Vietnamese Summer Rolls/Spring Rolls

[guppymo]

Hey, thanks Mnehrling.

I've just gone downstairs to find a bottle of fresh springroll sauces and luckily I still had one left. Here is the picture of the sauce I've just taken. See if you can find this in your local Asian (or Vietnamese) supermarkets.

P.S. I love this site, I did not know that I could request to have my account upgraded to post and respond to posts here

[Sam Salmon]

Hoisin sauce/heated/cut with water and a few tablespoons of peanut butter added makes a tasty dipping sauce.

The key to tight rolls is to have the paper quite damp and not to be timid!

An easy vegetarian version is to use steamed carrot sticks-lovely with the aforementioned basil leaf.

[battlepanda]

Wow! Those rolls look awesome! Thanks for the tip about the dipping stations. What usually happens with my sheets is that they are brittle in some places and so wet they break in other places. And yes. The chinese chives not only look lovely, they taste great too. The more herbs the merrier!

A tip: Sometimes as a break from the more traditional hoisin and peanut sauce, I like to serve fish sauce with my fresh rolls. You can make this with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar. But a really easy shortcut is to combine equal amounts of fish sauce and minute maid limade concentrate, then dilute with water to taste. Add a pinch of pepper flakes and perhaps a little garlic and you're done!

Edited February 23, 2005 by battlepanda (log)

[fou de Bassan]

Beautiful rolls guppymo! And again, glad you're here. Keep posting, and the forums get better and better.

[LindaK]

guppymo, I also shop at the "88" in Boston (love it) and will be sure to look for the ready-made dipping sauce you posted. That's always been the weak point with my own spring rolls, my nuoc cham always seems to be lacking something. I'm convinced that the recipes I've read are holding out on the secret ingredient. Can't get the fish sauce/other ingredient ratio right. My peanut sauce, however, is fab.

And for the record, sriracha hot sauce is the best ever. sorry tabasco (maybe a topic for another thread...)

And thanks for reminding me once again that I have no talent.

Daddy-A, I've followed your advice to Varmint on his kitchen renovations. I'll trade you a tray of spring rolls for your so-called lack of talent any day.

[guppymo]

LindaK, cool ! Another Bostonian. By the way the 88's at South Bay Mall has more products than the one in Allston.

[chow guy]

Guppymo,

Welcome and thanks for the post. Your rolls are beautiful.

I have some garlic chives coming up already in my garden. I'm going to look for the sauce and make them next week. Thanks Again

[LindaK]

the 88's at South Bay Mall has more products than the one in Allston.

thanks, I've been told that before but never seem to make it over there. guess that tells you the shallow depth of my forays into asian cooking. My only excuse is that I'm fortunate to have asian friends who are excellent cooks--I'm lazy because I'm spoiled.

[beccaboo]

We just had spring rolls last night for my daughter's birthday dinner! They're the one thing she has every year--the rest of the menu varies.

Anyway, we have them with peanut sauce made of hoisin sauce, peanut butter, garlic, chile paste, and tomato paste. One year it turned out particularly dark brown, and a boy mistook it for chocolate pudding with peanuts sprinkled on top. He took a huge gob of it, and when he realised his mistake tried to hide it under a lettuce leaf on his plate.

[ghost]

I'm looking for a really good vietnamese spring roll recipe. If you care to contribute one, I'd be much obliged! Thanks!

[budrichard]

A recipe is not a problem, what is a problem is obtaining the correct ingrediants.

You first need rice paper of good quality. Some that is being sold is not rice and hard to work with. Basil must be Thai basil which is much stronger than regular basil. You need the correct rice noodels which are like a vermicelli. A good fish sauce without MSG or sugar will make a difference. Thai bird peppers are essential for the dipping sauce. Good fresh shrimp will make all the difference as well as fresh bean sprouts.

Sauce: fish sauce, rice vinegar, brown or Palm sugar, grated carrot and chopped peppers to taste.

Insert skewers into shrimp and boil to kepp straight, slice in half.

