Rice Paper (Bánh Tráng)

Made from a mixture of rice flour, water and salt. Rolled out by a machine until it is paper-thin, it is then dried on bamboo mats in the sun, which gives the sheets their beautiful cross-hatch imprint or pattern. It is only available dried. It comes in a round or triangular form that is semi-transparent, thin and hard. It is used extensively for wrapping Thai spring rolls, which are then fried. Although more identified with Vietnamese cooking, rice paper wrappers are also used by Thai cooks. I prefer to use them as they absorb less oil than wheat-based wrappers.