Food

EDIBLE PAPER DELECTABLES

by Glen Barratt. “Rainbow Rice paper rolls with red wombok kimchi.” Courtesy of Love My Salad.

RICE PAPER

Wet paper may not sound so delicious, but check out the joys of rice paper!

Rice paper is made from rice that has been ground into powder and mixed with water to form flat paperlike sheets.

Traditional rice paper drying in the sun in Vietnam.

Traditionally, rice paper sheets are dried in the sun, as they still are in Trang Bang district, Tay Ninh Province, Viet Nam, where they are made from a special type of rice that can only be found there. They are then wet with dew so they are pliable.

The traditional craft of making banh trang phoi suong (dew-wetted rice paper) in Trang Bang has been recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Rice paper summer roll with edible flowers.

Once rehydrated, rice paper can be eaten raw, wrapped around cold fillings, to form summer rolls. Rice paper sheets are so thin, they are translucent, so the roll ingredients shine through.

We love to arrange flowers, vegetables, prawns, and herbs in patterns to create gorgeous radiant cylinders. Simply roll it all up like a beautiful burrito!

Traditional summer rolls are filled with shreds of cucumber, radish, mango, shrimp, chili, and mint -- a cool refreshing lunch for a steamy hot day.

Prawn summer rolls plated with mint, rice, and garlic chives. Served with a peanut sauce.

Check out this sweet recipe for Gỏi Cuốn - Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls, by Dieps Kitchen. The pink tiger prawns peek through the paper shrouds they share with thinly sliced pork belly, rice vermicelli, pineapple slivers, cucumbers and fresh herbs. The rolls are plunged into a savory peanut dipping sauce.

Rice paper marinated and fried into bacon like strips served in a metal bowl.

Rice paper can also be fried, yielding incredibly crisp and light casings around the tender fillings to form spring rolls. Another genius idea: Rice Paper Bacon! Check out this recipe from Laura, of Chronicles of Passion.

For more great ideas about frying rice paper, Andrea Nguyen has some great advice.

Woman using traditional Vietnamese method of drying rice paper in the sun.

For the most authentic, and possibly the most delicious rice paper experience, visit Tuy Loan,a beautiful ancient village southwest of Danang, Vietnam, where they have been making rice paper for centuries, using their own unique method of production.

Rice paper summer rolls cut in half and displayed as a collection in a dish.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

Open faced veggie summer roll on rice paper wrapper.

Want more stories like this? Sign up for our weekly BN Newsletter, Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr. Join our BeautifulNow Community and connect with the most beautiful things happening in the world right now!

Woman dipping rice paper wrapper into a large saucepan of warm water to prepare summer rolls.

IMAGE CREDITS:

Image: by Glen Barratt. “Rainbow Rice paper rolls with red wombok kimchi.” Courtesy of Love My Salad.
Image: Courtesy of Viet Day Tours. “Trang Bang Rice Paper.”
Image: Courtesy of Veld & Sea. “Edible Flower Rice Paper Roll.”
Image: by Catherine Diep, of Diep’s Kitchen. “Prawn Rice Paper Rolls.”
Image: by Laura Piell, of Chronicles of Passion. “Rice Paper Bacon.”
Image: Courtesy of Tourism Danang. “Tuy Loan Rice Paper Village.”
Image: Courtesy of Like a Vegan. “Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce.”
Image: Courtesy of effyeah FOOD. “Fresh Veggie Rice Paper Rolls with Peanut Satay Sauce.”
Image: by BN App - Download now!
Image: Courtesy of Trade and Charm. “Low Carb Rice Paper Rolls, So Fresh and Easy.”