Vietnamese springrolls
Vietnamese springrolls
We get out of the boat and walk onto a barren piece of land, slightly confused as to what we are doing here. Across the barren patch of land awaits a tiny village. Our guide, a tiny Vietnamese woman, leads us through small alleyways where little kids peer curiously from around corners and start to follow us, giggling every time we look at them. It’s hot and big Europeans that we are, we start sweating more and more. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that everything sticks to my body in the humidity and am looking forward to the moment we will be back on the moment, with hopefully a little breeze welcoming us. But for now it seems to get hotter with every step we take. We finally end up at a small open square, surrounded by wooden shacks and the sudden silence seems to increase the heat.
Vietnamese schoolkids
Our guide gestures that we have to wait and she disappears inside one of the building, leaving us in the sweltering heat with no shade to speak of. Most of our little group try and press ourselves against the buildings attempting – in vain mostly – to disappear into the shadows. After 5 minutes, that feel like eternity, our guide comes out again and waves us over. We have no idea what to expect and are surprised when we peer inside a building and see a classroom full of happy kids smiling up at us.
Their teacher looks at them sternly, warning them to remain in their seat and not move. You can tell by the excited faces and bright smiles that we are a welcome distraction in their busy schoolschedule.
Concentration..
But after just a few minutes the regular routine of their schoolafternoon takes over and they concentrate back on their schoolwork, only glancing at us every now and then, only to be met with a stern look from their teacher. We just stood there, watching kids on a regular schoolafternoon and while it may not sound very exciting, we had a great time. Vietnamese kids are – in general – entirely adorable, cute, happy and friendly little creatures and when they all march around in their crisp schooluniforms or ride around on their bikes it’s just a sight to be seen…
But ofcourse Vietnam would not be Vietnam, if not for the Vietnamese kitchen. I love Asian food in general but the food in Vietnam, Thailand and India are among my favorites. It was here that I first ate traditional springrolls. Not the fried variety, although we had those as well, but the rolls made with fresh vegetables and wrapped in ricepaper. We had them made for us at the table by beautiful Vietnamese ladies, their hands quick and precise in making one beautiful roll after another.
Mine may not be so good looking but they are incredibly delicious. You can keep them vegetarian or add chicken or pork and any kind of vegetable you fancy. Here the original recipe is from Steamy Kitchen again and that peanut sauce, I can tell you, is a worthy addition to these delicious little rolls.
Vietnamese springrolls
Yield: 6
Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 35 mins
Ingredients:
- 1 packet rice paper wrappers (can be found in most supermarkets)
- 1 soft lettuce (I used little gems)
- 1 cucumber (cut into matchsticks)
- 2 carrots (cut into matchsticks)
- 1 bell pepper (cut into matchsticks)
- 1 handful fresh mint
- 1 handful Thai Basil (you can use sweet Italian basil as a substitute)
meat
- 500g chicken filet
- 1 lemon grass stalk (outer leaves peeled until you reach the pale yellow leaves, bottom part grated)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely minced)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
peanut dipping sauce
- 2 teaspoons cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed in garlic press)
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger (grated)
- 3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 160ml water
- 3 tablespoons chunky peanut butter
Directions:
| For marinating the chicken; slice the chicken as thin as you can. In a bowl combine the chicken with the rest of the ingredients for the marinate and marinate for at least 15 minutes or overnight. Prepare the vegetables and herbs for the rolls. Heat a wok or frying pan and add the marinated pieces of chicken in a single layer. Bake until they are done. Have the cooked chicken and all your cut vegetables ready to roll your wraps. Jaden has a really clear instruction in her book which will tell you exactly how to roll the ricepaper. In short; Fill a pietin or a large plate with enough water to dip the ricepaper in. Make sure the water is warm, but not hot. Dip the ricepaper in very briefly, about 2 seconds each side. It will still be fairly stiff when you take it out. Lay the still stiff paper on a dry surface and fold in two. On the bottom half arrange your ingredients and then proceed to rolling it carefully tugging it in where needed. |
|
| Peanut dipping sauce | |
| Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When the oil is just starting to get hot, add the garlic and ginger and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add the sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce, water and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Simmer until thickened. Let kool. Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. If the sauce is too thick after storing, whisk in a bit of water to thin it out. |
|
Note
Beautiful, light and fresh this is the perfect starter for any Asian inspired meal or it is great on it's own too as a (very) light lunch
Recipe from Steamy Kitchen Cookbook
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Oh wow, that looks delicious! I always wanted to try and make some springrolls, so thank you for the inspiration!
