(bouncy piano music)
- Hello, today I have a fun recipe to make with kids:
spring vegetable rolls with shrimp.
It's a great way to introduce your whole family
to recipes with Asian flavors but with familiar ingredients.
Now the key to making spring rolls at home,
is to prepare and assemble all of the ingredients
before it's time to stuff and roll them up.
So first we're gonna mix up our peanut sauce
and kids can help measure and mix this together.
So in this bowl I'm gonna mix
three tablespoons of smooth peanut butter.
Now, you can also use crunchy if you'd like.
There we go.
Just make sure it's peanut butter with no sugar added.
And next is three tablespoons of water,
one minced garlic clove,
one tablespoon of Hoisin sauce,
there we go,
and then 1/2 a teaspoon of hot sauce.
But only if you like some spicy heat.
Otherwise you could just leave it out.
I added it in because I like my sauce
to have a little bit of kick.
Now, I'm gonna mix all of this together with a fork.
Just like that.
Whoops! A little spill.
And then, I'm gonna cover it with a plate
and I'm gonna put it in the microwave.
There we go.
Just for about 25 seconds.
Just don't heat it up longer than 30 seconds
otherwise the sauce will bubble over.
Now I just took our sauce out of the microwave
and I mixed it up again.
And I'm actually going to add another tablespoon of water
so that it's not so thick.
So we'll do that now,
and I'm just gonna give it a little quick stir here.
There we go.
That's great.
Now, at this point,
I'd like to encourage my kids to actually taste the sauce
to see what they think.
Ask them if it tastes sweet, sour, or spicy?
And even if they don't like it,
just praise them for trying it.
Remember sometimes it takes
about 10 to 15 exposures of a food
before kids will accept it and like it.
Now, we're going to assemble all of our ingredients
in the order that we'll be using them.
So first I have 18 cooked and peeled shrimp
that were frozen but have been thawed.
And this is about six ounces of shrimp.
Next I have one cup of fresh cilantro leaves
and fresh cilantro is one of the key ingredients and flavors
in many Asian dishes like spring rolls.
And here is one small, unpeeled zucchini
that I've cut into two-inch, matchstick pieces.
One small, peeled cucumber
also cut into matchstick pieces.
And one peeled and shredded carrot.
Now here I have 1 1/2 cups of mung bean sprouts
which you can find in the produce section
of your supermarket.
Now, just a few more ingredients.
One cup of fresh mint leaves
and three romaine lettuce leaves that I've cut in half.
All of which I've washed and patted dry.
So, now let's talk about the wrappers.
Here I have six dried, round rice paper wrappers
and you can find these in the ethnic foods aisle
at your supermarket.
As you can see, they're kind of dried and hard
but we're gonna soften them with water.
So first I have laid down a damp kitchen towel,
which will help prevent the wrappers from drying out
as we make the rolls
and over here I have a pan filled with warm water.
And I'm just gonna add one wrapper right there
and it's going to help soften it up.
It'll stay there for just a few seconds.
Alright, I think my wrapper is ready to use.
There we go.
It's nice and soft.
Place it right here and then I'm gonna need to work quickly
so the wrapper doesn't dry out before I'm finished.
So first I'm gonna lay out three pieces of shrimp
right in the middle about 1/2 an inch apart.
And then I'm gonna layer them in this order:
first one cilantro sprig,
some zucchini,
and then cucumber,
next is carrots,
and some mung beans, just like that,
and then another sprig of cilantro
which gives it great flavor,
and then two or three mint leaves,
right there,
and then a piece of lettuce.
I'm gonna fold that in half and just place it right on top.
You'll see I've lined up the zucchini, carrots,
and cucumber pieces so they don't make holes
in the delicate wrappers.
And now, time to wrap and roll.
So I'm gonna take this bottom piece here
and wrap it over all of the ingredients.
Next I'm going to pick up the sides and fold them over.
Just like that.
Then I'm gonna take it and wrap the entire thing all around.
You see, now you've got it.
I'm gonna lay this down here on my plate.
Just like that.
Now don't get discouraged when you first do this
because the first rolls you make will be the messiest,
especially if kids are helping.
But that's okay, you will get better with each one
and they'll all taste great no matter how they look.
Now, I'll serve this with our peanut sauce for dipping.
And you know, instead of shrimp you could use
thinly sliced cooked chicken, pork,
or even extra firm sliced tofu,
and just about any veggies such as snap peas,
avocado, or bell peppers.
I've also served these to guests
by letting them assemble their own.
So they can pick and choose what they want
in their own personalized spring roll.
So I hope you really can try these healthy
and fresh spring vegetable rolls with shrimp
that your family will soon love.
Before you know it,
you'll be wrapping and rolling like a pro.
We'll see you next time.
(bouncy piano music)