Crispy Rice Paper Boats with Hoisin Minced ‘Meat’ Filling

These are a delicious finger food or appetiser to enjoy. The rice paper are cooked to a crisp to creates crispy rice paper boats and topped with plant-based meat seasoned with hoisin sauce. These are inspired by Chinese lettuce wraps or San choy bow.

📝 Ingredients

• Neutral oil (for sautéing)
• 1/2 small carrot (diced)
• 1 small bell pepper (diced)
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 200 g plant-based ground meat/minced (, or mushrooms (see notes))
• 2-3 tbsp hoisin sauce (, or more to taste)
• 1 tbsp sugar (optional for sweetness)
• 2-3 sheets round rice paper (cut into 6 or 8 triangles (mine were 22cm/8.5” in diameter))
• Neutral oil (for frying)
• Fresh lettuce
• Chopped scallions (for garnishing)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1--- Filling ---
2. 2Heat a medium sized pan or wok over medium heat. Once hot, add in some neutral oil.
3. 3Sauté the carrot, bell pepper, and onion for 3-4 minutes over medium heat until the carrot is tender.
4. 4Add in the plant-based ground and season with hoisin sauce and sugar, if desired. Mix well and cook for a few more minutes.
5. 5Turn off the heat and set aside.
6. 6--- Rice Paper Boats ---
7. 7If using rice paper, follow the steps below. If you're using lettuce then feel free to scoop over the filling and enjoy! Microwaving rice paper steps is down below as well.
8. 8Cut your rice paper into 6-8 triangles. My rice paper are 22-cm (8.5-inches) in diameter and I cut them into 8 wedges/triangles.
9. 9Heat your pan or wok. Once hot, add in oil enough to completely submerge the rice paper. Allow the oil to heat up until it’s around 380F/195C. To test out the heat, you can add a small piece or rice paper. It should immediately sizzle and turn white when placed in the oil.
10. 10Once the oil is very hot, add in 3-4 rice paper triangle/wedges at a time and cook for 3-5 seconds. It’ll very quickly curl up and turn white. Remove the rice paper from the oil and strain any excess oil. Make sure not to overly crowd the crispy rice paper in your strainer so these stay crisp.
11. 11Repeat this for the rest of the rice paper.
12. 12--- To Enjoy ---
13. 13Scoop a generous amount of the filling and enjoy with the rice paper boat. I recommend to only scoop over the filling over 1 piece at a time and enjoy it immediately.Allowing the filling to sit on the rice paper boat will cause it to get soggy. I do not recommend preparing it the same way I did in my plate that I photographed (it was just for photo purposes! haha).
14. 14--- Microwaving the Rice Paper ---
15. 15Place the rice paper or a few pieces (depending on how many you can fit) on your plate. But make sure they're not overlapping. You can place the rice paper side by side but don’t stack them!
16. 16Microwave for 30-60 seconds, depending on your microwave. There’ll be a trial and error for first few batches until you figure out the perfect duration to cook yours. Mine is around 35-40 seconds.
17. 17After cooking, allow the chips to cool at room temperature. Don’t cover them so they stay crisp.
18. 18To enjoy, you can sprinkle your seasoning/powder of choice! You can also break these apart into smaller pieces and top with the filling.
19. 19Some notes/tips:Some rice papers won’t completely puff up. This depends on the spot it is in the microwave and the amount of heat directed at itEven if some parts of the rice paper don’t puff up, they’re still crispy!