Wollumsum is a koreanised version of the Vietnamese summer roll. The word wollum means Vietnam and sum means wrap/roll. While the outer wrapper of rice paper remains the same, the filling as well as the dipping sauce are quite different.
It also differs as you build and eat each roll as you go rather than making a bunch of rolls ahead of time and then eating them. I think that this makes the eating process heaps more fun and gives everyone the chance to add vegetables they like and mix it up to find the best combinations as well.
Besides tasting awesome, the best thing about wollumsam is that it's super versatile and you can change it up with the filling of vegetables you like, the mood you are in and with the people you are with. I've been in wollumsum eating competitions where we try different combinations and keep count as to how many we've eaten. Two friends come to mind as I remember the majority of us were out of contention as we were stuffed but these guys kept going and amazing us.
For me the basics and must haves are the rice paper wrapper, rice noodles, meat (I usually use a roast chicken, thinly sliced beef poached and prawns), bean sprouts, mushroom, lettuce, avocado, mint leaves, coriander and lots of sauce with a few bits of chilly. In the picture above, you can see that I love a variety of vegetables. There is an assortment of vegetables that include mushroom, bean sprouts, pineapple, tomato, avocado, carrot, cucumber, red and green capsicum, tofu, broccoli, egg, crab sticks, alfalfa sprouts, apple, lettuce, coriander mint leaves, onion, snowpeas and prawn. This is a pretty big spread of vegetables, is there any other vegetables I'm missing?
I have had many years of wollumsam making and eating under my belt so I’ll share with you how I make it as well as any tips I’ve learnt over the years.
First thing is to wash and cut the vegetables into 5cm lengths and julienne into thin uniform pieces.
Meanwhile cook the thin strips of beef in a pot of water and remove after it is cooked through.
Replace water and cook rice noodles until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain, cool and set aside.
For the sauce, I use 2 small red chili peppers sliced including the seeds for that extra chilly hit, 2 tsp of pineapple juice or orange juice (or a pinch of sugar if not using juice), 6 tbsp of fish sauce and a tsp of cold water.
Once you have all the bits and bobs ready, set out on your dining table with some rice paper wrappers as well as plates and lots of napkins for everyone. Also set up a saucepan with some water on a portable gas cooker and heat until just below a simmer or have a bowl with boiled water.
You can make it in whatever fashion you wish. But the way I go about is placing the softened rice paper on the plate, add noodles in the centre with leaving about a centimetre on each side, lots of vegetables (probably one of everything on offer, pour over lots of sauce to let it soak up in the noodles and then attempting to roll the paper and tucking it all in. Let's say my rice paper rolls have been a source of much amusement to my friends and family as they quite gi-normous and they always explode.
Some tips for you in regards to wollumsum
- Don't pre-soak the rice paper wrappers or else they won't stick very well
- Dip the rice paper wrappers for less than a minute if using boiling hot water or else they will turn into a large gluppy mess.
- Check the rice paper wrappers when you buy them and get the one with the least holes and not chipped
- Don’t fill up your roll with too much stuff. I should take my own advice but each to their own, I like them to explode everywhere
- Don't touch the cut up chillies or you may end up with burning lips, or eyes and I can tell you it HURTS.
Another tradition for the 100 day celebrations is the rainbow rice cake (mujigae ddeok). You see why its called rainbow due to the array of colour when you slice through it. This rice cake is made on special occasions like a baby’s 100 day or 1 year old birthday, or a wedding. If you check out Maangchi's website (http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/mujigae-ddeok), making this rice cake takes a lot of effort and time even though there are only a few ingredients. It is rather plain tasting with a hint of sweetness but was a favourite of mine whilst growing up.
We ordered the the rainbow rice cake from Strathfield also known as Koreatown. Let me tell you a funny story though, my mum decided to have a taste test before everyone arrived. Now you would of thought that she would of taken a small portion from the corner but she decided to take a piece from smack bang in the middle. Hmm so for photo opportunities it looked rather odd and then she tried to hide it by cutting up a corner piece and shoving it in to hide that it was missing a piece. Let's say it just made it worse. What do you think, here are the before and after shots.
My sister also bought a sengcreme cake which is a sponge cake with cream and fresh fruit. This is my favourite cake of all time as the sponge is so light and fluffy, I love cream and the fresh fruit incorporated into the cake.
My hubby's dad brought over some sweets from Ablas. Ablas if you don't know is this amazing sweet shop in Granville. I think it has the best baklava in all of Sydney. Check it the weblink below (http://www.ablaspastries.com.au/sweets.htm). The picture shows the sweets with date fillings, soo good.
Jaeminkins was given a hanbok - Korean costume by his uncle in Korea so we dressed him up and took lots of photos. He was rather well behaved and a source of much amusement as his pants were way too long (Harry highpants) and his hat kept falling into his eyes. The things parents put their children through, hey=) I can already hear the tutting.
Thanks for reading and enjoy peeps!
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