This is the un-fried cousin of the spring roll. Soft rice paper wrapped around cold shrimp, herbs, lettuce and rice noodles, eaten fresh with a dipping sauce. No frying anywhere, so the fat is whatever’s in the shrimp, which is almost nothing. They look impressive and they’re fun to make.
The usual peanut dipping sauce is where the fat hides, so I use a lime-and-fish-sauce dip, and skip the garlic and chilli that often go in it.
Serves 4 (8 rolls). Roughly 1 g fat and 230 kcal per serving, dip included.
Phase & care: Lettuce, carrot, mint, coriander, basil and lime are P1. Shrimp is a P2 I’ve tested and tolerate fine. Fish sauce isn’t on my P1 list, so I treat it as a careful phase-2 ingredient, and cucumber goes in peeled with the centre out. I leave the garlic and chilli out completely, both are on my “never” list.
Prep 30 min · Total 30 min
Ingredients
- 8 rice paper wrappers
- 200g cooked peeled shrimp, halved
- 100g rice vermicelli noodles, cooked and cooled
- Lettuce leaves, mint, coriander, Thai basil
- Grated carrot, cucumber batons (peeled, centre removed)
For the dip
- 3 tbsp fish sauce, juice of 2 limes, 1 tbsp sugar, 4 tbsp water
Method
- Mix the dip ingredients until the sugar dissolves. Taste and balance salt, sour, sweet.
- Dip one rice paper wrapper in warm water for 10 seconds until pliable, lay on a damp board.
- Layer lettuce, noodles, herbs, carrot, cucumber and shrimp near one edge. Don’t overfill.
- Fold the sides in and roll tight like a small burrito.
- Serve fresh with the dip. Eat them the day you make them.
Made this? Rate it.
Be one of the first to rate it.
Use the rice paper while it’s still slightly firm, not fully floppy. Over-soaked paper tears.
Stepan’s rule: Fresh or summer rolls beat fried spring rolls every time on fat. When a menu offers rolled-and-fresh or wrapped-and-fried, the fresh one is almost always the safe pick.
I trade low-fat recipes like this one with other patients in the PancreasZen community. Come and swap recipes with people who get it.
Not medical advice. This recipe reflects one patient’s low-fat approach grounded in published guidance. Fat tolerance is individual. Check with your own healthcare team before changing your diet.