Folding Vietnamese rice paper

The first time I saw the Vietnamese rice paper, I had no idea what to do with it. A friend told me that it had to be softened in warm water before using. Later, I found a recipe from a Hawaiian chef that described how he used it to make seafood rolls with steaming. That really got me into the fun of this rice paper. When handling it, it's important to have a pot of hot water and some wet towels in hand. In earlier attempts, I'd wet the paper in water. But subsequently, I found it a lot easier to moisten it on a warm wet towel, on which I also do the folding. When doing the wrapping part, placing the fillings in 2 separate patches helps make roll a little more sturdy. Once the rolls are done, they need to be kept on a flat surface lined with a moist towel, without touching one another, and covered by another wet towel. The wet towels keep them from becoming sticky or drying out. The rolls can be steamed for a few minutes on a steamer with cabbage lining. Alternatively, it can be heated in the oven at 350F in a baking pan lined and covered by wet towel. This roll is really good when it's moist and warm.


Recipe: Chinese chive and pork roll in Vietnamese rice paper (for 4)


Ingredients:
- 1/2 pack of medium sized Vietnamese rice paper
- 12 oz Chinese chives, chopped finely
- 6 oz minced pork, preferable lean
- 2 tablespoons (TB) small dried shrimps
- 1 TB sliced ginger
- 1 teaspoon (tp) chopped garlic
- 1 tp light soy sauce
- 2 tp cooking rice wine
- 2 tp sesame oil
- 2 tp oil
- 1/4 tp salt
- dash of pepper


Procedure:
1. Loosen minced pork with 2 TB water. Marinate with sugar, salt, pepper and 1 tp oil for 15 minutes. Then brown in pan on med-high heat.
2. Add 1 tp oil to pan with the pork. Keep pan hot. Add ginger, garlic, dried shrimps and let sizzle. Then add chopped Chinese chives and stir. Let cook and allow the chives to soften. When the liquid in pan is close to drying up, add rice wine and soy sauce. Let cook until chives have shrunk. Then add sesame oil. Mix well and turn heat off. Set aside.
3. Prepare two plates big enough to contain a sheet of rice paper. Line both plates with wet towels. Have a pot of hot water handy. Use one plate to do the wrapping and another to keep the finished rolls. Place a sheet of rice paper on wet towel and let it moisten slowly. If paper sticks onto the towel, add water to the plate underneath the towel to moisten the sticky part. If the paper starts to curl, flip it and use hand to keep paper in touch with the towel. When paper is soft enough to fold, place 2-3 TB of chive and pork mix on the paper in two parallel rectangular patches, separated by a space equal to the width of the rectangle, and fold the paper to form a roll. Set on wet towel.
4. Prepare a pot of water for steaming. Place finished rolls on a steamer tray (For better results, line the tray with lettuce leaves before placing the wraps). Steam for 2 minutes or until roll is soft and still elastic.