I am a huge fan of Vietnamese food. It is generally quick, simple and full of complex flavors. Yesterday was my first attempt at making spring rolls, not the fried kind (which I LOVE) but the fresh kind with the soft, translucent wrappers.
These are wonderful if you are trying to eat healthy. There’s nothing bad in them, just veggies and shrimp. We took extra shrimp noodles and vegatbles and made a salad including fresh radish sprouts. Yummy!
Ingredients
For sauce
1 green onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup fish sauce
Juice of one lime
½ cayenne pepper, thinly sliced
2 tsp sugar
¼ cup water
For spring rolls
12 shrimp cut in half lengthwise
1 tsp chili paste
Juice of one lime
2 tbsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp olive oil
2 green onions
2 carrots
1 cucumber
2 cayenne peppers
1 cup chopped mixed herbs (cilantro, mint, and basil)
Bean thread cellophane noodles
8 leaves of baby lettuce
Spring roll wrappers
4 cups of water
Directions
1. Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl, stir and set aside.
2. Combine shrimp, chili paste and lime juice in a bowl and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Julienne the onions, carrots, cucumbers, and peppers into very thin strips.
4. Sauté shrimp in olive oil with ginger and cilantro until done through, about 1 minute.
5. Heat 4 cups of water a pour into a large bowl.
6. Cook noodles for 30 seconds, no more, drain and set aside.
7. Soak one wrapper at a time in the water for about 5 seconds, place the wrapper on a damp towel for 30 seconds until soft easy to work with.
8. Place one leaf of lettuce, 4 pieces of shrimp, some noodles, vegetables and herbs onto the wrapper.
9. Roll wrapper by tucking the first bit over and around the stuffing, fold over the sides and roll to seal.
10. Cut the spring rolls in half. Dip in the sauce and enjoy.
References
This recipe is adapted from Vietnames Style Spring Rolls on Epicurious.com.