Amy’s Winter Rice Paper Rolls with Farm Veggies

Hi there, Amy the Food Hub Coordinator here! I have been loving rice paper rolls (year round unequivocal love, never season dependent, always exciting because of seasonal veg options).
Grateful to Vietnamese food culture for inventing gỏi cuốn, for the need of 'mobile meals' in battle. For me, a white person living in Australia, sometimes this mobile meal is a car meal, and going to Preston, Footscray or Victoria St Richmond and getting some on the go before driving back down to the coast is a treasure of multicultural Naarm. 

For anyone looking for ways to use the ever-changing vegetables we have coming off the farm, have a go at this:

Rice Paper - soaked in cold water for about 3-6 seconds when you're ready to roll. 

Semi-Hard Tofu - I have been cutting in sticks and criss-crossing with a knife on one or both sides and marinating for at least 30 minutes. Do this as the first job! 
Tofu marinade - blend lemongrass, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, tamari, touch of sugar, salt & pepper and paste it onto the tofu, making sure it gets in the little gaps from your criss-crossing.
Once it's marinaded, fry off or bake. 

Fillings: (winter version - so no cucumber!)
Carrots - I used my new benriner mandoline! 
Mustard leaf - Only a little as it's a strong flavour 
Cabbage - Shredded, white or purple but probably not wombok 
Lettuce purple - this is the gorgeous one coming off the farm, I use this as the base and wrap all other fillings into it 
Radish - using the mandoline here too 
Spring Onion - chop up
Coriander  - chop up
Peanuts  - toast & chop up
Fried shallots - this and rice paper are items you can get at your local Asian grocer or ordered online, they are the delicious products of globalisation and often imported. 

*Available from Common Ground Project Food Hub in August 2024

Peanut Hoisin: I both put this inside, and also have it as a dipping sauce. Heat on the stove with a splash of water. 
Peanut butter
Hoisin
Garlic & Ginger - microplaned or chopped finely into the saucepan.

For rolling, if you need help, videos like this could be your friend. 

If you want to eat them a bit later, wrapping each in baking paper and into an airtight container works well. 
I usually don't do this more than 5 hours out from eating as the rice paper becomes hard to chew, so in this instance I take all the ingredients ~mobile~ with me and just put the rice paper under some sink water.