If you’re looking for fresh, Asian-inspired picnic food ideas, look no further than the rice paper spring roll for inspiration.
These Smoked Duck Summer Rolls are easier to make than you think, and they are such an elegant and portable picnic finger food idea.
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Why Summer Rolls Are Great For Picnics
Rice paper rolls and nori rolls make the perfect picnic fare, especially for an Asian-inspired picnic. They are easy to transport and manage al fresco, incredibly versatile, and one of the more elegant cold picnic food ideas to grace the blanket.
Summer Rolls are fresh and light, easy to make, and very forgiving in terms of filling. There are no set rules. Just go with your style.
Serve them with a dipping sauce as the main picnic dish or as a side or starter. For a full Asian picnic menu, pair them with Asian coleslaw and cold Asian spiced or marinated chicken pieces. I love these for spring picnics when there is so much fresh produce around and summer picnics because they are so light and fresh
Ingredient Notes
See my recipe card below for a complete list of the ingredients with measurements and notes.
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
Vegetables: I like carrots, cucumbers, and red peppers for their crunch and color. You can experiment with different types of vegetables.
Nuts: As mentioned, there are no set rules regarding how you want to fill your spring rolls. I include chopped nuts inside for added crunch; sometimes, I use bean sprouts. Feel free to experiment.
Smoked Duck: See my recipe for smoked duck breast. It’s not as difficult as you might think. If you don’t want to smoke the duck, you can use unsmoked duck breast, or you can buy pre-smoked duck from most supermarkets, butchers, or poultry suppliers.
Alternative Meat: I often choose duck for summer rolls, as duck and Asian flavors go so well together. Duck also feels a little sophisticated, especially when I’m thinking of romantic picnic date food ideas. You can substitute the duck for chicken, prawns, or slices of pork.
Try my Smoked Duck, Fig, and Grilled Pear Salad if you have some leftover duck breast. It makes a delicious picnic salad that is sure to impress.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the Duck: If you are not buying a pre-smoked duck breast – smoke the duck as per this recipe. You can do this a day or two in advance, as the duck will keep well. Slice the duck thinly.
Step 2: Prepare the Vegetables:
- Peel and slice your vegetables. I like to use a mandoline to achieve a nice thin slice—less chance of the veg piercing your rice paper wrapper with thin veg pieces.
- Wash and drain the lettuce leaves. Keep the leaves in large pieces but remove the crunchy core. You only want the soft part of the leaf.
- Pluck the coriander and mint leaves from the stems.
- Optional: Roughly chop the cashews or peanuts. I like placing chopped nuts inside the lettuce roll for added crunch. Chop them fairly small and place them in the middle of the roll so they don’t pierce the wrapper. Some like to add the nuts to the dipping sauce and as a garnish. The choice is yours.
Step 3: Prepare the Vermicelli Noodles:
- Plunge the noodles into boiling water to soak.
- After a few minutes, use a fork to separate the noodles and leave them to cook until soft and flexible but still a little firm. I find that pouring boiling water from the kettle over the noodles in a bowl and allowing them to stand for about ten minutes until soft and separated works fine.
- Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and wash off any excess starch.
- Drizzle a small amount of sesame or vegetable oil over and toss through to prevent the noodles from sticking.
Step 4: Assembling the Rolls
- Get all of your fillings laid out so you can work quickly when you start making the rolls.
- Fill a bowl with hot water (not scalding) and submerge a rice paper wrapper in the water until it becomes soft and translucent (I find a round cake tin works well with a shallow amount of water). It should only take a few seconds. You don’t want the rice paper so soft it tears.
- Place the rice paper sheet on a damp tea towel.
- Tear a suitable size of lettuce leaf and place it near the top of the rice paper round. Use the leaf to wrap your noodles and vegetable fillings to protect the wrapper. If adding nuts for crunch, keep them in the middle of this bundle.
- Fill your lettuce leaf with fillings.
- Layer a few leaves of mint and cilantro in front of the lettuce bundle.
- Layer 3 slices of duck in front of the lettuce and vegetables towards the middle of the roll. Once finished, the duck slices will be on top of the roll. I like to place a few small bright garnish pieces under the duck slices to make it more interesting. Ensure there is nothing sharp that could tear the rice paper, such as pointy carrot pieces.
Fold the left side of the rice paper and then the right side towards the middle, and roll firmly from the top (where the lettuce is) to make a cigar-style roll.
Take another sheet of rice paper and repeat.
Serve with a dipping sauce of your choosing. Sweet chili or hoisin work well with duck. Or combine hoisin, rice wine vinegar, light soy, sesame oil, and lime juice for a lighter sauce. Add crushed peanuts or cashews for garnish.
Recipe FAQs
Ideally, you should prepare rice paper rolls as close to serving time as possible and serve them at room temperature. They do not hold up as well in the fridge if made the day before. Refrigerating can dry them out and make them rubbery, especially if not stored correctly. However, preparing and storing them before serving is possible—ideally, no longer than six to eight hours.
I suggest prepping all your fillings the day before and rolling them as close to your picnic as possible. Then, wrap them in plastic and pack them in an airtight container.
If preparing well in advance, some suggest covering them with a damp towel, but the best way to keep your rolls fresh is to wrap them tightly in plastic—not covered with plastic wrap on a plate, but each roll wrapped in plastic so they don’t stick together.
