Vietnamese Rice Paper Wraps

This is one of my absolute favourite, easy and creative recipes that I love doing.  Even the fiancee was proud to take them to work for lunch.  Only trick is getting your hands on rice paper wraps!  After months of searching through the UK's grocery stores I finally found a small Vietnamese Intro Pack that contained the elusive rice paper wraps.

This recipe is dedicated to my beloved aunt Helen, who showed me the art of delicate rice paper wrapping and I think of her every time I make these.  Thank you!

The beauty with this recipe is you can be as creative as you want with the ingredients.  I usually use chicken, but salmon works great as well.  The more you make these the better you get and more adventurous you become.  Even more reason to give them a try!

Ingredients:

For the wraps in this recipe.

• Rice paper wraps
• Vermicelli noodles
• 2 x Chicken breast fillets
• Cucumber
• Carrots
• Cream Cheese
• Salad leaves (I would have used mint but didn't have any)

Instructions:

Pop the chicken breasts into a pot of water and bring to the boil.  Cook the chicken until cooked, strain and leave aside to cool.

Cut up the cucumber and carrot into long, thin strands. About 10-15cm in length.

Once the chicken has cooled down enough to handle, shred the meat into long strands about the same length as the cucumber and carrot.

Now prepare the Vermicelli noodles.  Place them in a bowl and cover with boiling water.  Leave to soften for 5-10 minutes.  Once softened, drain and put back into the bowl.

Get a larger bowl or dish that will fit a rice paper wrap.  Fill with warm water enough to cover a rice paper wrap.  When you are ready to start making the wraps drop one into the water.  They only take 20 seconds to soften, they should go see through.

Carefully pull the wrap out the water bath, be careful not to fold it over.  Allow the excess water to drip off and place on a flat surface.  Now the fun part (and remember you can be as creative as you like).  

Start layering your wrap.  I did salad leaves, followed by cream cheese, shredded chicken, Vermicelli noodles and finally cucumber and carrot.  Fold in the shorter sides of the wrap to cap the ends, then roll the longer edge of the wrap over to fold the wrap closed.  Voila :)

Best served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce.