Cooking Thai food is one of those foods I absolutely love but could not cook. I tried and failed miserably many times. Then I had the great good fortune to have friend tuck me under her brightly colored umbrella and show me a few simple dishes that made it all come together. Thai cooking is all about intuition and personal taste opposed to the western school of thought of measurements and consistent outcome. Thai food is all about cooking with your tongue, right up my alley. Don’t forget how good Thai food is for you too, naturally packed with veggies and low fat ingredients.

This Thai recipe is really fun to make and eat. This is a very good social dish to prepare with friends. A glass of a nice Riesling with a tropical fruit note is very good to sip on here to loosen up the vibe. (Willamette Vineyards makes a smashing Riesling at about $11 at Manzanita Fresh Foods). Remember there are no set rules here. Add more of what you love and less of what you don’t like. The rice papers can be bought at Mother Nature’s and the Mung bean threads and Sriracha, which is a Thai garlic paste, at Manzanita Deli.

Nime Chow Thai Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

An ounce or so of Mung Bean threads

12 sheets of round rice paper

2 cups or so of mixed greens

1 cup of fresh bean sprouts

1 cup of basil leaves

1/2 cup or so of fresh cilantro leaves

1 or 2 cucumbers cut into julienne strips

1 or 2 carrots grated

24 to 30 medium shrimp, cooked and peeled

1/2 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts

Preparation:

Soak bean threads in two cups of very hot water in a pan for about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain them and set aside. (You can cut them into 4 inch sections with some scissors for easy handling, if you wish.)

Prepare all your veggies. (The wine comes in handy here.) Wash and pat them dry, cut up the carrots and cucumbers, and pick the cilantro and basil leaves off the stems. Organize everything assembly line fashion, like greens, basil and cilantro, carrots and basil, shrimp and peanuts.

Now for the rice paper. (This is where it really gets fun!) Pour some very warm water into a shallow wide dish, like a pie plate, to about the depth of 1 inch. Place one sheet of rice paper in the water and jiggle it back and forth with you finger tips till you feel it go soft under your touch, about 1 minute or so.

Remove the sheet from the water and place on a sushi mat that’s on top of a dry, clean dish towel. They are pretty fragile at this point so handle with care. Place about two fingers wide of bean threads in the middle of the rice paper, then add a couple tablespoons of bean sprouts, some basil and cilantro leaves, greens, carrot and cucumber, and a couple three shrimp, then some peanuts sprinkled like stars in a nice little heap on the bean threads mixture.

Remember to do things here according to your personal taste. Then fold the rice paper burrito style, the ends in first then roll the rice paper nice and tight over the garden of ingredients. It takes some practice but you’ll get the hang of it. It will make things a lot easier if you wet your fingers a little to handle the rice paper. Place the rolls on a plate, seam side down, with a damp paper towel over them till you are ready to eat them. Make the dipping sauces and then cut them in half diagonally and pretend you’re in Thailand!

Lime Vinegar Dipping Sauce

This sauce is so good you’ll find yourself dipping everything into it! No, really!

Ingredients:

1 cup of hot water

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon of grated ginger

3 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon of rice vinegar

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

2 to 4 large garlic cloves, grated

1 to 2 tablespoons of chili Sriracha, such as Huy Fong

Preparation:

Add the sugar into the hot water in a small glass jar and shake till it dissolves. Then add the other ingredients and shake some more. Serve in small dipping dishes with the spring rolls.

I have a killer peanut dipping sauce on my blog, http://danazia.wordpress.com/, along with a few pictures of how to rolls these little buggers. Have fun!

Nutritional information: For 1 roll, plus 3 tablespoons of sauce – calories 154, fat 3.1, fiber 2.