I’m writing this from Bend, Oregon, where we parked our RV for the start of a summer road trip. Chef Martin Oswald is across the Atlantic, where Europe has been baking in early summer heat. And that’s how we ended up here, making Vietnamese summer rolls on a Wednesday morning with viewers from all over the world watching us fumble through German vocabulary and debate the correct pronunciation of “schnitzel.”
Every week, Martin and I go live so he can teach me (and all of you) how to cook food that actually supports your health. I keep expecting the lessons to slow down after nine months and more than 200 recipes. They don’t.
Today’s lesson started with a confession from Martin. The summer rolls you order at restaurants? They’re probably not as healthy as you think. Most of the interior is rice noodles, which have almost no fiber or minerals and virtually nothing in the way of vitamins. The shrimp sitting on top is a small gesture on a big pile of starch. The rice paper wrapper itself is just rice flour and tapioca, a vehicle with no real nutritional contribution. So what you end up eating is a pretty package filled mostly with empty carbohydrates.
Martin’s approach was to throw all of that out and start over. Keep the rice paper, because it’s neutral and holds everything together. But replace every filler ingredient with something that actually feeds your body.
Get the summer roll recipes here.
The Setup Matters More Than You Think
Before Martin touched a single piece of rice paper, he spent time on his work surface. He wiped it down and emphasized working on a smooth surface rather than wood. Every single ingredient was already prepped and organized in front of him. Mise en place. I knew that one, and I was a little proud of myself.
His point was practical. Once the rice paper is wet, you have a very small window before it gets too soft to work with. If you’re scrambling to julienne a carrot while your wrapper dissolves on the countertop, you’ve lost. Everything gets prepped first. No exceptions.
For the rice paper, Martin used warm water in a shallow container and rotated each sheet through by hand rather than dropping it in. The rotation keeps the paper from sticking to itself, and the warm water softens it faster than cold. He pulled it out while it was still slightly firm, because the rice paper continues to absorb water on the countertop. Over-soaking means tearing.
Roll One, The Simple Classic
The first roll Martin built was the most approachable. He laid a soft green lettuce leaf edge to edge across the rice paper, then layered in shredded lettuce and cucumber alongside firm tofu that he’d pan-cooked with turmeric for an anti-inflammatory boost.
The mint is where he got particular. Four or five leaves, but spread across the entire surface so that every single bite contains mint. Not piled in the center where one bite gets all the flavor and the rest gets nothing. Martin was emphatic about this. Mint has the strongest flavor in the whole roll, and distributing it evenly is what separates a good summer roll from a great one.
Then came the rolling technique. Start from the bottom edge and roll over the fillings once, then fold both sides inward like a burrito before finishing the roll. Martin’s advice was to commit. Don’t rush, because the paper tears. But don’t hesitate either, because the paper sticks to itself and you can’t undo it. One confident motion with the sides tucked in, and you’re done.
Roll Two, The Gentle Version
This is the one that really caught my attention. Martin brought up something from Austrian cooking tradition called Schonkost, which translates roughly to “gentle food.” It’s a way of preparing meals for people who are recovering from illness or dealing with digestive issues, especially those finding that raw vegetables don’t agree with them the way they used to.
He took the same summer roll format and filled it entirely with cooked, soft ingredients. Carrots boiled until tender, soft celery root, tofu, cooked soybeans, and spinach, all of it easy on the digestive system but still packed with nutrients. He topped the visible layer with black sesame seeds and cooked soybeans, which looked beautiful through the translucent rice paper.
I thought this was such a smart adaptation. We hear from people in our community all the time who want to eat more vegetables but struggle with raw produce. They feel left out of the fresh-food conversation because their gut simply won’t cooperate. Martin’s cooked version gives them a way in.
Roll Three, The Open Canvas
By the third roll, Martin was in full creative mode, layering asparagus alongside mushrooms and carrots with a bed of spinach underneath. He made the case that once you understand the technique, the rice paper becomes a completely neutral vehicle for whatever flavor profile you want.
