The first time I visited Thailand in 2010, I fell in love with the country and the South East Asian food. Thai food is always aromatic, flavorsome, and most of the times gluten-free. My family would always order spring rolls, and usually spring rolls are made with pastry that is not gluten-free and they are deep fried. Once we tried Vietnamese food in Thailand, and I noticed on the menu “Fresh Spring Rolls”. I asked about these spring rolls and they told me that they are made with rice paper, and they are eaten fresh, not fried. So I ordered some and tried them. They were really amazing, nutritious, and healthy.
When I got back to Lebanon, I tried to recreate these spring rolls, but it was really hard for me to work with rice paper. They got sticky and they tore easily.
After several attempts, I succeeded in preparing these spring rolls, and now they became a major attraction on my table when I have guests for dinner. Serve these spring rolls with sweet chili sauce (gluten-free) and homemade peanut sauce (Satay sauce).

Ingredients

Servings: 24 half spring rolls
- 1 pack rice noodles (250 grams)
- 1 pack rice paper
- 2 carrots, thinly sliced
- 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow pepper, thinly sliced (You can use any color you like)
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- Cilantro (coriander) (leaves and stem)
- 500 grams medium size shrimp, cooked
        (You can use cooked and shredded chicken instead of shrimp)
- 1 tbsp. sesame seeds for decoration
- A bunch of cilantro for decoration


Method

To rehydrate rice noodles: 
  1. Put a pot of water on the heat.
  2. Once the water gets very hot, put off the heat.
  3. Put the dry rice noodles in the hot water and cover for few minutes.
  4. Once the noodles are soft, drain the water and keep aside.
  5. Cut the noodles into smaller size using kitchen scissors.

To prepare the shrimp:
  1. You can buy pre-cooked shrimp or you can boil your fresh shrimp.
  2. Put a pot of water on the heat.
  3. Add ½ tsp salt, ½ a lemon, 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick.
  4. Once the water starts boiling, drop the shrimp in the boiling water for 3-4 minutes only.
  5. Drain the shrimp and use it once cool.

To prepare the rice paper:
  1. Fill a bowl with warm water.
  2. Dip each rice paper in the warm water, and make sure it is getting soft from all sides.
  3. Lay the wet rice paper on a kitchen towel.
  4. Put two sticks of sliced carrots, two sticks of colored pepper, some shredded cabbage, and some cooked rice noodles.
  5. Put some shrimp on top of the rice noodles.
  6. Fold the sides of the rice paper and roll carefully.
  7. Just before folding the last part of the roll, lay one sprig of cilantro (we put it last to appear from outside)
  8. Finish rolling the spring rolls and wrap them with cling film to keep fresh.
  9. Cut each spring roll into two just before serving.
  10. Put the rolls in a serving plate, sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, and decorate with cilantro sprigs.
  11. Serve the spring rolls with sweet chili sauce (gluten-free) and homemade peanut sauce.