These refreshing, healthy Asian Fresh Spring Rolls were served during the lunch held at Manny and Dulce Quimson's beautiful weekend house in Tagaytay one day after our Class '65 Golden Jubilarians out of town trip to Baguio. They are made from julienned carrots, cucumber, artificial crab meat and lettuce wrapped in rice paper. Aside from the recipe of the spring rolls, I am also giving two different versions of the Peanut Sauce I usually use with Asian Fresh Spring Rolls in this post.
During this luncheon/overnight stay at the Quimson's house, there was an array of dishes served aside from these healthy Asian Fresh Spring Rolls . The one I actually loved was the bulalo which Dulce made from different cuts of beef, namely, the ribs, kneecaps and bone marrow. Arroz caldo, buco, suman, crabs, shrimps, tuna, and of course lechon, roasted pork and its crackling skin were also served. Delicious ice cream and guinataan were served later for merienda. That evening, Dulce served caldereta for those who stayed overnight. Here is the delightful comment sent by Nora Yanga Miranda to Paeng (who missed the awesome gustatory event) on his Facebook page: (I underlined the dishes and left the narrative in Tagalog intact since the excitement in the account will be lost in the translation).
Paeng! Na miss mo yan lalo na ang food! For starters, lugaw with utak, tokwa't baboy n dila, empanada, suman at overflowing Lapid's freshly popped chicharon (may laman at cocktail). Siempre pinili ko yung may laman! Dinurog ko at ginawa kong toppings sa lugaw. After 30 mins, nag lunch na kmi ng bulalo, sinigang na sugpo, (nakalimutan pa ilabas ni Dulce yung corn soup kc nag senior moment), lechon, hipon (suahe n puti. Pwde ka mamile pwde dn both), alimango, fresh fruits, fresh buko juice. After 1hour, (medyo matagal ang space kc humihingal pa kmi) merienda naman ng ginatang halo-halo(sarap kc may langka), super sarap na dirty ice cream kc may langka, keso at makapuno. Habang naghihintay ka sa ice cream, kumakain kami ng champoy. Dapat nga after 1-1/2 hour mag di-dinner na kmi ng kaldereta kya lng umuwi na kmi pero c Ossie para na ding nag dinner don kc nag take home sya ng kaldereta (sya lng. Kami wala). Ha ha! Anyway, kung may kulang sa mga sinabi ko, charge it to senior moment. Lagay kayo lng!?!
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| Suman, buco and Arroz Caldo (not shown) was served to those who came mid-morning for merienda. |
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| Boiled shrimps. |
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| Grilled cheeks of tuna. |
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| Lechon or roast pig. |
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| Crabs with garlic butter sauce prepared by Lory Sevilla. It will be in a future post. |
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| Dulce sampling the cheek of the tuna. |
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| Dulce gives Vida and Raquel a tour of the house including the spacious kitchen where her cooks lovingly prepared the dishes. |
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Above are two of the sculptures gracing the walls of their vacation house. The one at the bottom signifies abundance of which Dulce and Manny have been blessed and in turn have generously shared with others. We would like to thank Manny and Dulce for their hospitality and for opening their home and hearts to us. We had a wonderful and relaxing time. |
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| From left clockwise, Ondes, Dulce, Raquel, Manny, Ossie, Zeny, Lory, Linda, Nora, Malou and Vida. |
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| Dulce showing with pride to Zeny and Raquel her daughter's wedding pictures. |
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| Lory, Linda, Nora and Malou resting (in sort of food coma) after the lunch. They are getting ready for the merienda. |
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| These three had a better idea. They were dancing off the calories away from lunch while watching a video at the gazebo. |
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| The group who attended: from left: Glory Camus Orlina, Esther Gutierrez Banaag, Ondes Lucas Herold, Dulce Aquino Quimson, Linda Paez Calixto, Nora Yanga Miranda, Malou Santos Salumbides, Flordeliza Vivandor Ongkeko, Charito Lazcano Lazaro, Lory Sevilla, Raquel Sioson Huliganga, Zeny Mendoza Parayo, Manny Quimson, Vida Rivera Isip, Ossie Cruz and Girlie Garcia. |
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| Those who left early saying sad goodbyes. |
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| Manny Quimson checking his phone. It must be Danny Reyes texting he is coming soon. |
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| Danny finally came. |
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| The group who stayed overnight. |
PS. Thanks to Raquel for the ride to Vida's condo in Makati. From there Vida took us to Tagaytay. Thanks Vida and Ben for the ride and also to Linda for taking me home to Malabon after the luncheon and merienda. It really took a village of classmates to take me to Tagaytay for Dulce and Manny's Luncheon but it was worth it. Thanks once again to you two!
Asian Fresh Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
Asian Spring rolls
- Carrots, julienned
- Cucumber, julienned
- Imitation Crabs, julienned (see Note 1)
- Lettuce leaves
- Rice paper (8 1/2 inch)
- Cilantro (optional)
Fill a shallow pan large enough to hold a rice paper sheet with warm water. Place a rice paper sheet into the water and allow it to soak until it is pliable and soft. It should have some stiffness to it left so you can pick it up easily without tearing or wrinkling.
Place the sheet on a plate. Place the lettuce piece so it covers the sheet. Across the bottom third of the sheet with now the lettuce on it, layer the julienned carrots, cucumber, and imitation crab meat (and cilantro if using) leaving some space on both sides. Fold the bottom edge over the fillings. Then fold both sides of the sheet over. Roll the sheet tucking the fillings tightly together as to make a cylinder. (See note 2). Wrap each roll with wax paper and cut on an angle.
Serve with either of the two versions of the peanut sauce made from the recipes below or you can use commercially available sauce. But why would you do the latter when the homemade ones are so good. The first version is an easy two ingredient one. The second version entails more ingredients which I used to mimic the taste given by the Thai sweet chili sauce in case you do not have it.
Peanut Sauce Version 1
Ingredients
- 3 tbsps creamy peanut butter
- 1 tbsp Thai sweet chili sauce (Mai Ploy brand)
- water
Peanut Sauce Version 2
Ingredients
- 2 tbsps creamy peanut butter
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/4 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp sugar or Splenda
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dried hot pepper flakes
Notes:
1) If you want to go vegan, you can substitute avocado pieces for the imitation crab meat. I have prepared it this way and I love it.
2) Here is a site which gives the instruction on how to fold spring rolls complete with illustrations.
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Jun Salumbides, Florie Cruz, Zeny and Rudy Parayo for some of the photos featured here.
