Tofu summer rolls with peanut sauce
Rice paper rolls filled with crispy golden tofu, rice noodles, crunchy vegetables and fresh mint, made for dunking in a creamy peanut sauce.
- 55 min total
- 45 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $2.72 a serving
- 550 calories
- Vegan
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 package extra-firm tofu, 14 oz
- 4 oz rice noodles, thin vermicelli
- ⅓ cup peanut butter
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 cucumber
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- ½ cup fresh mint, leaves
- ½ cup cilantro, sprigs
- 12 rice paper wrappers
- 2 tbsp peanuts, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, divided
- ¼ cup water, warm
Each serving has about 550 calories, 23 g protein, 64 g carbs and 25 g fat, and costs about $2.72 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No extra-firm tofu? Firm tofu works.
- No limes? Lemons work.
- No sriracha? Hot sauce works.
- No red bell peppers? Yellow bell peppers work.
- No cucumbers? English cucumbers or mini cucumbers work.
- No shredded carrots? Carrots work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the tofu, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel, and set a heavy pan on top for 10 minutes. Then cut it into 24 sticks about ½ inch thick.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Pressing squeezes out water, and drier tofu is what turns crisp instead of soggy.the tofu sticks with the cornstarch and salt until they’re lightly coated.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Heat the oil in a large nonstick over medium-high until it . Fry the tofu 8 to 10 minutes, turning with tongs, until and on most sides.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Shimmering oil. Oil shimmers when it’s hot enough to cook: its surface looks rippled and wavy, like heat over a road. That’s your cue to add the food, just before the oil would start to smoke.
How you’ll know: The oil looks wavy and runs thin like water when you tilt the pan, with no smoke yet.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Crispy. Crispy means the outside is dry, firm and crunchy. It comes from high heat, a little oil and room in the pan, because crowded food steams and goes soft.
How you’ll know: It sounds crunchy when you tap or bite it, and it doesn’t flop when you lift it.
Medium-high heatTimer: 9 min
Food safety: Tofu is safe to eat straight from the package; cooking is only for texture and flavor.
Splash in 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce, for 30 seconds, and slide the tofu onto a plate to cool.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Medium-high heatTimer: 30 sec
Meanwhile, cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water as the package says, usually 3 to 5 minutes, then and under cold water.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
High heatTimer: 4 min
the peanut butter, hoisin, the rest of the soy sauce, the lime juice, sriracha and warm water until smooth and pourable.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: Too thick to dip? Whisk in more warm water a teaspoon at a time.Cut the pepper and cucumber into thin sticks about 4 inches long, and set out the carrot, mint and cilantro near a shallow dish of warm water and a damp board.
Dip a rice paper in the warm water for 2 or 3 seconds and lay it on the board. Across the bottom third, lay 2 tofu sticks, a few noodles, vegetables and herbs.
Dolly’s tip: It will still feel stiff. It keeps softening as you fill it; soaked longer, it tears.Fold the bottom edge over the filling, fold in the sides, and roll it up snugly. Repeat with the rest.
Dolly’s tip: Snug, not tight. If one tears, wrap it in a second sheet.Serve with the peanut sauce, sprinkled with chopped peanuts.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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