I was recently inspired by my visit to a Vietnamese restaurant to try my hand at spring rolls. They are so fresh and healthy tasting and can be filled with a variety of items that you may have on hand. Enhanced with yummy dipping sauces, they are absolutely scrumptious. So join me in the theory that it doesn’t have to be spring to eat Spring Rolls!
For my fillings, I used a mixture of cucumber, radishes, red bell pepper, carrots, lettuce, vermicelli noodles, shrimp, cilantro and mint. The vegetables are all julienned very thin so that they are easy to bite inside the rice paper wrap.
Everything should be prepped and ready before you start to moisten the rice paper. I simmered the shrimp in a mixture of water, white wine, carrots, bay leaf, lime juice and salt until they were just pink. Then I removed them from the mixture and cooked the fideo in the same pot in the remaining liquid for about 5 minutes, until tender.
After prepping the carrots, cucumbers and red peppers, I mixed them together with a little rice vinegar and soy sauce and set them aside. I used baby red lettuce leaves as a base for my rolls and topped them with mint and cilantro leaves.
The most important item in serving spring rolls are the dipping sauces. I decided to make two different types for a variety of flavor and style. I selected a Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese dipping sauce made from fish sauce) and a Spicy Peanut Sauce. Both went perfectly with the spring rolls!
SPRING ROLLS WITH NUOC CHAM AND SPICY PEANUT SAUCE
8 Spring Rolls
Ingredients
- 8 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 bay leaf
- juice from 1/2 lime
- 1/2 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 ounces thin rice vermicelli or fideo
- 1/2 cup carrots, thin julienne
- 1/2 cup cucumber (peeled and seeded), thin julienne
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, thin julienne
- 4 purple radishes, thin julienne
- 1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 18-24 mint leaves
- 1/3 cup cilantro leaves
- 16 leaves baby red lettuce or romaine
- 8 large round rice paper wrappers
Nuoc Cham Sauce
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 red birdseye chili, seeded and finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
Spicy Peanut Sauce
- 2 tablespoons creamy organic or natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water, to thin out the sauce, if necessary
Directions
- Prepare both sauces and set aside so they have time for their flavors to meld. Peanut Sauce: Whisk together all ingredients until smooth and creamy. Nuoc Cham Sauce: Place fish sauce, vinegar, sugar and water in a pan over medium heat and stir to combine. Bring mixture to just below boiling point, then set aside to cool. Add garlic, chili and lime juice, and stir to combine.
- Cook the shrimp: In a large saucepan, combine 4 cups water, the wine, bay leaf, lime juice and salt and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat, add in the shrimp and cover until the shrimp are pink, about 4 minutes. Scoop out the shrimp and shock in ice water to stop the cooking. Then drain and dry. Reserve the poaching liquid, keeping it hot but not simmering.
- Cook the vermicelli: Add the vermicelli to the hot poaching liquid. (no need to simmer or boil the water because that may over cook the noodles). Cook until just al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain. If using fideo, simmer in liquid for about 5 minutes until cooked.
- Prepare the vegetable filling: Toss the carrots, cucumbers and red bell peppers with the rice wine vinegar and soy sauce. Slice the shrimp lengthwise.
- Soften and fill the wrappers: Set up a large sauté pan with warm water. Dip each rice paper wrapper in warm water, one at a time, for a second (no longer or they will get too soft) and place it on a flat plate. The wrapper should still feel somewhat hard when you first start working with it. By the time you finish getting all of your fillings in, the wrapper will have continued to soften. Layer the first one with lettuce leaves, 2 pieces of cut shrimp, some vermicelli, mixed vegetables, radishes and herbs. Gently wrap like a tiny burrito and cut on the sharp bias.
- Serve with the Nuoc Cham and Spicy Peanut Sauce.
(Printable recipe can be found in my recipe index under Appetizers)