ramyaramesh3007These naturally gluten free and vegan rice paper noodles are prepared sichuan style with spices and soy sauce for the perfect refreshing meal!
Rice paper has been one of the most popularised ingredients across social media for the past two years, all thanks to the viral rice paper dumplings ‘hack’! What’s interesting is that Vietnamese fried spring rolls and summer rolls have existed for the longest time but was never considered viral until someone decided to make rice paper the new wonton skin stuffed with a mixed tofu & veggie filling. The power of social media!
Since then, there have been many types of rice paper dumpling recipes (I am guilty of making these Spicy Keema Rice Paper Dumplings myself) and many more ways to use rice paper as a quick hack to make your favourite dish.
My personal favourite was when I saw someone make noodles with rice paper – that was to me, the best of both worlds. Making noodles from scratch is never an option and sometimes (or most of the time), you’re always left with a few sheets of rice paper, whole or broken. Noodles are the perfect way to use them up.
They are also naturally vegan and gluten free making it perfect for those with food sensitivities and allergies.
How to Make The Perfect Noodle
Soak the rice paper in water
Fill a plate with some water. Take two sheets of rice paper and submerge them fully and take them out immediately.
Dampen your chopping board and place these rice paper sheets. Give it a few seconds for them to become soft.
Slice them gently
Slice them thinly into rectangles but keep them considerably wide so it’s easier to take them off the chopping board and so they don’t break easily. Peel them from the chopping board to take them out gently.
If you want an even thicker noodle, you can soak 3 rice paper sheets at one go.
Microwave them!
With the remaining water used to soak the rice paper sheets, place the sliced rice paper noodles. Microwave them in an oven-safe dish for one minute! Drain the excess water.
What Do I Need?
For the spices, you can use almost anything you’d like – here I used 5-spice, sichuan pepper and gochugaru. I also added some spring onions before pouring the hot sesame oil.
You can also simply mix in some soy sauce (with or without following the previous step). Mix well and there you have your easy rice paper noodles!
Allium free substitutions: Instead of spring onions, you can use coriander!
Rice Paper Noodles
Ingredients
- 4 sheets rice paper
- 1/2 tsp 5-spice powder
- 1/2 tsp sichuan pepper
- 1 tsp gochugaru or chili flakes
- 1 tbsp spring onions or coriander
- 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp light soy sauce
Garnish
- 1 tsp chili oil
- more spring onions or coriander (optional)
- toasted sesame seeds optional
Instructions
- Fill a plate (with 1/2cm – 1cm depth) with water. Soak two sheets of rice paper together until fully submerged and remove immediately.
- Dampen chopping board with some water. Place the rice paper on the board and give it a few seconds to soften.
- Gently slice the rice paper thinly with a sharp knife.
- Repeat this process with another two sheets of rice paper.
- With a remaining water used to soak the rice paper, add the soaked rice paper noodles and microwave for one minute.
- Drain the excess water from the noodles. Transfer them to a clean plate.
- Add dry spices, sesame seeds, spring onions.
- Pour hot sesame oil over them and let it sizzle.
- Add a dash of soy sauce and mix well until fully combined.
- (Optional) Garnish with chili oil, more sesame seeds and spring onions. Enjoy!