When I saw this picture in a recent Cooking Light, I knew I wanted to try the recipe – it just looked SO crisp and refreshing. How hard could it be, right? 
The fact that I couldn’t find these two ingredients in 3 different grocery stores should have been a warning!
Who knew cellophane noodles and rice paper would be so hard to find? 
For the record, (even though this should go without saying if you’ve ever read GDW before ), I did not follow the recipe exactly. 
Of course. 
This applies to both the dipping sauce, and the wraps themselves. 
For my sauce – I went with soy sauce, sriracha, garlic, & lime (check real recipe here)
Lesson #1 – FOLLOW RECIPES WHEN IT COMES TO DIPPING SAUCE! I almost puked when I sat down and took my first bite. WAY too strong, sharp, potent, and fiery. YIKES! 
Lesson #2 – Cellophane noodles look REALLY cool when cooked.
I didn’t have any cilantro, mint, or bean sprouts, so I just left those out.
My filling ingredients:
- Bibb lettuce
- Carrots
- Green onions
- Water chestnuts
- Cellophane noodles
Recipe warning – this one’s messy 
It looked like a bomb went off in my kitchen!
The empty Pyrex dish actually has water in it, that’s what I used to soak the rice papers to make them soft!
Finished product:
Not sure why the middle one resembles a Christmas tree shape, but we’ll go with it.
The first one was definitely the best, which is weird, it usually takes me multiple tries before I get a “wrapping recipe” right! 
On top of the sauce being a total fail, I have to admit: there was a REALLY strange taste in these wraps.
Considering I know what carrots, lettuce, water chestnuts and green onion taste like – I’m thinking it was the rice papers or the cellophane noodles.
I was not a fan. It was almost a weird banana-y taste. And I do NOT like bananas… 
So here’s the thing – I definitely learned some lessons on this recipe.
The main one being – when you are trying new recipes, from cuisine styles that you don’t usually cook it – stick with the recipe.
I’d like to make these again, and I have a ton of rice papers left over so its definitely possible – but I will follow the Cooking Light recipe exactly.
Anyone have any good rice paper wrap recipes or ingredients that really pull a dish like this together??
3 Comments so far
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I really like making rice paper wraps. We usually make ours with either tofu, chicken, pork, or shrimp … and also include: lettuce, noodles, bean sprouts, green onions, cilantro, mint, basil, cucumber. (The spices are really worth adding). We make delicious peanut sauce that you’d LOVE: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10658-peanut-sauce.
[Reply]
By Amanda on 09.12.10 10:41 pm | Permalink
I cannot stand cellophane noodles – they always have a weird texture and taste to them.
Next time I would sub angelhair pasta – the rice paper usually doesn’t have much of a flavor to me, so I am not sure!
I too have a hard time finding rice paper, so my go to is wonton wrappers – I would do everything you did above, roll the wontons, spray with Pam and then bake for 15 minutes at 375, or until the wrapper is crispy.
Happy Monday!
[Reply]
By Biz on 09.13.10 11:25 am | Permalink
this is a dish I like to order but kudos for you to try to pull it off.
[Reply]
By allison on 09.15.10 9:29 am | Permalink
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