This is not as labor-intensive as it sounds. You can wrap the rolls in groups. Lay a long sheet of plastic wrap, wrap one and place another next to it, and continue to wrap with the same plastic piece, ensuring there is a layer of plastic between each roll. Put them in an airtight container before refrigerating.
Allow the rolls to return to room temperature before serving. About 30 minutes out of the fridge should do the trick.
Expert Tips
- Prepare Ingredients in Advance: Having all your fillings chopped, cooked, and ready to go before you start rolling makes the process much smoother and faster.
- Roll on a Damp Surface: Don’t forget to place a damp kitchen towel or paper towel on your work surface. Rolling on a damp surface prevents the rice paper from sticking and tearing, making it easier to roll.
- Don’t Overstuff: Loading up your summer rolls is tempting, but overstuffing can make them hard to roll and more likely to tear. Remember when filling that you need to be able to fold over the sides and roll them up tightly.
- Practice Makes Perfect: Don’t worry if your first few rolls aren’t perfect. Rice paper can be tricky to work with at first, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it after the first one or two.
Related Recipes
Did you try these Duck Summer Rolls?
Please leave me a ⭐ rating below and let me know in the comments how you enjoyed them.
Smoked Duck Summer Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 Small smoked duck breast thinly sliced. 24 slices for 8 rolls - Link to smoked duck recipe in the notes or buy a pre smoked breast from the supermarket.
- 3 oz dried vermicelli rice noodles
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil or vegetable oil
- Thinly sliced vegetable of your choice. - I use carrot, red pepper, and cucumber and sometimes bean sprouts.
- 8 lettuce leaves - use soft lettuce such as iceberg or butter lettuce.
- 2 sprigs fresh mint leaves
- 2- 3 spring onions - thinly sliced.
- fresh cilantro
- ¼ cup chopped peanuts or cashew nuts - *optional
- 8 large round rice paper spring roll wrappers
Instructions
- If you are not buying a pre-smoked duck breast – smoke the duck as per this recipe. You can do this a day or two in advance, as the duck will keep well. Slice the duck thinly.
- Peel and slice your vegetables. I like to use a mandoline to achieve a nice thin slice—less chance of the veg piercing your rice paper wrapper with thin veg pieces.
- Wash and drain the lettuce leaves. Keep the leaves in large pieces but remove the crunchy core. You only want the soft part of the leaf.
- Pluck the coriander and mint leaves from the stems.
- Roughly chop the cashews or peanuts. I like to place some chopped nuts inside the lettuce roll for added crunch. Chop them fairly small and place them in the middle of the roll so they don't pierce the wrapper. Others like to add the nuts to the dipping sauce and as a garnish. The choice is yours.
- Prepare the Vermicelli Noodles.
- Plunge the noodles into boiling water to soak.
- After a few minutes, use a fork to separate the noodles and leave them to cook until soft and flexible but still a little firm. I find that pouring boiling water from the kettle over the noodles in a bowl and allowing them to stand for about ten minutes until soft and separated works fine.
- Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process and wash off any excess starch.
- Drizzle a small amount of sesame or vegetable oil over and toss through to prevent the noodles from sticking.
- Assembling the Rolls
- Get all of your fillings laid out so you can work quickly when you start making the rolls.
- Fill a bowl with hot water (not scalding) and submerge a rice paper wrapper in the water until it becomes soft and translucent (I find a round cake tin works well with a shallow amount of water). It should only take a few seconds. You don't want the rice paper so soft it tears.
- Place the rice paper sheet on a damp tea towel.
- Tear a suitable size of lettuce leaf and place it near the top of the rice paper round. Use the leaf to wrap your noodles and vegetable fillings to protect the wrapper. If adding nuts for crunch, keep them in the middle of this bundle.
- Fill your lettuce leaf with fillings.
- Layer a few leaves of mint and cilantro in front of the lettuce bundle.
- Layer 3 slices of duck in front of the lettuce and vegetables towards the middle of the roll. Doing this will have the duck slices on the top of the roll once finished. I like to place a few small bright garnish pieces under the duck slices to make it more interesting. Just nothing sharp that could tear the rice paper such as pointy carrot pieces.
- Fold in the left side of the rice paper, and then the right side in towards the middle and roll firmly from the top (where the lettuce is), to make a cigar style roll.
- Take another sheet of rice paper and repeat.
- Serve with a dipping sauce of your choosing. Sweet chilli or hoisin work well with duck. Or combine hoisin, rice wine vinegar, light soy, sesame oil and lime juice for a lighter sauce. Add crushed peanuts or cashews for garnish.
Notes
- Prepare Ingredients in Advance: Having all your fillings chopped, cooked, and ready to go before you start rolling makes the process much smoother and faster.
- Roll on a Damp Surface: Don’t forget to place a damp kitchen towel or paper towel on your work surface. Rolling on a damp surface prevents the rice paper from sticking and tearing, making it easier to roll.
- Don’t Overstuff: Loading up your summer rolls is tempting, but overstuffing can make them hard to roll and more likely to tear. Remember when filling that you need to be able to fold over the sides and roll them up tightly.
- Practice Makes Perfect: Don’t worry if your first few rolls aren’t perfect. Rice paper can be tricky to work with at first, but you’ll quickly get the hang of it after the first one or two.
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