for those who need gluten free

some of my colleagues are allergic to gluten (wheat) so life can be tough for them. they told me how they recently bought rice paper wraps, but they didn't know what to do with them. i told them that they could use them to make vietnamese spring rolls, but this was something foreign to them.

so i gave them a cooking lesson on making vietnamese spring rolls. Jen was an excellent sous chef helping me prepare all the veg (vegetables as they call it here in the UK). her husband, Ben, also helped us in the kitchen. the great thing was that we could find almost everything we needed except for thai basil. but we had our basics like fish sauce, hoisin sauce, mint, coriander (which is cilantro), limes, etc.

for the dipping sauce i used:
4 tsp fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp sugar

however, i adjusted the ingredients tasting it along the way. but if you start off with these ingredients, you can make your own great dipping sauce.

for the peanut sauce i used:
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp finely chopped peanuts

it was a little thick so i added some water.

also, for another filler, we also had ground pork sauteed with garlic, salt and pepper.

here's a link to a video on how to roll up your spring rolls. the key is to NOT overstuff them and to use good quality rice paper that doesn't have cracks.

i really enjoyed prepping with them, but also giving them a lesson on making the spring rolls. of course, we ended up with too much food, but that just means leftovers! personally it was nice enjoying asian food.

hm.. i wonder what we'll cook next. maybe pho? i need some good pho in this kind of weather.