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Thai Basil Rolls

I have had a long running infatuation with these delicious little wraps ever since my friend Kristin introduced me to a Lawrenceville restaurant called Lavender.  Native Sun is poised to add some additional herbs (both culinary and medicinal) to our repertoire this year and I wanted to convince Farmer Brent that Thai Basil should make the cut, so I thought I'd try my hand at recreating Lavender's recipe with a little local produce flair.  

Thai Basil Rolls

2-3 medium carrots

1 winter radish (kohlrabi would also be excellent)

Small chunk fresh ginger (about the size of your thumb)

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp vinegar (rice wine is great but I used some garlic-infused apple cider because it was available)

Squeeze of lime juice

Bean thread (basically bean noodles, can be found at Asian markets like Fooks Foods in Athens)

Spring roll wrappers (also at Asian Markets like Fooks Foods - these are NOT the same as egg roll wrappers)

Thai basil

Gyoza sauce (for dipping - I got it from Trader Joe's, but I'm sure you can find it lots of places)

 Using a food processor or cheese grater, shred your carrots, radish and ginger.  Add vinegar, oil and lime juice (and any herbs/spices you think would be fun).  If you have time, put it in the fridge and let it marinate for an hour.  You don't have to though - it's pretty great fresh too.

Prepare your noodles by placing in boiling water for a couple of minutes.  Set aside.  Prepare a shallow dish (large enough to fit your spring roll wrappers) with warm water.  Wash the basil and set aside.

It's time to start wrapping!  Dip the spring roll wrappers in the warm water for 5-10 seconds.  Place on flat surface and layer basil, half handful of noodles and half handful of vegetable mix.  Wrap up like you would an egg roll.  The wrapper should be pliable and will stick to itself.

Keep wrapping until you run out of an ingredient.  Compost (or feed to dog) whatever is left.  You can save any dry spring roll wrappers in a bag for later use.

We served ours aside Thai coconut soup (an earlier Thai basil experiment) and a side of gyoza dipping sauce.  We concluded that we will grow Thai basil and continue to experiment with different recipes.  Maybe dry it and include in an Asian spice blend?  It definitely has a strong licorice taste so it's not for every recipe, but when it works, it really works!