My Take On Vietnamese Spring Rolls…

The other day I had a craving that doesn’t seem to ever go away. I have been meaning to make Vietnamese Fresh rolls again for quite some time so the other day my son and I walked over to the store and purchased a few ingredients that I didn’t have on hand.  These rolls are quite easy to make if you have all the ingredients laid out and ready to go.  All you really need is a bit of time to assemble them.

I lay in bed hungry most nights and dream of Vietnamese food. Seriously… I’m not kidding.  I think I have more cravings for different cuisines now than when I was pregnant.  My fall back if you would ask Darryl is without a doubt Vietnamese food.  Hands Down.

These little babies can really be made any way you like.  If there is an ingredient that you just don’t like, then just ignore it or substitute it for something else. I do not confess of being am expert of making these, but I am an expert at EATING  them!!!

Vietnamese Fresh Rolls with spicy peanut sauce.

(recipe courtesy of Kitchen Chick)

Rice paper rolls (banh trang)
Green or red leaf lettuce, sliced or shredded.  Hard ribs removed.
Fresh Mint or cilantro sprigs
Shredded or julienned carrots
Rice vermicelli noodles
Cooked shrimp, halved lengthwise

Put noodles in a large, heat-proof bowl.  Boil water.  Pour boiling over the noodles and leave to soak.  Shred or slice lettuce.  Shred or julienne carrots. When the noodles are soft, drain and set aside.

Fill a shallow pan large enough to hold a rice paper sheet with very warm water.  Slide a rice paper sheet into the water.  Let it soak until almost soft.  I like to have parts of the sheet still feel very slightly stiff.  These parts will soften even after they’ve been removed from the water.  Otherwise, if the rice sheet is completely soft before I remove it from the water, I can be fairly certain I’ll tear the sheets.

Lay the sheet out on a clean work surface.  Put some noodles (1/4 cup or so) across the bottom third of the sheet.  Layer it with lettuce, carrots, mint or cilantro, and three or four shrimp halves.  Roll the bottom edge over the fillings.

Tuck one or both sides up — whichever you like.  Then tightly, but don’t pull too tightly, roll it up.  You’ll figure out how much filling to use and how much tension to put on the rice sheet with practice.

Other ingredients to try in fresh spring rolls:  basil, shredded cucumber, scallions, garlic chives. Serve with straight hoisin sauce or with peanut-hoisin sauce.

Spicy Peanut Sauce  (my version)

1 tbsp sesame oil

3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce

1/2 peanut butter ( I like using all natural organic peanut butter)

1 tablespoon of sugar (or you could substitute if for agave syrup)

1 small garlic grated fine

1 tablespoon of garlic -chilli sauce (depending on how spicy you like it)

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and get ready to enjoy  dipping your fresh rolls in this tasty sauce.

I couldn’t help but take some pictures of the kids biting into them and they enjoyed every minute of  the yuminess!!

Our kids have always liked fresh rolls at the restaurant, but eating them at home is just as fun and just as messy!  They really loved them, and I enjoyed watching them eat them.

I hope you give them a try some time if you want to make something different for your family.  They make a great appetizer, or light lunch.

Enjoy!