Fresh Spring Rolls with Vietnamese Chicken

These rolls are perfect for a hot summer day. The wrapper used is rice paper, so its fresh and light. In this recipe I use chicken, but you can use any filling you desire; shrimps, salmon, pork, or even leave it vegetarian. You can also add or remove the vegetables as you desire, so as you can see this recipe is pretty flexible. They do not require any cooking, however they do require some preparation time to roll them up. While they are best eaten in a couple of hours, you can roll them individually in cellophane and keep them refrigerated and they will be nearly as fine the next day.

Ingredients:
Makes about 12 rolls

Chicken:

1 (about 225g) chicken breast, cut into strips
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp grated ginger
1 clove garlic, grated

Vegetable filling:

1 large avocado, sliced thinly
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 large carrot, thin julienne cuts (like long matchsticks)
1/2 cucumber, cut in sticks
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
lettuce or baby spinach leaves (about a packet)
4 green onions, sliced lengthwise and halved
1 bunch basil
12 rice paper wrappers (12cm diameter)

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp sweet thai chilli sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
water to thin if required

Directions:
In a medium size bowl combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, lime juice, curry powder, ginger and garlic. Whisk to combine and add the chicken. Heat a skillet to medium high heat and add the chicken and all the liquids. Brown the chicken for about 6 minutes on both sides or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Squeeze the lime juice over the sliced avocado. Create an assembly line of ingredients, so they are all ready to go. Fill a shallow dish with warm water. Add a rice paper sheet, one at a time for 5 to 10 seconds. Do not leave for much longer otherwise it will tear as you are trying to close it. Remove and place on a flat surface. Towards one end of the rice wrapper, layer the 2 to 3 leaves of basil, some pieces of lettuce leaf (or some baby spinach leaves), sliced chicken, sliced avocado, sliced carrots, sliced red pepper and green onions. Fold both ends to the centre and roll the sheet as tightly as you can without ripping. Continue with remaining sheets and filling.

For the dipping sauce combine the hoisin sauce, peanut butter, sweet thai chilli sauce, sesame oil and crushed red pepper. Stir to combine and add water as needed to thin the sauce out. Serve with the spring rolls.