tea

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Last month, malady I posted some traditional summer rolls made with carrot, infection cucumber, rice noodles and cilantro. While delicious, I had a hard time handling the rice paper. Thanks to some fabulous tips from Ami, I managed to make them much more quickly and efficiently this time.

I also wanted to experiment with the fillings, so I went with mango, basil and tea-infused rice noodles. I soaked the rice noodles in a strong brew of Lapsang Souchong tea, which gave them a smoky and almost spicy flavor that made a nice contrast to the mango and basil. I also sprinkled some of the dried tea leaves over the filling before wrapping the rolls for extra flavor.

Since it was a weeknight and I was feeling a bit lazy, I made a simple dipping sauce by combining Ponzu and Sriracha. Ponzu is a citrusy Japanese sauce made from Shoyu, Mirin, rice vinegar and yuzu. It salty, tart and a little bit sweet.

All in all, I think I like these little mango rolls. They were different and refreshing, but still felt as light as the traditional version. Tom thought they were too “herbal” because I used 2 basil leaves per roll. I suppose I agree, so I adjusted the recipe here to call for 1 basil leaf per roll. Feel free to play with the ingredients, or to substitute Chai or another strong black tea if you can’t find Lapsang Sauchong.

In honor of the 4th of July, I’ll be posting something decidedly non-American on Friday, but perfect for beach snacking: homemade empanadas with 3(!) kinds of filling. Yum!