Rice Paper Adventures: Failure, Persistence, and Success
How I turned a culinary disaster into a successful kitchen adventure, and discovered a new way to prepare healthy meals in the Philippines
Lately, rice paper has been popping up everywhere—on YouTube, Facebook, and every corner of the internet I turn to. I thought it would be cool to give it a try, and as a bonus, it would be the perfect warm-up before my upcoming trip to Vietnam. Adventurous as always when it comes to food, I decided to dive in.
At first, my approach was simple—rice paper is just a “carrier.” I’ve always liked calling dough a carrier because it’s just the medium that delivers the real star of the dish. Just like you don’t eat bread on its own but as a base for something, rice paper is the stage, not the main act.
My first attempt was the kind of disaster you laugh about years later. I was craving a real Israeli burekas, so I decided to fill rice paper with cheddar and mozzarella. I soaked the sheets in water (probably for too long), placed them on the only pan I have—which sticks terribly—on my electric stove, which is always too hot. What happened next was a full-blown culinary catastrophe.
The sheets tore apart, the cheese oozed everywhere, and everything stuck to the pan. What little I managed to salvage looked like it had already been chewed. I took a bite—melted cheese, a bit burnt, a bit crunchy, a whole lot of heartburn.
In the past, this would have been the moment I gave up. "This isn’t for me," I would have said, or I’d find an excuse not to try again. But something about my mindset has shifted lately.
I remembered a picture I once saw on Facebook—
A little boy is playing the piano, and his dad says, “Stop playing! You’re terrible!”
And the boy simply responds, “If I stop playing, how will I ever get better?”
Failure only means one thing—you need to try again. That’s it.
It was just a small kitchen experiment, but it showed me something I really liked about myself—the ability to stay calm and persistent.
The next day, I consulted my loyal friend—ChatGPT.
I told it all about my first attempt gone wrong, and like a wise Vietnamese chef, it shared its insights with me:
✅ Use two layers of rice paper.
✅ Lift the pan every few seconds if it gets too hot.
✅ Use only a small amount of filling.
And just like that, the second attempt was already a huge improvement!
The extra layer of rice paper prevented the sheets from falling apart. I placed the rolls on the edges of the pan to keep them from sticking to the center and only flipped them once the bottom was golden brown. The result was so much better! Although I quickly realized that the cheeses I chose weren’t the best fit.
For a whole month, my tiny kitchen became a science lab.
Each time, I tried a different recipe, new fillings, and unexpected combinations. That’s when I discovered something incredible—you can cook eggs without oil at all!
Just place a sheet of rice paper straight onto the pan, crack an egg on top, add whatever you like, fold it in half—and voilà! A perfect breakfast.
When I tried making something similar to burekas or pizza, I noticed that in all the successful recipes, an egg was included. That’s what created the right texture. Otherwise, it was just a blob of melted cheese.
I’m happy I found a healthy alternative to bread, especially here in the Philippines, where real bread is hard to find (and yes, everything is sweet—literally everything!). But I’m still learning to listen to my body—after just two hours, I’m already hungry again, even if I had a huge salad with my breakfast.
At the end of the day, this is just another example of how I find my balance along the way.
Like everything else in this journey—it’s a process, it takes time, and each attempt brings me one step closer to what works best for me.
Your support helps me keep experiencing new worlds and sharing them with you through my words. Sometimes, a single cup of coffee can make a difference.
Thank you for being part of this journey.
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Totally delicious video! ;)