We caught up with Katonah resident Saykham Souphanya for this crisp and refreshing Laotian summer roll recipe. Saykham is an assistant controller for a private real estate management firm, as well as a wife and mother of two who originally grew up in Laos. Even though she left this beautiful Southeast Asian country many years ago, she still proudly represents her culture every single day – especially in the kitchen!
These Laotian summer rolls are great on warm evenings over a chilled bottle of wine and some good friends. Perfect as a finger food or to compliment any dinner, these will be a crowd favorite again and again. And don’t let the name fool you – they may be called “summer rolls” but they are popular in any season, whether it’s a hot summer night or you just wish it was.
Ingredients
16 6-inch rounds rice paper
1 lb. cooked shrimp, deveined and peeled, cut each in half lengthwise
1 cup red or green cabbage thinly sliced or chopped
2 cups Rice vermicelli cooked and drained
2 carrots julienned or cut into thin even strips
1 cucumber julienned or cut int thin even strips
1 cup fresh mint leaves
½ cup fresh Thai basil leaves
½ cup fresh cilantro
½ cup scallions chopped
Dipping Sauce
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
1-2 teaspoon chili-garlic paste
1 tablespoon crushed peanuts
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
½ cup of water
Salt to taste
lime wedges
Preparation
Dip a sheet of rice paper into a bowl with very hot water and turn all away around to get the rice paper soft. Then lay on a large cutting board or plate.
From 1/3 of the top of the rice paper, place 3-4 pieces of cooked shrimp layering on top of each other, sliced side up. You want the nice shrimp side exposed one it’s all rolled up. Add a small amount of rice noodles and then carrots, cucumber, and cabbage. Spread the remaining herbs on top, place 1-3 mint leaves neatly on top. You also don’t want to over fill as it will be tough to roll. Like folding a burrito, fold the top over, roll once while tucking in all the ingredients. Fold the sides in and roll the rest of the way down. And repeat to make as many as you like.
Dipping sauce, blend sugar in ½ cup of water, add fish sauce chili garlic sauce, add salt to taste. Add crushed peanut, chopped cilantro to dipping sauce.
And serve with lime wedges on the side. You can substitute any of the ingredients to make it Vegetarian or Vegan.
Justin is an award-winning designer and photographer. He was the owner and creative director at Future Boy Design, producing work for clients such as National Parks Service, Vintage Cinemas, The Tarrytown Music Hall, and others. His work has appeared in Bloomberg TV, South by Southwest (SXSW), Edible Magazine, Westchester Magazine, Refinery 29, the Art Directors Club, AIGA and more.
Justin is a two-time winner of the International Design Awards, American Photography and Latin America Fotografia. Vice News has called Justin Negard as “one of the best artists working today.”
He is the author of two books, On Design, which discusses principles and the business of design, and Bogotà which is a photographic journey through the Colombian capital.
Additionally, Justin has served as Creative Director at CityMouse Inc., an NYC-based design firm which provides accessible design for people with disabilities, and has been awarded by the City of New York, MIT Media Lab and South By Southwest.
He lives in Katonah with his wonderfully patient wife, son and daughter.
