I tried. I really really tried. I wanted to make shrimp spring rolls to go with this amazing chile sauce I came up with, but spring rolls were not to be. During the fourth attempt at rolling the same rice paper, it fought back and exploded in the middle, dumping the contents onto the plate below. I threw my hands in the air, added more lettuce to the mix, and used the dipping sauce as a salad dressing. Take that spring unroll!
It was quite delicious, if I don’t say so myself! I wish I made more of the chile sauce, as it really does make an amazing salad dressing and of course would go great with spring or egg rolls too. I let hubby roll his own, and he didn’t have much success either. I think we both tried to put too much in each one. But we both ended up with a lovely meal, mess and all.
Rather than bore you with all the details of what went in my “salad,” I basically used the same recipe that I used another time a made spring rolls, but used medium whole shrimp instead of diced deli shrimp and switched up a few of the veggies/herbs. Recipe here —> Shrimp and Vegetable Spring Rolls with a Spicy Peanut Sauce. OK let’s get to the chile sauce (and double this up if you want more to grace your fridge for future use):
Homemade Sweet and Spicy Chile Sauce
Adapted from picturetherecipe.com
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/8 cup water
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with same amount of water
3/4 teaspoon fish sauce
Add the sugar to a small sauce pan, then whisk in the rice vinegar and water. Turn heat to medium high and bring to a boil, whisking until sugar is dissolved.
Add the minced garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and Sambal Oelek. (You can substitute Sriracha if you don’t have any.)
Turn heat down and let simmer for several minutes until it slightly thickens.
Whisk in the cornstarch slurry, then simmer at a high bubble until the sauce clears and thickens. Turn off heat, stir in the fish sauce, then set aside to cool down.
Once cool, store in airtight bottle in the refrigerator until ready to use. Serve as a dipping sauce with spring rolls, or as a sweet/spicy dressing to any salad.
Ha! I love the “un rolls” idea Kathryn. I’ll never tell 😉
This looks delicious, and just the thing for a hot day. Mega hugs.
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Aww thanks so much Teagan! I hope you have a great holiday weekend! xoxo
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Those rice paper rolls are a pain in the ass. The ‘un rolls’ are fine and dandy with me, as is the dipping sauce.
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Thanks Adam, they sure are. 🙂 Enjoy your holiday weekend. 🙂
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Looks wonderful KR-unrolled or rolled-Flavors sound delicious-right up my alley friend!!! Woo-Hoo. Have a good Sunday! xoxoxoxo ccc
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Thanks CCC! I haven’t made it over to my readerboard yet today. I’m sure you have something yummy for me as well. xoxoxo
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Oh Yes always creating something new! LOL one cooking and baking machine here LOL xoxoxoxo ccc
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I have had the same problem. I may try steaming the paper next time.
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Oh, I wonder if that would make a difference? Thanks for stopping by!
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I love both sauces you made – the peanut butter one too.I wonder why you had trouble this time with the rice papers? They can be a bit tricky for sure – it’s the sauce that counts 🙂
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Thank you so much. I do think I was just trying to stuff too much into the roll, and then got impatient. 🙂
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I’ve had that happen with wontons when I fry them 🙂
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I see some people make the most gorgeous rolls, but it just never seems to work well for me, lol! Patience and practice! Besides I’m guessing some people have to make dozens to get one good one for a pic, lol!
I love your chili sauce – I’ve always meant to make my own (on my ever growing bucket list, lol!) and this looks gorgeous!!
Mollie
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Thank you Mollie! It’s nice to know your name! (My seester’s name is Molly. 🙂 )
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🙂 He
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I had a fail on my reply, lol! I was gonna say her’s, mine and thousands of Irish Setters along with a cow here and there!! 🙂
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😀
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That sauce looks yumm
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Thank you so much, it was great!
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I love this whole thing! The sauce and the way you have solved the roll problem and made it amazingly delicious!
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Thank you Lynn, enjoy your holiday! xo
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This sounds great!
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You had me at chile 🙂 This sauce looks amazing Kathryn!!
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Thanks so much Mel! I wish I had made more!!!!
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Looks really tasty – even if it didn’t make it into a roll!
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It really did make a great dressing for it all. Thanks you! 🙂
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I love the sauce and your unrolls. I have never worked with rice paper. Maybe there is a reason for that.
