In my attempt to celebrate the coming of spring, I prepared these healthy Vietnamese Spring Rolls that not only taste great, but have a fresh look to them. I would always admire these spring rolls in restaurants and wonder how they were made, as they always looked complex with their bundled ingredients all neatly wrapped together. This was my first time making any kind of spring roll, and I honestly thought it would be harder than it was. Confession: I didn’t dampen the cheese cloth at first, and it was difficult to roll the rice paper into a clean roll because it stuck to everything – the board, the cloth, my hands. Once I added water to the cloth and the rice paper no longer stuck, I enjoyed the process so much more. Because these spring rolls are light, they make a nice appetizer or mid-day snack. I prefer my Vietnamese Spring Rolls without any sauce, but this Hoisin Peanut Dipping Sauce recipe looks tempting for the next time I make these rolls.
Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Ingredients:
1. 12 rice papers/wrappers
2. Less than 1/2 pound of cocktail shrimp – I found these to be convenient because they were smaller to work with and you can put more into the roll so you get a shrimp in each bite!
3. 1 1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
4. 12+ lettuce leaves (one for each roll, or more if you want the roll to be lettuce-heavy)
5. 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice vermicelli, cold (soak noodles in hot water for 10 minutes, run under cool water, and you’re good to go)
6. 2 cups of bean sprouts
7. 1/2 cup of parsley
Directions:
1. Set up your cooking space with a wooden cutting board covered in a dampened cheese cloth – this will help keep the rice wrapper from sticking to the board.
2. In a large bowl filled with warm water, soften the rice papers. Dip the rice paper (or two to create a thicker spring roll skin) into the water for 1 minute until the rice paper has completely softened. Spread the rice paper out on the cheese cloth into its original circle.
3. Lay 3-4 mint leaves at the bottom half of the circle, along with 5-6 cocktail shrimp. You have a lot of freedom here to create your own spring roll with as many, or as little, ingredients as you desire.
4. Top mint leaves and shrimp with a lettuce leaf. Leave 1 1/2 inches on each side (bottom and left and right).
5. On top of the lettuce, add the vermicelli noodles, more mint, parsley, and any other ingredients (chicken, cilantro, peanuts) that you want to include.
6. Once you have stacked all of your ingredients on top of each other, fold the bottom 1 1/2 inches over the ingredients, and fold the sides inward on top, and tightly roll the rice paper, making sure nothing is coming out of the sides.
{Photos by Lauren}
