Home > Risol Bihun (Indonesian Rice Vermicelli Spring Roll)

Risol Bihun (Indonesian Rice Vermicelli Spring Roll)

Posting Date: 07/29/19

Risol Bihun (Indonesian Rice Vermicelli Spring Roll) is a popular snack which is normally sold by street vendors in Jakarta. It is served with Thai chili peppers on the side. So, you bite into a little bit of chili pepper and a little bit of the spring roll before chewing it. The chili pepper adds heat. You can skip the chili pepper if you don't have high tolerance to heat. Instead, serve it with sweet chili sauce. The snack sold by the street vendors is normally vegetarian and consists of rice vermicelli, carrot, green onion, parsley, and spices which are garlic, shallots, and turmeric. If you make it yourself, you can use any vegetables you like, such as cabbage, celery, etc. Even though it is served as snack in Indonesia, you can also serve it as an appetizer.

Risol bihun is also used as 1 of the ingredients in Soto Mie (Bogor Beef Noodle Soup) which originated in Bogor. The spring roll adds crunchiness to the soup which is why this soup is my favorite Indonesian soup. I will post Soto Mie recipe in the near future.

In my recipe, I use store bought spring roll wrappers. However, you can make the wrappers yourself. It takes time to make it and thus, I opt to buy because it is convenient and doesn't cost a lot to buy.

The recipe makes about 9 spring rolls.

Ingredients:

For the filling: 105 grams or 1 sheet of rice vermicelli. The package has several sheets. Use 1 sheet or about 105 grams.
For the filling: 2 tablespoons vegetable oil to stir fry the filling
For the filling: 3 small or 1/2 large size of shallots, thinly sliced
For the filling: 2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
For the filling: 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
For the filling: 1 carrot, julienned
For the filling: 1 green onion, sliced
For the filling: 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
For the filling: 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
For the filling: 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
For the filling: pinch of pepper or to taste
For sealing spring roll wrapper: 2 tablespoons flour
For sealing spring roll wrapper: 1 - 1.5 tablespoon water.
9 spring roll wrappers/skin, defrosted on kitchen counter for 30 min
vegetable oil to fry spring rolls
Optional: sweet chili sauce
Optional: Thai chili pepper if you have high tolerance to heat. For some people, this is too hot, so skip it if you don't have high tolerance.

Methods:

Cook rice vermicelli according to the package directions. Drain and rinse it thoroughly with cold water to stop cooking and prevent it from sticking to each other. Let it drain on colander for 10 min to remove excess liquid so that it is not wet.
After 10 min, heat up 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil on medium high heat. Add shallots, garlic, and turmeric powder. Saute until shallots become soft and fragrant. Add carrot. Stir fry it for 1 min. Add vermicelli, green onion, and parsley. Stir fry until vermicelli is coated with the spices and turns yellow from the turmeric. Add salt, sugar, and pepper. Stir fry to distribute the seasoning. Taste it and add more seasoning if needed. Transfer the filling onto a plate and set it aside to cool down. Hot filling could make the wrapper wet from the steam and thus, the spring roll will not be crispy. So, take your time to cool down the filling.
Add 2 tablespoons flour into a small bowl. Add 1.5 tablespoons water. Whisk it with a fork. You may need to add more water if the flour mixture is too thick. We want consistency similar to pancake batter. If it is too liquid, add a little bit more flour.
Once the filling is cool down, place 1 spring roll wrapper on top of clean and dry surface (I place it on a clean cutting board). Orientate spring roll wrapper so that it shapes like diamond in front of you, i.e. the corner of bottom left and right sides of the wrapper is right in front of you. Depending on the size of the wrapper you use, place about 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of the filling near the corner that is closest to you (corner of bottom left and right sides of the wrapper). Make sure you don't overfill the wrapper. Fold the corner over the filling and roll it tight once. Fold left side over the filling. Make sure the fold make a straight 90 deg angle to the bottom of the filling. Fold the right side over the filling. Make sure the fold make a straight 90 deg angle to the bottom of the filling. This is to make sure the wrapper is not overhanging on the side. Once you have folded both sides, roll the the bottom tight and keep rolling toward the end of the wrapper. Dip your finger in the flour mixture. Apply the flour mixture from your finger to the edges of the wrapper. Gently press the edges of the wrapper to seal them. Place the spring roll on a baking sheet with the sealed edges facing down. Repeat this step until all filling has been used up.
Pour vegetable oil into a deep pan. Make sure you pour enough vegetable oil to cover the spring rolls during frying. Heat the oil over medium high heat. You don't want the oil to be too hot because it will fry too fast and cause the spring roll to burn but you don't want the oil to be too cold because it will make the spring roll too greasy. Once the oil is hot, gently put the spring roll into the oil with the sealed side facing down. Depending on the size of your pan, you could fry 3-4 at a time. Do not overcrowd the pan because it will drop the oil temperature and make the spring roll greasy. Fry until the bottom side is golden brown. Turn it over to fry the other side and fry it until it is golden brown. Once all sides have been golden brown, remove with slotted spoon or stainless steel spider strainer to drain excess oil as much as possible. Place the spring roll on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb excess oil. Move the spring roll on a cooling rack placed on top of a baking sheet to cool down so that it won't get soggy. Repeat this step until all spring rolls have been fried.
Serve it immediately. You can serve it with sweet chili sauce or Thai chili pepper on the side. If you have leftover, you can put them in a ziploc bag and store them in a fridge. To reheat them, don't use microwave because it will make them soggy. Instead, put them directly on the middle rack of a toaster oven and toast it until it is crispy. In my toaster oven, it takes 6.5 min to get crispy spring rolls. Your toaster oven may need different time. For more details on how to reheat spring or egg rolls, click here

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