BBQ Beef Summer Rolls
April 7, 2014 • Appetizers, One Dish Meals
I’ve had this recipe in mind ever since last December when I tested and photographed a recipe for my upcoming. In that recipe, the rolls use duck confit, and they are fried egg rolls. But when we did the photo shoot we sampled them wrapped as summer rolls without frying and we loved them that way. These rolls are a great way to use up leftover BBQ beef, which is exactly what I did.
The BBQ sauce in the cookbook recipe is a rhubarb based sauce, and the recipe made much more sauce than I needed. So a couple of weekends ago, faced with guests coming for dinner on a cold and snowy night (gotta love spring time in the Rockies!), I decided to simmer short ribs in that BBQ sauce for several hours. It worked perfectly and the ribs were tender and both sweet and savory at the same time…but then I had leftover short rib meat that I didn’t want to waste.
One of the things I love about these rolls is that they are light. There is only about 1 ounce of beef in each roll, so you are packing in veggies and the rice noodles give it a nice texture. Use more or less chile sauce to suit your tastes. And although I didn’t make a dipping sauce to go with these, I think a creamy avocado sauce or BBQ sauce to dip would be nice.
- 2 ounces dry rice noodles
- 8 ounces shredded BBQ beef
- 3 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 small carrots, shredded
- ½ red pepper, diced very small
- 2 tablespoons minced pickled ginger
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup thinly sliced romaine lettuce or green cabbage
- ¼ cup lime juice
- 2-3 teaspoons chili sauce (optional)
- 8 rice noodle wrappers
- Cover the rice noodles with boiling water and let sit until soft, about 5 minutes. Drain and chop. Combine the rice noodles with the beef, onions, carrots, pepper, ginger, cilantro, parsley, lettuce, lime juice, and chili sauce in a large bowl and stir with a fork to combine.
- Wet the rice wrappers one at a time under running warm water for about 30 seconds to soften. Lay flat on a board and spoon ½ cup of the filling onto the wrapper. Fold the front edge over the filling, then the side edges in like an envelope. Continue to roll until tightly wrapped and the edges are sealed together.
- To prevent the summer rolls from stick to a plate, spray the plate first with a little cooking spray and don't let the rolls touch each other.