A "Twofer" for Tyler Florence Fridays: Summer Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce & Cucumber Lychee Sake

This week for Tyler Florence Fridays, I have a little Asian fusion going on, combining this month's optional "Megan's Challenge" pick, Summer Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce and my pick this week, Tyler's Cucumber Lychee Sake. Apologies first for the fact that my picture taking "mojo" wasn't working so well with both of these items--since I didn't get to them until last night after dark, the lighting was a bit bad for the sake drink and my patience was wearing thin by the time I got to the rolls. In any case, you can rest assured that they both tasted great!

Starting with the Summer Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce, I was happy Megan picked these for the challenge as in the warmer months, summer rolls are a favorite light dinner of mine. Although I have made them countless times, this is the first time I have ever flavored the ingredients inside the rolls thanks to Tyler. I have always counted on the dipping sauce; (chili or peanut) to add the bulk of the flavor besides the herbs in the rolls, but (Duh!), Tyler has you add lime juice and sesame oil to the noodle-veggie-peanut mixture and it makes a world of flavor difference. I switched out some of the ingredients in Tyler's recipe for things I like/had on hand, (see Notes/Results below) and I also added some cooked shrimp.

This recipe is from Tyler's Food 911 and the recipe can also be found at the Food Network site (here).

Summer Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

Food 911, Tyler Florence

(Makes 20 Rolls)

3 ounces Vietnamese cellophane noodles, cooked according to package directions
2 cups bean sprouts
2 carrots, julienned
1 large beet, julienned
1 fresh red chile, cut in circles
2 handfuls fresh cilantro, hand-torn
3/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 lime, juiced
Sea salt
20 (8-inch) round rice paper wrappers
40 mint leaves

Put the cellophane noodles, vegetables, cilantro and peanuts in a large bowl; toss with sesame oil and lime juice to give the filling some flavor; season with salt and pepper.
Pour 3 cups of hot, not boiling water in a large shallow bowl. One at a time, immerse the rice paper wrappers in the hot water for 10 seconds to soften, then place on a slightly damp towel. The rice paper is very delicate, don't soak them any longer or they will break apart. Keep them covered while you work to prevent them from drying out and curling.

To form the rolls, lay a rice paper wrapper on a flat surface. Grab a small amount of the cellophane and vegetable mixture and lay it across the bottom third. Use less filling than you think you should, if you overstuff the wrapper it will tear. Carefully fold the bottom of the wrapper up to cover the filling. Fold in the left and right sides, then tuck and roll it over once. Lay 2 mint leaves on top, then tuck and roll it over to close the whole thing up like a tight cigar. The mint leaves should show through the transparent rice paper. Arrange the finished rolls on a platter and cover with a damp towel.


Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons sugar
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon red chili paste, such as sambal

In a blender, puree the rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, hot water, sugar, lime juice, garlic, and chili paste until combined. Pour into a small bowl and serve with the summer rolls.
Yield: 1 cup

Notes/Results: Terrific! As mentioned above, there is loads of flavor in these summer rolls, I found them even better than the ones I get in most restaurants. I reduced the recipe down and made about 6 rolls. In addition to the cooked shrimp I put in, I added "the rainbow" with purple cabbage, red bell pepper, carrots, pea shoots, green onions, mint, cilantro, noodles and peanuts. Then I thought it would be fun to add some of my leftover sea asparagus for a little salty crunch, so I left out the salt, figuring it would bring enough to the mix. The chili dipping sauce, I left the same, other than a small shot of sesame oil, as I like it in my dipping sauce. These summer rolls are excellent, perfect for a warm night and so adaptable to adding what you have on hand. I make them just veggies sometimes or add shrimp, spiced ground meat, shredded chicken or tofu if I want them a bit heartier. Thanks Megan for a healthy, fun pick!

I watched Tyler make the Cucumber Lychee Sake on Tyler's Ultimate a few weeks ago and thought how refreshing it looked and how it combined flavors and ingredients I like. When I saw both fresh lychee and locally grown, seedless cucumbers at the Farmer's Market, the deal was sealed and I knew I had to make this drink. Tyler's recipe calls for canned lychee but I thought it would be fun to use local ingredients (ginger, cucumber and lychee) to make it really fresh.

This recipe can be found at the Food Network site, here.

Cucumber Lychee Sake

Tyler's Ultimate, Tyler Florence

(Makes 2 Servings)

4 long thin slices fresh ginger
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 English cucumbers, plus extra slices for garnish
1/2 cup sake
1/4 cup lychee juice, plus lychees for garnish

Make ginger simple syrup by combining ginger, and 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan and simmer until sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool. Peel cucumbers and cut half of 1 into thin slices. Puree the remaining 1 1/2 cucumbers in a blender. In a shaker, combine sake, pureed cucumber, ginger simple syrup and lychee juice. Shake to combine and serve in ice filled glasses garnished with lychee fruit.

Notes/Results: Exotic and delicious. The cucumber pairs nicely with the slight kick of ginger and the sweetly floral lychee. It is refreshing and one of those drinks you could keep drinking, forgetting there is sake in it. Because the drink calls for the juice or syrup that comes in the canned lychee, I threw in some of my fresh, pitted lychees when I pureed the cucumbers, which worked just fine. I found I didn't need all of the sugar syrup and used only about 1/2 in my drink and the ginger flavor still came through. Garnished with both the fresh lychee and thin slices of cucumber this is a great summer beverage. 

I liked both of these recipes and would make them again. You can see what the other Tyler Florence Fridays participants chose to make this week and what they thought of their picks by checking out the TFF site here.

Have a wonderful weekend!