- 8 oz. (1/2 pkg.) vermicelli rice noodles, cooked
- 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (omit for oil-free)
An important note, not all vermicelli noodles are created equally so depending on what brand you buy, they all will all likely require different cooking times, so be sure to check the package. Also note that you can buy white or brown rice vermicelli noodles, either will work, or you can use a combination of the two.
To ‘cook’ the noodles, place them into a bowl that is big enough for them to site in. Then pour boiling water over the noodles — making sure they are fully submerged in the water. Cover the bowl with a tight-fitting lid (or plate) and let the noodles rehydrate for approximately 1 to 2 minutes, or however long the instructions say on the package.
Once the noodles are soft, drain them through a mesh strainer. Loosen the noodles up a bit with your fingers — they should he noodles should feel like they have a bit of spring to them.
At this point, the noodles can either be left in the strainer or transferred to a bowl, just be sure there is no excess water in the bowl. If desired, add the sesame oil and gently toss to coat the noodles in the oil. If not using immediately, cover the strainer (or bowl) with a cloth to prevent the noodles from drying out.
- 1 1/2 cups julienned carrots
- 1 1/2 cups julienned cucumbers
- 1 1/2 cups julienned red peppers
- 1 1/2 cups julienned orange or yellow peppers
- 1 1/2 cups julienned purple cabbage
- 1/4 cup julienned jalapeño peppers, or to taste (optional)
- 32 large fresh mint leaves
- 32 large Thai basil leaves (optional)
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, or lime juice (optional)
- 1 tbsp fishless fish sauce (optional)
- 1 tbsp sweetener, such as agave (optional)
- 16 (8 1/2"-inch) rice paper wrappers
- 1 recipe Peanut Sauce
Once you have prepared the vegetables, they can either be used as is, or you can drizzle them with a mixture of the rice wine vinegar, Fishless Fish Sauce, and sweetener. With that said, these rolls are still delicious even without the added sauce. Note that it is best to just drizzle the vegetables in their separate piles as it just makes them nicer looking when rolled if they remain separate.
To roll the salad rolls, prepare all of your ingredients, including the soaking water for the wrappers (see notes on images for more tips). Starting with one wrapper, place a bit of each vegetable just slightly off-center (closer to you) and then somewhat tightly begin to roll the rice paper up. Once the wrapper is almost to the end, place 2 mint (and 2 Thai basil leaves) onto the outside and then finishing rolling up the wrapper. Alternatively, the mint and basil can be placed directly onto the wrapper before you start adding the vegetables.
Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. As needed, add more water to the bowl for wrappers.
Once done, serve immediately with Peanut Sauce, or sauce of your choice.
If you have any leftovers, they can be wrapped and refrigerated but just know that they will not be quite the same as freshly made salad rolls as the refrigerator tends to dry out the rice paper and make them rubbery. To help prevent this (at least a bit), tightly wrap each salad roll individually in plastic wrap and store them in an airtight container. Bring the salad rolls to room temperature before serving — and you are going to want to make sure you still have enough sauce as well.