He ran through some of the combinations he’s experimented with over the years. Black bean tempeh made an appearance. So did avocado with cilantro and corn for a Mexican-inspired version, and radicchio paired with mushrooms and sweet basil for people dealing with fatty liver, since bitter greens support liver function. He’s also done rolls with quinoa, forbidden rice, brown rice, and just about every kind of bean you can think of. He even mentioned barbecue tofu.
The idea that stuck with me was how different this is from the way most people think about summer rolls. We tend to treat them as a fixed recipe with shrimp and rice noodles and mint and nothing else. Martin sees the wrapper as a blank canvas, no flavor of its own, ready to become whatever cuisine you feel like eating that night.
Two Sauces, and the Reason Behind Them
Martin made two dipping sauces, and the reason he served both together was something I hadn’t thought about before. In his restaurant days, they noticed customers enjoyed summer rolls more when they could alternate between a rich sauce and a clean one. The peanut sauce delivers that creamy, satisfying depth. Then you switch to the tamari sauce, which is lighter and sharper, and your palate resets. Back to peanut, and it tastes brand new again. He called it avoiding flavor fatigue, and once he explained it, I realized I’ve experienced this at every good restaurant without ever knowing why.
The peanut sauce came together quickly. Grated ginger, grated garlic, peanut butter, lime juice and zest, rice vinegar, a bit of sriracha for heat, and water to thin it out. Martin’s one caution was about consistency. European peanut butters tend to be softer and oilier, so his recipe might need more liquid if you’re using a thicker American-style brand. The fix is just adding water until you reach a smooth, dippable texture. He also noted that lime zest contains pectin and adds both flavor and body, so don’t skip it.
On the garlic, Martin offered a practical tip. Raw garlic in a sauce like this will turn within about three days and throw off the whole flavor. So either use the sauce quickly, or cook the garlic first to extend the life of the batch.
The tamari sauce was even simpler. Tamari (which Martin pointed out is the gluten-free option, since regular soy sauce often contains wheat), lime juice, rice vinegar, a touch of maple syrup, and water. Tamari is extremely salty on its own, so the water isn’t optional. It’s what makes the sauce balanced rather than overwhelming.
Martin served both sauces in small, narrow containers rather than flat plates. The narrower vessel lets you dip the roll deeper, coating more surface area per dip. Small detail, big difference.
The Little Tricks That Add Up
A few other things from today that I want to make sure land in writing, because they’re the kind of professional kitchen knowledge that makes home cooking so much easier.
When your limes dry out and get hard (and they always do if you forget about them for a week), soak them in water for 24 hours. They rehydrate and give you far more juice than you’d expect. Before cutting any lime, roll it firmly against the counter with your body weight pressing down. That breaks up the internal membranes and loosens the juice so squeezing takes half the effort.
When you cut finished summer rolls, wet the knife first. A dry knife sticks to the rice paper and tears the whole thing apart. A damp knife slides through cleanly. Martin wet his blade between every cut.
For storing rolls ahead of time, lay them in a container and cover with a damp cloth napkin. Not a paper towel, which sticks and shreds. A fabric napkin, lightly moistened, keeps the rice paper from drying out. One viewer mentioned wrapping each roll individually in parchment paper for packed lunches, and Martin thought that was a great idea.
And the mango trick. If you want to make your summer rolls look like something from a restaurant menu, dice a bit of fresh mango and place it on top of the fillings before your final roll. It shows through the translucent rice paper and makes the whole thing look almost too pretty to eat.
Looking for a community to support you on your health journey?
If you’re looking for a community that supports you in healing insulin resistance one tiny habit at a time, come join us in The Habit Healers Community on Skool. Members get access to my Insulin Resistance Reversal Roadmap course, Chef Martin’s Healing Kitchen with his ever-expanding recipe vault full of sauces and adaptations like the ones you saw today, and a live 90-minute session with me every Tuesday at 4 PM PT. I’ll drop the link here so you can check it out.
This article is a companion to today’s live cooking session. Hit play on the video above to watch Martin build every roll and both sauces in real time.
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