hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to Vietnamese classics with a shot at these deceptively difficult Vietnamese fresh spring rolls. For those unfamiliar, a Vietnamese fresh spring is essentially a combination of fresh veggies and a couple of proteins, wrapped into a rice sheet, and served with a peanut dipping sauce. Today we’ll be doing ours with a classic combination of cilantro, mint, cucumber, and carrot accompanied by some shrimp and pork belly. Other common inclusions with this dish might involve things like lettuce and green onion, with some slightly more non-traditional versions using things like avocado, mango, or really whatever you feel like putting in this thing.

What makes these so particularly difficult to assemble, however, is that these rice sheets are…obnoxiously delicate, which means rolling these things up without ripping them in half while also wrapping it tightly enough so that they don’t just sort of flop over is…difficult. So! We’re gonna take a look at my fifth or sixth attempts to rolls these where I was finally successful, plus the difference between the more traditional nuoc cham dipping sauce that you might often find in restaurants, vs this peanut butter based sauce that we’re assembling here using good old skippy’s. Hope you try it.

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 medium carrots

  • 1 cucumber

  • 8 oz vermicelli

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 8 oz pork belly

  • 1/4 cup sugar

  • kosher salt

  • peanut oil

  • 12 rice sheets

  • 6 oz shrimp (frozen, peeled, and precooked are ideal)

  • 1/4 cup mint leaves

  • 1/4 cup cilantro

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 2 tbsp hoisin sauce

  • 2 tbsp sweet chili sauce

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1/4 cup peanut butter

  • 1/4 cup water

PREP

  • JULIENNE the carrots, set aside

  • JULIENNE the cucumber, set aside

  • SOAK the vermicelli in boiling water for 5 minutes until tender, then remove and set aside

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

  • CRUSH and mince 4 cloves of garlic, then set aside with sauce ingredients

PREP (pork belly)

  • CRUSH and peel 4 additional cloves of garlic, then set aside with pork belly

  • SLICE the ginger and set aside with the pork belly

  • BOIL a wok of water, then season with 1/4 cup sugar and a pinch of kosher salt

  • ADD the crushed garlic, ginger, and pork belly, then let simmer for 10 minutes or until the pork belly reaches 160F internally

  • REMOVE the pork belly from heat, let cool, then slice thinly

ON THE STOVE

  • REMOVE the water from the wok, reheat as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the garlic and saute for 15 seconds until fragrant

  • ADD the sauce mixture and reduce over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then remove and set aside

  • FILL a rimmed baking sheet with cold water, then soak the rice sheets for 10 seconds until damp

  • PLACE the sheets on the work surface with the pleats facing down, then add the vermicelli, shrimp, pork belly, mint leaves, cilantro, carrots and cucumber

  • FOLD the rice sheet sides in, then tuck the bottom end in tightly, and use the remaining loose end to pull the roll tightly closed

  • SERVE with a peanut sauce on the side

 

tagged with fresh spring rolls, spring rolls, vietnamese spring rolls, vietnamese food, woo can cook, vietnamese recipe