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It is very tricky stuff to work with, be glad you haven’t Gerlinde. 🙂 Thanks so much!
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Can’t wait to make this for my hubby. Unrolls rule!
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Yes! Thanks Bernadette. 🙂
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Excellent solution; just get into the “meat” of things. Cut out the middle “wrap.”
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😀 HA! Thank you Karina.
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So nice to make your own chile sauce. I’d leave out the water, not sure what it’s purpose would be except for diluting the flavor.
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Thanks Stefan. Not sure either but adapted it from another recipe. Maybe to give it time to simmer it more without boiling it all down?
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Probably. But they also add corn starch, so it almost seems like bulking it up.
You may like this variation with raw chiles and peanuts:
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Those look great, thanks for the link! xo
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Looks excellent…Amazing recipe
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Thank you Lina! xo
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I love sweet chilli sauce! On my to do list as well 😀 I love the ‘unrolls’ too 🙂 I bet they tasted awesome, so who cares really..hehehe
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Thanks Freda, yeah so agree ha!
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Well it made me laugh because it sounds like me trying to make the rolls. Love the sauce, you can see how tasty it is. Great save using it on a deconstructed roll. Delicious.
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Thanks Suzanne! I swear I’ll rejoice the day I can make a decent-looking spring roll. 😀 xo
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Nice sauce / dressing. A very honest post indeed. I would have tarted it up and spoofed my way through.
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Many thanks Conor. Sometimes posting a saved disaster is better than nuttin’…. 🙂
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Sometimes things that don’t work as you planned turn out to be food “discoveries”. Julia Child was a master at that.
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Indeed she was, thank you!
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My mom was raised in Indonesia, so we always have some Sambal in the house. So fun to see a recipe show up where I can use it! The sauce sounds wonderful. My cooking is so bland that flavorful sauces are a big hit over here! Ha ha.
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Oh yay! Yes I always keep a jar of it in the fridge. It adds so much flavor to so many foods! Thank you for letting me know Diana, I hope you get to make it soon. 🙂
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Love the sauce and the deconstructed shrimp roll. Great ideas! Thank you
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You are welcome Michelle! xo
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LOL I have been trying to master rolling spring rolls….they make it look so easy…it is anything but easy…mine are so limp and loose…I will finish the packet I bought but will buy them already rolled…LOL we have a store that rolls them to order…so they are so fresh…love the recipe for the sauce…I will leave out the fish sauce…thanks
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You can add a little salt if you don’t add fish sauce. Thanks Kat! xo
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thanks that will work….not a fish eater….LOL
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Looking at that last photo of yours, I think unrolls are a great idea. 😀 Besides, my husband doesn’t like the spring roll wrappers so this is perfect.
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Thanks so much Karen! I think this is the only way I will make them now, as I sure struggled with them!
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you make it look so easy, and it is. i usually buy sweet chilli sauce because i’ve never seen a recipe, now i can make my own. Thanks for posting this
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You bet Tim, glad I could help you! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
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Hey, unrolled sounds like something I can do! Perfect 😉
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🙂
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I’m sure you weren’t laughing when the spring roll exploded, but your vivid description made me smile. Sometimes no matter how hard we try, things go awry when cooking.
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No I certainly wasn’t laughing at that point Sheryl. Thank you so much for stopping by. 🙂
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Lol…the unrolls sounds just wonderful to me. 😊
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Thanks so much Marisa! Something is definitely awry at WP tonight! I went to reply to your comment and it said it was trashed! Luckily I could retrieve it and put it back in its proper place. xo
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Lol…xxx😊
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Looks great but what is Sambal Oelek?
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It is an Asian sauce that you can find in most any U.S. Market in the Asian aisle. I guess your location could vary? It’s similar to Sriracha, yet not.
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Yammmmiii !
Sabrina 🍃🌼🌺
http://www.OrganicIsBeautiful.com
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Thank you!
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Hahaa I love how the idea of ‘unrolls’ unfolded 😜 Lovely recipe.. Looks too good!
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Ha, thank you so much! 🙂
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A classic and superb example of taking life’s lemons and making lemonade 👍
You may have now started a new trend, “the spring unroll” or maybe ” the sprung roll” 😄
It looks and sounds delicious and shows how a fail can be “sprung” into a success !
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I love your comments, thank you so much! 🙂
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