Mushroom Salad Rolls with Peanut Sauce

mushroom salad rolls.jpg — Hand-Held Salad FTW.

One of my absolute favorite things to order at any Thai restaurant is salad rolls. They are fresh, delicious, and surprisingly easy to make at home. I like to make the mushroom filling for this version ahead of time so that I can easily throw together a hand-held snack or lunch on the go. If you need to pack them to carry on a hike, just throw the filling and some peanut sauce into a tortilla. It sounds weird, but it’s crazy delicious and convenient.

PREP TIME
20 min.

COOK TIME
15 minutes

YIELD
4 salad rolls

Ingredients

For the Salad Rolls:

8 oz chopped mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-inch piece of ginger, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fish sauce (Optional. See Note 1.)
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp garlic chili sauce
2 tsp fresh lime juice
2 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup shredded or julienned carrots
8 leaves of fresh basil, cut into ribbons (Optional, and preferably Thai basil, if possible.)
4 to 8 sheets of rice paper (See Note 2.)

For the Peanut Sauce:

3 tbsp natural peanut butter
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp water (More if needed to reach desired consistency.)

Directions

Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and ginger and cook until the mushrooms just start to release their liquid.
Add the 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon garlic Chile sauce, and 2 teaspoons of lime juice. Stir to combine.
When everything in the pan is bubbling, reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all of the water is gone. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove the mushroom mixture from the heat and allow to cool completely.
Make the peanut sauce by combining all peanut sauce ingredients in a small dish.
When the mushroom mixture is cool, heat some water to a boil. Pour the water into a wide, shallow bowl or plate. The water should be hot, but not so hot that it burns your fingers. Starting with the first salad roll, wet the rice paper in the water. The rice paper should be fully wetted, but still a tiny bit stiff. Place the wetted rice paper onto a clean, dry surface. On the half of the sheet closest to you, place 1/4 of the mushroom mixture, chopped romaine, carrots, and basil. Lift the edge of the rice paper that is closest to you and fold it over the filling, pulling slightly to tighten. Stick the edge to an exposed section of rice paper, there should be about 1/3 of the paper left exposed. Fold in the left and right sides, tucking in any loose filling, then continue rolling away from yourself. Breathe. The hardest part is over.
Take a look at your salad roll. If you’ve had any explosions or if the roll is too loose, roll what you have in another sheet of wetted rice paper. No one has to know.
Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the remaining three salad rolls.
Serve your salad rolls with the prepared peanut sauce for dipping (or if your rolls are still a little loose, you can spoon peanut sauce onto the rolls as desired).

Notes

Fish sauce gives the mushroom mixture a distinctive pad-thai-like flavor and more of an umami (or savory) taste. However, there is a lot going on in this filling, so if you want to make this dish truly vegetarian or vegan, the fish sauce can be easily omitted.
Rolling everything together into a compact salad roll takes practice. I have found that I can use a second rice paper to contain any spillage or tighten up a loosely packed roll without making things too chewy. As mentioned in the directions, it also helps if the rice paper is still a little bit stiff when you start working with it. it’ll soften a little with time, but is much easier to work with this way.

Sides, Main Dishes, SnacksErica HannJuly 8, 2020Healthy, Gluten Free, Vegetarian, VeganComment

Mushroom Salad Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

For the Salad Rolls:

8 oz chopped mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-inch piece of ginger, minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp fish sauce (Optional. See Note 1.)

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp rice vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic chili sauce

2 tsp fresh lime juice

2 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1/2 cup shredded or julienned carrots

8 leaves of fresh basil, cut into ribbons (Optional, and preferably Thai basil, if possible.)

4 to 8 sheets of rice paper (See Note 2.)

For the Peanut Sauce:

3 tbsp natural peanut butter

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp water (More if needed to reach desired consistency.)

Directions

Heat the 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, garlic, and ginger and cook until the mushrooms just start to release their liquid.

Add the 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon garlic Chile sauce, and 2 teaspoons of lime juice. Stir to combine.

When everything in the pan is bubbling, reduce the heat to medium. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until all of the water is gone. This will take about 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove the mushroom mixture from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Make the peanut sauce by combining all peanut sauce ingredients in a small dish.

Take a look at your salad roll. If you’ve had any explosions or if the roll is too loose, roll what you have in another sheet of wetted rice paper. No one has to know.

Repeat steps 6 and 7 for the remaining three salad rolls.

Serve your salad rolls with the prepared peanut sauce for dipping (or if your rolls are still a little loose, you can spoon peanut sauce onto the rolls as desired).

Notes

Fish sauce gives the mushroom mixture a distinctive pad-thai-like flavor and more of an umami (or savory) taste. However, there is a lot going on in this filling, so if you want to make this dish truly vegetarian or vegan, the fish sauce can be easily omitted.