Vietnamese Style Beef Sausage And Vegetable Spring Rolls With Mint Dipping Sauce Recipes

FRESH VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS

Steps:

• Pick your dipping sauce of choice above and mix all the sauce ingredients together. Make sure to use warm water for the nuoc cham so that the sugar dissolves more easily.
• Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings as necessary.
• I like to prepare the sauce before making the spring rolls so that the flavors have a longer time to develop.
• Fill a medium saucepan or small pot with water and bring it to boil on high heat (see note 6).
• Once the water boils, add the shrimp and cook for 2 minutes. Remove the shrimp from the water and let them cool for 5 minutes. Peel the shells from the shrimp.
• Lay a shrimp on its side on a chopping board. Gently press the shrimp down with one hand and use the other to slice the shrimp in half, horizontally (knife parallel to the chopping board). Repeat with the remaining shrimp.
• Fill a large saucepan or small pot with water and bring it to boil on high heat.
• Turn off the heat. Let the noodles sit in the hot water for about 5 to 8 minutes. Double check the package directions to see how long they should sit in hot water as the cooking time varies across different brands.
• Once the noodles have softened, drain and rinse the noodles under cold water. I like cutting the noodles with kitchen scissors several times so they are shorter and easier to grab.
• Fill a large bowl with lukewarm water to wet the rice paper sheets.
• Transfer all the vegetables, shrimp, herbs, and noodles into bowls and arrange them on your work top.
• Get a chopping board ready. Dip your hand in the water and brush water over the surface of the chopping board so that it is damp. I usually wet the surface again after every 2 spring rolls. Alternatively, lay a damp paper towel over your work surface.
• Quickly dip a sheet of rice paper in the lukewarm water to moisten the entire surface. This should take no longer than a few seconds.
• Lay the wet rice paper on your work surface. Place a piece of butter lettuce close to the bottom edge of the rice paper. Arrange a small pinch each of rice noodles, carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, and mint leaves over the center of the lettuce leaf (see note 7).
• Arrange 3 pieces of shrimp about 1 1/2 to 2 inches below the top edge of the rice paper. Make sure that the orange/pink side is facing down.
• Grab the lower edge of the rice paper and lettuce and start rolling up the spring roll. Once you have reached the shrimp, fold in the left and right sides. Finish rolling up the spring roll all the way to the end.
• Repeat the rolling process with the rest of the ingredients. If the chopping board is looking dry, brush some water over the board.
• Serve the spring rolls with the dipping sauce.

CHA GIO (VIETNAMESE FRIED SPRING ROLLS)

Steps:

• Soak the dried mung bean noodles in warm water (submerge them completely) for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly, and cut into ¼ inch pieces.
• In a large bowl, combine the noodles, ground pork, grated carrot, chopped wood ear mushrooms, shallots, garlic, ginger egg white, fish sauce, vegetable oil, salt, white pepper, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Mix until everything is uniformly combined.
• In a large, shallow bowl or deep plate, dissolve the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar in 1 cup warm water. Sugar is optional but does help the spring rolls to brown when frying.
• To wrap each roll, place a rice paper wrapper into the sugar water for about 5-10 seconds, making sure it is completely submerged. Remove it from the water. It will still be quite firm, but it will soften quickly!
• Place about 40g of filling in a log shape on one side of the wrapper. Begin tightly folding the wrapper over the filling (no air bubbles!), and roll the spring roll forward 1 complete revolution. Lightly press down on each end of the filling to flatten the rice paper and push the filling together to eliminate any air bubbles.
• Fold one side of the wrapper towards the middle of the spring roll. Repeat with the other side. Roll the spring roll forward while tucking in the front to prevent air pockets. The rice paper wrapper will stick to itself. It doesn't require anything additional to seal. Place the rolls on a plate or sheet pan lined with a clean, dry kitchen towel or parchment paper.
• Once wrapped, transfer the spring rolls to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour, so they can dry out and firm up. This step helps minimize the wrapper bubbling when frying (though bubbling is normal). Take them out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before frying.
• Heat about 3 cups of canola or vegetable oil in a medium pot to 335°F/170°C (the oil level should be a little over halfway up the sides). Fry the spring rolls in small batches-about three at a time. Make sure they do not touch just after they are placed in the oil as the skins will be sticky until a crust forms. Cook each batch for 5 to 6 minutes, or until light golden brown. (Frying them in small batches prevents them from sticking to each other.)
• Use a metal slotted spoon to pull them out of the oil. Drain on a rack, and continue frying. Maintain the correct oil temperature by periodically adjusting your heat.
• When ready to serve, refry the spring rolls (yes, they need to be fried twice) at 350°F/175°C for 1 ½ to 2 minutes to make them nice and crispy. Double-frying is important! Serve with fresh lettuce, cilantro, Thai basil, mint and nuoc cham for dipping.

VIETNAMESE FRESH SPRING ROLLS

Steps:

• Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
• Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
• In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
• In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
• Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.

VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS WITH DIPPING SAUCE

Steps:

• Whisk vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic, and red pepper flakes together in a small bowl. Set the dipping sauce aside.
• Fill a large bowl with room temperature water. Add rice vermicelli and soak for 1 hour.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop in shrimp and cook until curled and pink, about 1 minute. Remove the shrimp and drain. Slice each shrimp in half lengthwise. Transfer rice vermicelli noodles to the pot of boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove and drain in a colander. Immediately rinse the vermicelli with cold water, stirring to separate the noodles.
• To assemble the rolls, dip 1 rice wrapper in a large bowl of room temperature water for a few seconds to soften. Place wrapper on a work surface and top with 4 shrimp halves, 1/4 of the chopped lettuce, 1/2 ounce vermicelli, and 1/4 each of the mint, cilantro, and Thai basil. Fold right and left edges of the wrapper over the ends of the filling and roll up the spring roll. Repeat with remaining wrappers and ingredients. Cut each roll in half and serve with dipping sauce.