End-of-Summer Rolls

This is "part two" of my product review of Hearst Ranch flank steak, following up on The Snooty Cheesesteak post.  For this test I wanted to push the limits of the tenderness test even more by using the grilled steak in some summer rolls.  If you haven't tried them, summer rolls are sort of like an egg roll, but they are not fried and they are rolled up in thin sheets of rice paper.  Now I will admit that this is not the type of meal you are going to want to whip up after a long day at work, as it is fairly time intensive and requires some non-standard pantry ingredients that you may not have hanging around.  This is not a difficult recipe to execute, it just has a number of steps.

The first step is the dipping sauce, which is essential to the overall dish--I do not recommend skipping the sauce.  A basic dipping sauce is made with equal parts of fish sauce (sold as Nam Pla or Nuoc Nam) and fresh lime juice, a little sugar, and some water to thin it out.  For my sauce I used 3 tablespoons each of fish sauce and lime juice, a couple of teaspoons of shaved palm sugar, and a couple of tablespoons of water.  Palm sugar is not essential (brown sugar works just fine), but it does have a distinctive flavor that I like for this sauce.  The sugar comes in discs or cones and you can easily shave it off with the tip of a sharp knife:

The finished sauce has a slight viscousity from the palm sugar and the fish sauce, and a distinctive aroma.  If you are fish sauce averse try reducing the amount of sauce and substituting a little soy sauce or tamari:

The next step is to prep the fillings.  For these I used some of the fresh herbs I had on hand--regular and Thai basil (Phoenix rises again...) plus cilantro.  Fresh mint is also excellent, but I am drying mine for tea, so I skipped it.  I also cut some carrot matchsticks and trimmed some fresh green onions:

Thin rice noodles are another staple filling for summer rolls, and these are now widely available, along with the rice paper wrappers.  I have even seen them in Safeway.  These cook much faster than Italian pasta, and my preferred method is to place them in a large bowl and then just cover them in boiling water and let them steep for 5-7 minutes, or until pliable:

When the noodles are just soft, drain them well and toss them with some seasoned rice vinegar--this is the stuff that is used to make sushi rice, and it, too, is available in most larger supermarkets.  I used a couple of tablespoons of seasoned rice vinegar to toss the noodles.

The other component was the steak, and I prepared this flank steak with a wet rub made from crushed garlic and lemongrass mixed with sea salt and some more of that shaved palm sugar.  I let it rest in the marinade for an hour in the fridge, then took it out to let it come to room temperature before I grilled it to medium rare:

You always want to slice flank steak relatively thin and across the grain, but for this dish you want really thin slices to make it easier to eat the finished rolls.  I cut thin slices on the diagonal and then started the assembly.

To make a summer roll, you take some rice paper:

Soak individual sheets in some warm water just until pliable--that will only take about thirty seconds--and then have each person assemble their own with herbs, vegetables, seasoned noodles, and beef.  Arrange the filling down the middle of the circle and fold in the two short ends, burrito-style, and then roll them up as tightly as you can manage.  This takes some skill that I do not claim to have mastered, but they are meant to be a fun food so don't worry if they are not perfect.  Cut in half or serve whole, with dipping sauce on the side:

This was a real test for the Hearst Ranch steak because these would be impossible to eat with a tough product, and this one was just as tender as the first.  These were really delicious and they make a fun family dinner where everyone gets to play with their food.  Other great possible fillings are shrimp, mango, bean sprouts, asian pear, curry tofu...whatever you enjoy.  The fresh herbs are essential to this fresh-tasting dish, so don't skimp on those.  If you haven't tried these I hope you will take the plunge and give them a try.  They are worth a little work.

Thanks for reading!

-Angela FRS

Fish Sauce