INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

You can get the spring roll wrappers at an oriental grocery store, and they
will keep on your shelf indefinitely.  They are fragile; keep them flat and
handle them gently.  Be sure they are made of rice.  You CANNOT substitute
egg roll wrappers in this recipe.  The round ones, about 8 1/2 inches in
diameter, are the easiest to work with.  I like the Flying Goose brand,
although the brand with a rose on the front works well, too.
Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch slices.  Pat dry with paper towels. Press it
for an hour or so if you have time.  Put the tofu slices on a nonstick
cookie pan.  Add the soy sauce, trying to keep it on the tofu as much as
possible.  Bake at 325 for about 45 minutes, turning occasionally and
adding more soy sauce if they look like they can absorb more.  When they
are nice and brown and dry, cut them into strips, about the size of French
fries.  You will need one strip per spring roll.  (If you don't have time
to bake the tofu, cut it into strips and fry it with the soy sauce on a
nonstick skillet for a few minutes, carefully turning each strip, trying to
crisp it up a little on each side.)  Set aside.
Wash and dry the lettuce.  Tear it into 3 or 4 inch pieces, removing stems
and crisp veins.  Your lettuce needs to be on the limp side. Any crisp
pieces will tear the spring roll wrappers when you try to roll them.
Wash and dry the mint.  Remove all stems! Set aside.  (If you can't get
fresh mint, you can substitute fresh cilantro, but the spring rolls will
taste completely different, and my family would rather I not make them if I
don't have mint.)
Shred or grate the carrots.  Again, they need to be small enough pieces
that they are not crisp.  You may prefer your spring rolls without the
carrots.
Throw the rice vermicelli into boiling water and cook until just done,
about 2 or 3 minutes.  Pour into a colander, and rinse with cool water. The
noodles need to be well drained and cool enough to handle.  Set aside.
Put an inch or two of water in a pan that is big enough to hold the spring
rolls.  (Cool water works fine).  Separate the wrappers, and stack them in
the water, making sure each one is completely covered with water before
putting in the next one.  Leave the wrappers in the water until they are
flexible (about 2 or 3 minutes).  Remove the whole stack at once, and place
them on a clean wet kitchen towel, covering them with another damp towel.
Now you are ready to assemble them.  Carefully remove one wrapper and put
it on another surface (I use a bamboo sushi mat, but you could easily use
another damp towel.  If you use a plate, dump off the excess water between
each spring roll.)  Working quickly, put onto the wrapper 3 or 4 small
pieces of lettuce, 4 leaves of mint, a handful of rice noodles, one strip
of tofu, and a few tablespoons of carrots if desired.  Quickly fold the
bottom of the wrapper over the pile, fold in the sides, and continue to
roll up.  After I've done four or five, I wrap each in plastic wrap to keep
them from drying out too much.  If one of them is falling apart, wrap it in
plastic wrap immediately.  Have a piece of plastic wrap cut and ready in
case one is falling apart.  (If you are serving them to company, start over
with a new wrapper on the ones that are falling apart.) If a lot of them
are falling apart, then something may not be drained well enough, or you
may be trying to fill them too full, or some of your wrappers may be
defective with too many tears and holes, or too thin.
Serve cold or room temperature with sauces of your choice.  NOTE: you do
not EVER cook these spring rolls.  When you finish rolling them up, they
are done!  They will keep in the refrigerator for a day or two.  They
travel well for lunches and outings.  For an appetizer, serve one or two
per person.  As a main course, count on at least three per person.
SAUCES:  These are good with a peanut sauce, but that wouldn't be fatfree.
They are also good with a plum sauce.  If anyone has a good plum sauce
recipe, please send it to me.  I serve them with the sweet sauce below AND
a bottled chili sauce (I like Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, made by Huy Fong
Foods, Inc.)
From: williams@lanl.gov (Louise Williams). Fatfree Digest [Volume 10 Issue
5] Aug. 15, 1994. Formatted by Sue Smith, S.Smith34, TXFT40A@Prodigy.com
using MMCONV
File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/fatfreex.zip

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