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:33
And it’s so simple to do too!
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You’re so lucky to have gone to Vietnam! It’s my mother’s homeland, but I haven’t been there yet (she has never gone back). She did teach me how to make spring rolls, though… Yours look great, very fresh and well-wrapped! By the way, the fried version is sometimes called “imperial rolls,” to distinguish them from spring rolls.
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:33
If you have the change you should definitely pay Vietnam a visit. Gorgeous country, so much history there too and love the people!
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Your springrolls are good-looking! And so is this post…I loved the story and the photos.
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:33
Thanks Joan!
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I love the Vietnamese cuisine! It is so fresh, refined and flavorful.
Your springrolls look marvelous and really appetizing!
Nice post too.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:34
Thanks Rosa. Yes, Vietnamese cuisine is one of the best as far as I’m concerned..
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I love sprinroles and am so fortunate we can buy dough here of original ones.I always think of new ways to fill them.Will try yours ,of course;)
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:34
Let me know how you like them!
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Wow. I just made these yesterday. Yum.
I paired with a chilled cucumber, ginger, coconut milk soup…it was fabulous.
I like the way you did the meat, though. Mine was a bit bland, so I’ll have to try your way next time. Thanks!
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:32
Yes I think marinating the meat is definitely a good thing to do to add more flavor.
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Why is it called [b]Cashew[/b] Nut Dipping Sauce?
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 12:32
Ah that is just a silly mistake; it’s obviously peanut sauce… I’ve changed it now. Thanks for letting me know!
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Robin — July 10th, 2011 at 12:44
You’re welcome.
Beautiful springrolls, no idea why you don’t think so. Perfection is plastic food lol I love the shot with the peanut sauce being dribbled on! Everything I missed is making drool, especially the pasta and little shrimps salad and the roasted coconut ice cream tucked with gorgeous apricots. Oh, the baby carrots, I love the pic of them on the patterned fabric! ;D
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This is a very nice blog! Is there any supporters’ button to be sure not to miss it in the future? …. I’ll find the way…
Ciao,
Sabrine
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 10th, 2011 at 16:21
Thanks Sabrine! Yes you can subscribe via RSS or for emailupdates. Whichever works best for you!
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I love this article. It reminds me so much of my year spent in Japan. My kids went to the local school. We didn’t speak much Japanese but every day the kids taught us new words. They would giggle constantly. I’m sure your experience was amazing!!
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What wonderful way to prepare fresh spring rolls! I love them (of course) and constantly miss the ones I tried in my childhood…
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Simone (junglefrog) — July 11th, 2011 at 11:22
Yes these are definitely very good Anh! But I’m sure you have loads of good springroll recipes yourself…
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such a beautiful little boy in that b&w photo. great shot! i hope to visit Asia one day. I’m also hoping that I can make these spring rolls without the meat and they’ll be just as good. bookmarked the recipe with my cookmarked.com account to experiment( http://cookmarked.com ).
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This is one of my fav kind of roll. At times they come out so well .. but at times .. total disaster.
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I think they look beautiful Simone! And I especially love the story too. (these are hard to stop at just one!)
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The spring rolls look grea.
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gorgeous photos. You’ve really captured the freshness of the spring roll. I love it!
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I love your simple recipe for the Spring Roll. Spring Rolls are always soo good and refreshing, as long as fresh filling is in there, it’s all fair game and delicious!
Great post!
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Love the recipe but what’s up with the ad at the bottom? It doesn’t take you to the recipe that’s advertised at all – rather a page full of articles about sex, plus launches lots of pop-ups. I felt it took away from your otherwise lovely website.
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Simone (junglefrog) — January 11th, 2012 at 22:32
He! Thanks for letting me know about that. I checked it and I did get the recipe but indeed together with some other stuff that no one really needs. I might remove it alltogether, so thanks for letting me know!
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This is an excellent page! I wanted to make something a little special for some friends and gave this a try (I made it with prawns though – very good!). It was a massive hit and it is so simple and fresh that it has now become a standard meal in our kitchen. Thanks so much!
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