Take your rice paper and wet your counter or cutting board and lay the paper down. Brush water on the top side and keep adding water to both sides until pliable to roll. Arrange shrimp, sprouts, noodels, basil and roll. Dip into sauce and enjoy.

Beer helps, because if you haven't rolled the rice paper before, they will invariably tear until you get the technique. Just do it!-Dick

[Jason Perlow]

Previous eG summer roll/spring roll thread with photos:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=62479

Rachel's recipe in RG:

http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r1150.html

[chef koo]

i just go ground pork, with bean sprouts, julienne carrots, minced shrimp, and eggs. the dipping sauce i go with fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, julienne carrot, sugar and water just to lighten the potency

[kiliki]

Those linked threads have lots of great tips, but I'll second the suggestion above to make sure you use rice paper wrappers. Sometimes I have a hard time finding these, even in Asian groceries, while there are many brands of tapioca wrappers that are sold for the same purpose. However, tapioca wrappers have a terrible musty taste-rice is much better.

[scubadoo97]

Don't forget the mint. The mint and Thai basil give them such a wonderful fresh flavor. I also like to use shredded cabbage and julienne carrots for crunch and again to add freshness. As far as fish sauce, 3 crab brand fish is a good one to look for. I like to make 2-3 dipping sauces and also a little hoisen sauce can be used for a little sweetness if desired.

[Soup]

for me, the spring roll is only half the equation. The dips give me the most problems. The peanut butter type dip and the fish sauce, getting those two right have remained ellusive to me.

[torakris]

I prepare spring rolls quite often, my kids really love them. I make them the entire meal and serve it do-it-yourself style. my most recent spread

in the bowl in the back: lettuce leaves

on the cuttingboard

top from the left:

avocado, peanuts, cilantro, cucumbers, garlic chives

bottom from the left:

tuna sashimi, daikon sprouts and bean sprouts

metal bowl in the front: rice sticks

clear bowl: daikon and carrot with a vinegar-sugar-salt dressing (marinade?)

bowl on the left with the spoon: nampla-lime-sugar-ginger dipping sauce

[Anna N]

I prepare spring rolls quite often, my kids really love them. I make them the entire meal and serve it do-it-yourself style. my most recent spread

....

←

YUM!

[BarbaraY]

We recently had some that were just beauriful with a split 1/2 shrimp showing through the last layer of rice paper. The filling was largely salady things with mint and the rice stick.

Have never made them myself even though one of my daughters makes them frequently.

[bottomlesspit]

Hello ghost,

are you looking for a goi cuon recipe (summer/salad roll) or a cha gio (spring/fried roll) recipe?

[Rachel Perlow]

I used some Asian chive for decoration and added taste

←

I was just reviewing this thread for a friend and wanted to bump it up. What better way, than with this post of guppymo's beautiful summer rolls? Mmm.

[scubadoo97]

Rachel, those are beautiful

[Rachel Perlow]

I only wish mine came out that nicely, those were made by guppymo.

[scubadoo97]

Seeing those made me want to make them again. I go through periods where I make them often and then for what ever reason don't make them for a while. What is the best most effective, easy method for preping the rice papers so you can roll them quickly. I have heard to wet them and then place them in a towel. I hate having to dip each one and assemble. The water cools off and needs to be reheated. Tips?

[Khadija]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate thread for this topic, but I want to discuss cha gio, fried spring rolls. My concern is the wrappers.

I have been using rice paper wrappers, which all the recipes I have consulted have recommended. The recipes say that you can use other wrappers, but rice paper is the most light and delicate. This may be true, but I've found that the wrappers don't brown well. They stay white for a long time and then start to turn translucent in spots and burn. Some of them develop air pockets, which puff up and burst leaving holes. They taste okay, but obviously they're not what I'm hoping to achieve. Also, they're incredibly ugly -- pale, white things with dark brown, almost burnt splotches all over. Does anybody know how to fix this? I bought something called "spring roll pastry," which appear to be made in Singapore, from a Korean market. These are made of wheat flour. I expect I'll have more luck with these, but I'm still wondering if I can improve my rice paper rolls.