Spring Roll Recipes

I have finally settled on an Asian inspiried 4th of July menu (Thai grilled chicken, nam sod, pot stickers, etc). My menu is heavy on the protein but devoid of any real vegetables so I have decided to give spring rolls a try. Problem is that I don't have any real good recipes for spring rolls or dipping sauces. I was hoping that someone out the LTH Land may be able to provide me with some ideas (or recipes). Any spring roll inspriation that can you provide would be a big help.

Thanks!!!

For a simple spring/summer roll, my favorite is one that I learned from my parents’ Vietnamese neighbor. Use the clear rice wrappers that look like transparent crackers. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Make sure there are no cracks before buying.

Here's a link to an example with instructions on how to soften and use them. It also has sauce recipes and spring roll filling ideas. http://www.importfood.com/nrga1222.html

After softening the wrapper in warm water for a minute or so, I fill mine with thin rice noodles, tofu (I like the yellow pressed, fried tofu but any will work), cucumber strips, leaf lettuce, mint, Thai basil, coriander, and garlic chives. You can also add fresh pineapple, but it's not necessary. The trick I was taught for wrapping these successfully is to have no excess water on any of the ingredients. For example, the rice noodles should be drained for a while and squeezed as dry as possible before using.

The wrappers can be a little fragile. I find it better to soften them one at a time as I use them. Also, you'll want to remove any extra water from the wrap before rolling so that it is more rubbery/stretchy than wet/slippery. If your lettuce has stiff ribs, you’ll want to remove the ribs or shred the lettuce or they'll probably poke through when you roll it up.

For a simple sauce, one is hoisin sauce mixed with chili garlic paste and thinned with a little water. Also, some times I just eat them with the spring roll sauce you can buy that has the carrot and turnip in it.

Good luck,
Jen

The technique for rolling spring rolls had a few surprises (at least to me):

My spring roll recipe:

vermicelli noodles
pork with a little bit of fat (often pork belly, but its too fatty for me, I substitute with pork shoulder)
shrimp (usually use 21-30 or 31-40)
cilantro
mint
green leafy lettuce
cucumber
chinese chives
rice paper (banh trang)

For the sauce:
cooking liquid from the pork
peanut butter
hoisin sauce
crushed peanuts (optional)
siracha sauce (optional)

Cook the vermicelli noodles in boiling water until they are soft, rinse, drain, and set aside.

In another pot of boiling water, cook pork until it is cooked through, reserve the water the pork was cooked in. Cut the pork into thin slices.

Steam the shrimp with the shell on until they are cooked through. Then after they cool, shrimp is peeled, deveined, and each shrimp is sliced in half down the length of the body.

Slice up your cucumber into strips. Wash the remaining veggies.

To make the sauce, in small saucepan add a few tablespoons of hoisin sauce, a few tablespoons of peanut butter, and thin it out with the pork broth. Taste it as you go, if you need more sweetness, add peanut butter, more savory/saltiness, add more hoisin, too thick, add reserved cooking liquid. Pour sauce into dipping cups and garnish with peanuts and siracha.

To assemble your spring rolls, dip rice paper in water. It does not have to be in there long, just enough to get the paper wet on each side. No need to let the paper soak in the water for any amount of time. Lay the sheet flat on a plate, start at the bottom with some lettuce, then layer on your vermicelli, veggies, pork, and shrimp.

The mistake I see most people make is either letting their rice paper soak for too long, or adding too much into the spring roll and turning it into more like a burrito. Roll it up as you would an egg roll, dip in sauce, and enjoy.

Cathy2 wrote:The technique for rolling spring rolls had a few surprises (at least to me)...

Informative, thanks for sharing!
Favorite quote: "...roll gently but firmly, like you hug your sweetheart."

Jen

Another common ingredient is chinese sausage (lap cheong), cut into matchsticks.

Cathy had to beat me to it

...but in my defense that video is pretty close to my recipe!

JoelF wrote:Another common ingredient is chinese sausage (lap cheong), cut into matchsticks.

lap cheong is typically used in another type of vietnamese spring roll called bò bía

I could type out my recipe for it, but I figured a google search is faster (plus the recipe is similar to gỏi cuốn shown above)

http://gastronomyblog.com/2011/05/07/bo-bia/

pacent wrote:Cathy had to beat me to it

...but in my defense that video is pretty close to my recipe!

LEt's say great minds think alike ... how would I know you were updating a thread from five years ago at the very same time I added a video I just saw!

Cathy2 wrote:

pacent wrote:Cathy had to beat me to it

...but in my defense that video is pretty close to my recipe!

LEt's say great minds think alike ... how would I know you were updating a thread from five years ago at the very same time I added a video I just saw!

LoL I think I just saw the thread bumped and got excited to post my recipe since we just had spring rolls for dinner last night

I'll have to try that rolling technique next time I make spring rolls. I've always just piled everything little off-center then rolled them up folding in the sides. I never thought to separate my ingredients on the rice paper like that to get a better appearance after the roll.

What I usually use for mine;

shrimp (halved)
pickled carrots sliced thin
pickled red peppers sliced thin
cucumber sliced thin
rice noodles
cilantro
pretzel sticks for extra texture/crunch

Sauce;
Hoisin and sriracha

I've also substituted pickled cabbage for the pickled red peppers.

I've basically tried to replicate the spring rolls they serve at Saigon Pho but I can never find or never have daikon radishes on hand. So, I substitute the pickled red peppers or cabbage.

I also can't figure out exactly what the crunchy little rolled up pastry thing is that runs through the center of theirs so I substitute the pretzel sticks for that.

Maybe a little unorthodox but they taste pretty good. I'll have to try throwing some pulled pork in next time I make them.