Fried Chicken Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce
Served at room temperature or chilled and packed with lots of fresh herbs and crisp vegetables, summer rolls are perfect warm-weather food. They’re commonly filled with shrimp and roast pork, which I love, but more often than not, I’m craving these fried chicken summer rolls. My son devours these as an afternoon snack.
Watch Andrew make this recipe:
Fried Chicken Summer Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Peanut oil, for frying
- 2 cups flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 3 cups Panko breadcrumbs
- 25 8-inch rice paper sheets, Banh Trang
- 1/2 pound dry rice stick vermicelli, cooked according to package directions and drained
- 8 ounces fresh bean sprouts
- 1 small head romaine lettuce, julienned
- 1/2 bunch cilantro, leaves removed and reserved
- 1/2 bunch mint, leaves removed and reserved
- 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
- 4 tablespoons peanuts, toasted and ground
- 1 large fresh bunch of chives
Peanut Dipping Sauce
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 teaspoons chili paste
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon peanut butter
- 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/4 cup peanuts, toasted and ground
- 1 fresh red chili, seeded and thinly sliced
Instructions
Drizzle the chicken with olive oil. One at a time, place a chicken breast between two sheets of plastic wrap, and pound them out with a meat mallet into a circular shape until they’re about 1/3- to 1/4-inch thick.
Heat peanut oil in a large work or heavy-bottomed pan to 375 degrees F.
Dredge each piece of chicken into heavily seasoned flour. Dip it into the egg, allowing the excess liquid to drip off, then into the panko breadcrumbs.
Fry the chicken pieces in the peanut oil for 5 to 6 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Let cool on a paper towel for 15 minutes, then slice into 1/2-inch strips. Reserve.
Wet a paper towel and place on the counter or cutting board. Briefly place one sheet of rice paper in warm water, and place on top of the paper towel. Top with another wet paper towel, and continue alternating paper towels and remaining rice paper sheets until you have a big stack in front of you. (Alternatively, you can work one at a time, allowing each rice paper to sit in warm water until soft.)
Flip the stack of rice paper sheets over, so that you start with the first one you dampened. Place a small portion of noodles and bean sprouts in the center of the sheet, top with lettuce, cilantro leaves, mint leaves, a couple of pieces of cucumber, and a slice of fried chicken.
Roll, burrito style, top to bottom, folding in the sides of the rice paper as you roll. After you’ve made the first rolling motion, add a few chives so they stick out of the roll a couple of inches. Repeat until you’ve made the whole stack of summer rolls. Serve with the peanut dipping sauce.
Peanut Dipping Sauce
Heat the oil in a small pan and add the garlic, chili paste and tomato paste. Fry until the garlic turns light brown. Add the broth, peanut butter, hoisin and sugar and simmer for 3 minutes. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool. Top with the ground peanuts and sliced chiles.
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