The thing that makes a Vietnamese spring roll especially tasty is that it combines the freshest ingredients together in a relatively bite-sized manner – fresh herbs, sweet and juicy boiled shrimps and crunchy vegetables. Herb lovers like myself would definitely enjoy every bite of this roll given the strong basil and mint tastes packed within the rice papers.
Make your variation with your favourite herbs and vegetables to suit your own taste bud too! It would be especially nice to serve this spread during gatherings so that everyone gets a chance to wrap their own Vietnamese rolls and have fun at the same time.
Ingredients:
- Shrimp: 15, deshelled & deveined
- Rice vermicelli (bee hoon): 100g
- Vietnamese rice paper: 1 pack (about 20 pieces)
- Lettuce: 1 head, leaves peeled and washed
- Basil: 1 stalk, stem removed
- Mint: 1 stalk, stem removed
- Coriander: 1 stalk, chopped roughly
- Chive: 1 stalk, sliced into 5cm lengths
Method:
- Add shrimp and a pinch of salt into a pot of boiling water.
- Simmer for 2 min till cooked and remove from pot to cool.
- Slice each shrimp horizontally across into halves. Set aside.
- Soak rice vermicelli in same pot of water for 5 mins.
- Drain and cool before cutting into short strips (5cm lengths).
- Dip 2 rice papers into water and remove quickly. Place them on a flat surface (top & bottom), overlapping them in the middle of both pieces.
- Place lettuce leaf at bottom end of paper. Stack with 1 basil leaf, 1 mint leaf, a handful of rice vermicelli & some coriander. Roll rice paper once over, tucking in both sides.
- Line 3-4 shrimps at the edge of the roll, with sliced side facing upwards. Place 2 sticks of chive over shrimps, with tail sticking out of the roll.
- Continue rolling tightly to complete the roll. Repeat for the other rice papers.
- Serve chilled or at room temperature with some Hoisin sauce with sesame oil.
Tricks:
- You could also make each roll with just one piece of rice paper, though I personally find it a lot easier to make a tighter roll with two pieces.
- I like stacking my big basil leaf last of all, over the vermicelli and coriander, as it helps to encase them neatly for the rolling.
- You could make a simple dip by mixing Hoisin sauce with peanut butter and sesame oil. Another alternative is to make a sweet and spicy dip that can be found at ‘A Mixture Of Colours With Vietnamese Rice Paper Salad (Bánh Tráng Trộn)‘.
Disclaimer:
- Other variations of Vietnamese spring roll could include julienned carrots and cucumbers as well as grilled marinated pork slices. Mine was kept simple as I enjoy a stronger and more natural taste of the herbs in the roll.
Serving:
About 10 – 15 rolls
