These Thai chicken summer rolls are filled with peanut saucy noodles, Thai basil, carrot, cucumber, cilantro and, of course, chicken. With more peanut sauce on the side.
Our host for today’s Sunday FunDay event asked us to make summer rolls so that’s what I’ve named these guys but, honestly, at our house, we usually call these spring rolls. But I guess that gets confusing with fried spring rolls aka eggrolls also being called the same thing.
One of the very first recipes I ever shared back in my first year of blogging was a version of this made with shrimp and a Thai sweet and sour chili sauce. So good! They hit the spot when I was feeling very homesick for Kuala Lumpur after a move to Cairo.
If you cannot be bothered to make rolls, my shrimp spring roll bowls are the ticket. So easy.
Thai Chicken Summer Rolls
For the peanut sauce, I like to use a mix of crunchy and smooth because it looks more like the satay sauce you find in Southeast Asia. If you only have one or the other, use what you have! Still gonna taste delicious. If you cannot find Thai basil, you can substitute regular basil but it won’t have the same almost licoricey/aniseed flavor. Or you can just add more cilantro or use mint leaves which are another herb typical in Thai cooking.
Ingredients
For summer rolls:
2 ½ oz or 71g bean thread noodles (2 nests or bundles)
5 1/3 oz or 150g cooked chicken
1 large carrot
1/2 seedless cucumber
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
8 large rice paper wrappers aka spring roll skins
Small bunch cilantro
Small bunch Thai basil
Optional: 1 large jalapeño pepper
For the peanut sauce:
1 cup or 240ml peanut butter
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 cloves garlic, grated
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
Optional: minced red chili pepper
½ cup or 240ml boiling water
Method
First, make the peanut sauce so the ingredients have time to meld together. Whisk the peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, if using, and boiling water until smooth.
Set aside.
Place the bean thread noodles in medium heatproof bowl, cover with almost boiling water; let stand about 5 minutes or until just tender, drain and rinse with cool water. Set aside to drain.
Using kitchen scissors, cut the noodles into random lengths.
Julienne the carrot and cucumber. My cucumber said it was seedless but I still had to scrape the seeds out! I find a grapefruit spoon is the best tool for this.
Pinch off the tough stems from the cilantro and discard.
Pinch the leaves off of the Thai basil. Discard the stems.
If using, cut the jalapeño in half and scrape the inside clean of seeds and membrane. Slice into thin slices.
Slice the chicken into pieces.
In a medium bowl, mix together the fish sauce, sugar and vinegar. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the noodles and toss to coat.
Add about ¼ of the peanut sauce.
Toss again.
To assemble the rolls, place one rice paper wrapper in plate of warm water until just softened.
Lift the wrapper carefully, letting the excess water drip off. I used my clean quartz countertop as the filling/rolling surface but you can use a clean flat plate, if you’d like.
Place some of the filling horizontally in the center of the sheet closer to you starting with some Thai basil leaves and tender sprigs of cilantro. Top with some cucumber and carrot slices and a slice or two of jalapeño, if using.
Top with 1/8 of the chicken.
Finally, 1/8 of the noodles
Fold edge closest to you up and over the filling. Fold in the sides.
Roll the sheet to enclose filling. The end will stick nicely as it rolls, securing your roll.
Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Place the filled rolls on a large plate where they won’t touch UNLESS you are serving them immediately, otherwise, they like to stick to each other. Again, if not serving immediately, cover with cling film or a damp cloth and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Serve with warmed peanut sauce on the side.
Enjoy!
It's Sunday FunDay and today, as mentioned above, we sharing recipes for summer rolls made with rice paper wrappers. Many thanks to our host, Renu of Cook with Renu.
- Easy Fruit Summer Rolls with Feta and Mango Chili Sauce from Cook with Renu
- Thai Chicken Summer Rolls from Food Lust People Love
- Shrimp Rice Paper Rolls from Making Miracles
- Shrimp and Veggie Summer Rolls from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Low Carb Chessy Rice Paper Chicken Wraps from Sneha's Recipe
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