One of my favourite dishes hands down is the Korean version of the rice paper roll. Many will be familiar with the Vietnamese rice paper rolls but years ago an altered menu started doing its rounds in the Korean community in Sydney. This, most Koreans just refer to as "Walnam-ssam" (literally meaning Vietnamese wrap). This has now spread across the world within the Korean community (and even beyond) and is one of the most enjoyed and very healthy meals that families and friends gather around to eat.
Everyone has their own version and twist to this dish and it is literally all kinds of vegetables placed on rice paper, sprinkled with sauce and wrapped. All these years having had them at different gatherings, other than those sold in restaurants and shops, I have not had any identical ingredients when having them from house to house. There is no limit to what you can add! Today we had rice noodles, avocado, carrots, alfalfa sprouts, cucumber, bean sprouts, capsicum, eggs, coriander (aka cilantro), beetroot, lettuce, tomato, mint, red onions, and mushrooms.
A few other ingredients that make a difference in how it will taste are meat, pineapple, fresh chilli and the sauce.
The meat is prepared by just boiling in hot water with some onions and pepper.
The sauce is where the magic happens. I typically use lemon juice, pineapple juice, fish sauce, crushed garlic, chilli and a little bit of sugar, if needed. You need to get the proportions right and can be a little bit of trial and error. To give you a rough guide I use a lot of pineapple juice (from a large canned pineapple), half a lemon, just a little bit of fish sauce and a lot of garlic. People sometimes get creative and add pine nuts, capsicum, and apples (instead of adding sugar). Like I said, skies the limit!
A couple of additional tips. If you don't have garlic crusher and sometimes find the idea of crushing up garlic every time you cook a hassle, there is a great and simple hack for storing batches of crushed garlic for later use. For vegetarians instead of meat you can use tofu cut longways just a little thicker than julienne carrot sticks.
The reason it's so popular at family and friend gatherings is that it takes a lot of effort to prepare so it's not made very often. Also people will gather to enjoy this and not have to prepare it themselves. As the host, it can also be fun to do as you can get creative with the sauce and ingredients. The other beauty of this dish as a host, is that you don't have to worry about timing the preparation because it's all just fresh vegetables. You can have it prepared in the morning, store it in the fridge and present it just before guests arrive.
The thing I love about food is that it brings people together and it's a wonderful way of doing something for someone else. The best feeling is watching people enjoy a meal that you've prepared and being grateful that you were able to contribute to someone's happiness.
I'd love to hear what ingredients you swear by and how you make your sauce =)
Thanks Caroline 👍 The one you made at Sydney Meditation Centre was.🥰😋