Grilled Chicken and Avocado Spring Rolls

 

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 T.  brown sugar

few grinds of black pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small (1” piece ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 T. )

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 tsp vegetable oil

10 8″ Vietnamese rice paper spring roll wrappers

1 handful fresh mint

1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced

2 carrots, shredded

1/4 red onion, sliced very thinly

 

Whisk together the soy sauce, brown sugar, pepper, garlic and ginger. Place into a large bowl. Add the chicken thighs and mix well to cover. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, or up to 2 hours. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, heavy bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken thighs with their sauce for 4-5 minutes on each side, until cooked through and browned on the outsides. The sauce should thicken and form a glaze. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and transfer to a clean plate to cool. Once the chicken has cooled, use 2 forks to shred it into long, thin pieces. Gently wet a spring roll wrapper under a faucet or in a bowl of water. Remove carefully and blot lightly on a dish towel. Lay on a clean, flat, dry surface and allow to soften–about 30 seconds.

As the wrapper softens, arrange the ingredients in the center in the following order: 2 mint leaves topped with a few shreds of chicken, topped with a slice of avocado, topped with a few pinches of shredded carrots and a few slices of red onion. Roll up the wrappers very gently, tucking in the ends, being careful not to break the wrapper. Don’t worry if they break–it can take some practice, and broken spring rolls are still delicious. Serve the rolls cut on the bias with sweet chili sauce or peanut sauce for dipping.