Sweet Chilli Tempeh Summer Rolls
These Sweet Chilli Tempeh Summer Rolls are packed full of veggies (and fruit too) making them a healthy light lunch or snack. Get the recipe below.
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Vietnamese rice paper rolls
Vietnamese rice paper rolls or summer rolls as they are known are little parcels traditionally made up of a combination of:
- Crisp, raw vegetables
- Herbs
- Rice noodles
- Tofu
- Pork and/or prawns
Of course we won’t be making ours with the latter! Instead I’m swapping out meat for tempeh. There will still be plenty of raw veggies, herbs and rice noodles though.
They are one of my favourite light lunches or snacks. They are perhaps best eaten in the summer as they are served cold but I like to enjoy them all year round!
One of my favourite things about these summer rolls is that because the rice paper wrapper is see-through you can make pretty patterns with herbs or flowers!
The summer roll filling
Tempeh
Tempeh is one of my favourite plant based sources of protein. It adds a nutty flavour to the summer rolls which is really unique. I like it when it’s paired with sweet and spicy flavours which is why I’ve added mango and chilli to the filling – more on that below!
Fruits and veggies
This recipe for tempeh summer rolls includes many of the vegetables you’d expect to see including spring onions, cucumber and carrot.
Each of these vegetables has been cut into long matchsticks (julienne) which makes them perfect for fitting into the long, cylindrical summer roll parcel. If you don’t want to cut the veggies yourself (it can be quite fiddly and time consuming) then I recommend getting yourself a julienne peeler or a mandolin with julienne attachment.
I also add thin slices of chilli into the summer rolls for a bit of kick.
But this recipe doesn’t just use vegetables it also uses mango! Mango is the perfect level of sweet which works so well with the rest of the fresh veggies and the tempeh.
Rice noodles
To make the filling go a little further, rice noodles are perfect for including. They bring everything together and provide a little bit of chew to each bite.
Herbs
The perfect compliment to the ingredients in these summer rolls is coriander. I use the coriander leaves to decorate the outside of the little parcels.
How to wrap the summer rolls
Once you’ve prepped all of your ingredients you might be wondering how to turn them into the little parcels. But first you must prepare your rice paper.
To make it soft you need to submerge the rice paper in cold water for 5-10 seconds until it is just starting to go soft. You then move it over to your work surface to fill and roll.
If you’re familiar with making spring rolls then you’ll be pleased to know the process is the same. (For info about wrapping a spring roll see here).
With the circle of rice paper on the work surface in front of you, lay the ingredients horizontally, roughly 1.5 inches up from the bottom of the wrapper and roughly 1.5 inches away from either side.
Fold the bottom of the circle up and over the filling, making sure that it is tightly wrapped. Next fold in the sides.
To get the effect of the herb leaves on the outside, place a couple of coriander leaves on the rice paper above the filling. Then roll the rice paper all the way to the top. As you roll the summer roll filling upwards the coriander leaves will appear on the outside. Isn’t it pretty?!
The recipe
Sweet Chilli Tempeh Summer Rolls
Ingredients
- 100 g tempeh cut into thin strips
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 50 g rice noodles
- 10 rice paper wrappers round, 22cm in diameter
- 4 inch cucumber julienne
- 2 spring onions julienne
- 1 small carrot julienne
- 0.5 mango julienne
- 1 red chilli thinly sliced
- mint fresh, leaves only
- coriander fresh, leaves only
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a flat pan over a medium heat. Fry the tempeh for 5 minutes on each side until crisp. Place to one side to cool.
- Pour boiling water over the rice noodles in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer then turn the heat off. Let sit until soft then drain and leave to cool.
- Once the tempeh and rice noodles are cool, hydrate and soften the rice paper wrappers one at a time by running them under warm water for 15 – 30 seconds.
- Place the softened rice paper wrapper on to the work surface in front of you and take a strips of the tempeh, cucumber, carrot, spring onion, red chilli and mango as well as a pinch of the rice noodles. Lay them horizontally in the lower centre of the wrap.
- Carefully lay the mint and coriander leaves on the rice paper wrapper above the filling mix.
- Fold in the sides of the wrapper to make sure the filling won’t escape either left or right when rolling. Next fold up the bottom edge of the wrapper so that the filling is fully encased.
- Roll upwards so that the wrapper that has been dotted with the leaves forms the outside of the summer roll.
- Place the summer roll to one side while you repeat with the remaining ingredients.
- Eat immediately.
Nutrition
More summer rolls
