cucumber into paper-thin rounds. Set aside.
• Whisk together the peanut butter, hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce, sesame oil, lime juice and 1/4 cup of warm water in a small bowl until well combined. Season to taste with salt.
• Toss together the chicken, cilantro, mint, scallion and 2 tablespoons of the peanut sauce in a large bowl until well coated.
• Set up your rolling station with a damp cutting board, a medium bowl filled with water and a serving platter. Place the orange, red and yellow bell peppers, beets, carrots, cucumber, rice noodles, chicken-herb mixture and rice paper wrappers nearby.
• Take 1 rice paper wrapper and wet it with some water until just slightly softened. Lay it on the cutting board and make sure it is completely flat. Arrange 3 mint leaves about 1/4-inch from one another, in the middle of the wrapper (the tips of each mint leaf should be pointing up and away from you). Take 3 slices of yellow bell pepper and lay them over the first mint leaf. Take 3 slices of red bell pepper and lay them over the second mint leaf. Take 3 slices of orange bell pepper and lay them over the third mint leaf. Lay 6 slices of beet, slightly shingled, over the bell pepper layer. There should be about a 1-inch of space above and below the beet edge where the bell peppers peak out slightly. Shingle 6 slices of cucumbers right above the beets and over the pepper ends. Shingle 6 slices of carrots right below the beets and over the pepper ends. Take a bunch of the cut rice noodles, about the same diameter of a silver dollar, and put them on top of the candy cane beet layer, being mindful of keeping them in a tight line. Take a heaping 2 tablespoons of the chicken mixture and put on top of the noodles.
• Working from the edge of the rice paper wrapper closest to you, fold it over the filling, then fold in the sides, like you are rolling a burrito, and roll up tightly. Put the finished roll on the serving platter and cover with a damp paper towel to keep it from drying out, repeat with the remaining 11 rice paper wrappers and fillings. Serve with the remaining peanut sauce on the side for dipping.