Let me tell you the story about these baked rice paper rolls. Perhaps you saw my inspiration on your own social media feeds of rice paper dumplings that were as big as burritos and pan fried in a skilet. I tried them, and this recipe is better for many reasons.
I took me 8 trials of this recipe before I perfected it. I kept trying to do it like others and it just didn’t work. The large “burrito” -like size didn’t work for two reasons. First, the filling is minced up and falls out horibbly in such a large delivery package making them an absolute mess to eat.
Second, the rice paper will rip open if there are not at least two layers. Rice paper is designed to be rolled up in small tight packages so everything get wrapped twice naturally without needing to double wrap. Use your rice paper wrappers are intended and they work beautifully.
The next thing that needed to change was the cooking style. I don’t cook in non-stick cookware so I never tried cooking the rolls without at least a little oil in a skillet. The rice paper doesn’t absorb the oil well and it just gets greasy, making them messy and gross.
I found baking them with just a few drops of oil each was the best to avoid a mess and result in a crispy texture. You can bake them without oil, but I found the flavor to be better with even a very small amount of oil.
Tips and Trick for these Baked Rice Paper Rolls:
- How to Roll: While there are many ways you can roll them up, my favorite was to roll them like an egg roll. It was easy and practical for both rolling and eating. Simply fold up the bottom and fold in the two sides, then roll the filling away from you over the remaining wrapper.
- Leftovers: If you are planning to have leftovers, wait to fill, roll, and bake the rice paper dumplings until ready to eat. The filling can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. Leftover dumplings will not stay crispy.
- Oil: Use a high heat oil such as avocado oil. You can bake them without oil, but I found the flavor to be better with even a very small amount of oil. I like only 2 drops per roll. A squirt bottle oil dispenser is easiest to apply the drops. To disperse, you can brush the oil over the roll, or smear it around with your finger as well.
- Cool before eating: These rolls maintain heat after baking. Don’t try to eat them for at least 10 minutes after removing them from the oven, especially if you are feeding them to kids.
- 16 oz block extra firm tofu
- ¼ cup reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
- 3 TBS sesame oil
- 3 TBS rice vinegar
- 2 tsp sriracha
- 1 TBS honey (or agave for vegans)
- 2 TBS olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 inch ginger, minced
- 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
- 2 ½ cups shredded green cabbage
- 1 cup shredded carrot
- 12 sheets rice paper (spring roll size)
- Avocado oil, for baking
- Shred the tofu on the large holes of a box grater.
- Mix together the reduced sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar and sriracha. Pour 3 TBS into another bowl and mix in the honey. Set the honey mixture aside as a dipping sauce.
- Saute tofu in olive oil until golden brown, flip, breaking up the tofu and cook the other side until golden brown. Stir in the garlic and ginger and saute 1 more minute. Transfer to a bowl or plate.
- Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook until they release their liquid. Add the cabbage and carrot to the mushrooms and cook about 1-2 minutes or until just wilted. Mix the tofu and remaining soy sauce mixture into the skillet and stir to combine. Let cook until the sauce is absorbed and the filling is evenly heated, about 1-2 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Soften a single rice paper by dipping it into water for about 20 seconds (I do this on a large dinner plate covered with water, rotating the rice paper until it is thoroughly wet and starting to soften.)
- Transfer the rice paper to a plastic cutting board and top with ½ cup of the tofu mixture. Fold the sides up over each other, then fold the bottom up and roll up into a little cylinder, similar to an egg roll. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining filling and rice papers.
- Top each with 2 drops of high heat oil, brushing or smearing it across the top (if you use a lot of oil the rice papers will be very greasy while eating, the dumplings can also be baked without any oil with good results). Bake in the preheated oven for 14 minutes, flipping half way. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the honey-soy mixture for spooning into the dumplings.
