15+ Tasty Rice Paper Recipes (Rolls and Beyond!) - The Nessy Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to rice paper rolls? ›

The best tip for successful rice paper rolls is to use cool, room temperature water for dipping. Never warm water! Warm water softens the rice paper too quickly, making them stickier, hard to handle and more prone to breaking. Dip your rice paper wrapper in the water for 10 seconds at most.

The main difference is the wrapper – spring rolls use a wheat-based wrapper and rice paper rolls use a rice-based wrapper. The filling can vary in both, with common fillings including cooked or fresh veggies, herbs, protein and noodles. Both provide crunch but rice paper rolls are gluten-free.

For seafood rice paper rolls, in general, they go well with white wines. It also depends on your taste bud for particular seafood, prawn, or fish, or squid. The prawn rice paper rolls go really well with sweet and entry white wines, including sparkling, riesling, Moscato, champagne.

Both are staples in Asian cooking. Rice paper is just what it sounds like — thin, stiff sheets made primarily from rice, though tapioca starch can be mixed in, too. The most common size is around an 8-inch circle. Wonton wrappers are also very thin, but the primary ingredient in the dough is wheat.

Refrigeration is notorious for drying out rice paper wrappers and making spring rolls rubbery, so fair warning that these won't be quite as supple as their freshly rolled friends (but still delicious nonetheless). Wrap individual summer rolls tightly in plastic wrap and store the rolls in an airtight container.

Great things about rice paper rolls:

Traditionally, rice paper rolls are stuffed with fresh raw vegetables, rice noodles and/or meat. Since the only starch is made from rice, the roll is gluten-free. If you don't put too many rice noodles inside, the calories can be very low averaging around 110cal per roll.

Fill a large bowl with warm water. The bowl doesn't need to be large enough to fit the whole rice paper in one go. Place two rice papers together (if using 2). Note which side is the smooth side – this is supposed to be the outside of the spring roll.

TIPS. You want the rice paper sheet to cover the filling twice over to make it tight and less prone to tearing so don't overfill the roll. If there is too much filling you will only be able to wrap the roll over once and the rice paper will tear easily when you pick it up.

Avoid the super thin, see-through, all-tapioca starch papers. They lack the tang of rice, go limp in a flash, and tear easily; they're often labeled bánh tráng dẻo (soft and pliable rice paper) or bánh tráng mỏng (thin rice paper). In English, they're oten labeled tapioca sheets.

When rice paper goes bad, you will notice a noticeable change in its texture and appearance. It will start to harden and discolor, often developing yellow spots or speckles. Additionally, if it gives off an unpleasant, stale or musty odor, it's a good indication that it is no longer good to eat.

What is fried rice paper called? ›

Rice Paper Wrapper that Actually Works for Frying

It's often labeled with its Vietnamese name, Banh Trang Re. You don't even need the label.

You want to dip your rice paper in cold water, not hot, and then you tightly wrap it as you go.