Gỏi Cuốn - Vietnamese Spring Rolls Recipe
A delicious, authentic and relatively simple Vietnamese recipe for spring rolls. With shrimp, pork rice noodles and vegetables This is a delicious snack that you can make ahead of time!
Equipment
- rice paper water bowl
Ingredients
PORK
- 1/2 1 lb (227 grams) pork belly
- 1 medium onion cut in half
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
SHRIMP
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 lb (227 g) shrimp 31/35 size
VEGGIES and OTHER Ingredients
- 1 head of green leaf lettuce, or red leaf
- 1/2 bunch mint
- 1/2 bunch of chives
- 1/2 pack of dried spring roll wrapper (rice paper)
- 1/3 pack of rice noodles that have been dried (or dried banh Hoi)
PEANUT DIPPING SAUCE
- 2 TBSP minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp oil
- 3 Tbsp peanut butter
- 8 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 c of water
- Sambal chile paste as desired Optional
Instructions
COOKING PORK
- Add onion, pork sugar, salt and pork in a small saucepan with enough liquid to fill it about 1 inch over the pork. Bring the water to a boil over high heat , then reduce to medium. Cook for 25-30 mins or until the pork juices are clear when you poke at the thickest portion or it registers at as 145 F using the instant thermometer located at the largest portion.
- Put the pork with a bowl while it cools, so that it doesn't turn dark. After it is cool, slice it as thinly you can in order to allow for easier rolling later.
COOKING SHRIMP
- Defrost shrimp in the water bowl. After defrosting, remove the veins from the shrimp. Then, hold the shrimp in front of the light source to see the vein. Then, puncture the white portion (joint) on the back of the fish below the vein using an instrument, then push the toothpick upwards toward the shrimp's to pull it back. Slowly pull it back to release the vein. Do this again at the next joint , if the vein is broken to get rid of all remnants of vein. Repeat this process with all the shrimp.
- Cook the shrimp by adding shrimp along with salt and water in a small pan that it covers your shrimp. Cook on medium-high heat for approximately 1.5 up to 2.5 hours or so, until your shrimp are not translucent anymore. Drain and run it under cool water in order to end cooking.
- Take the tails and shells from the shrimp. Cut the shrimp in half across the body.
RICE NOODLES
- Make the rice noodles according to the directions on the package. Timings can be wildly different based on the thickness of your noodles and the brand. It could take anywhere between 2 and 10 minutes. Drain the noodles and cool them under cool running water to prevent the cooking process from continuing.
VEGGIES
- Prepare your vegetables by washing then drying.
Spring Roll Wrapping
- Place warm water in an empty plate and let it place the rice for 5-10 minutes. The rice paper is soaked enough to ensure it's soft and manageable however, you must remove the sheet prior to it becoming too sticky and soft. Place rice paper on a table and begin to put together your roll.
- Sprinkle lettuce at the lower part of your rice sheet. Allow 1 to 1/2 inch on each side on the rice paper. Add chives and mint. Make sure to not layer too many things as it can be difficult to roll, and it could break the rice paper.
- Incorporate shrimp into the middle on the rice papers, with the skin of orange facing downwards.
- Spread the pork slices over the shrimp.
- Put the noodles on top of the vegetables, spreading them equally over.
- Fold the right and left sides inwards so that it's comfortable. Lay chives along the length of the dish with one end sticking out. Fold the bottom of the chives over to over the noodles. The goal is to ensure that the roll is tightly, so gently squeeze it in while rolling. Continue rolling upwards to finish this spring roll.
PEANUT DIPING SAUCE
- In a saucepan over medium-high heat, cook garlic with oil till it is fragrant.
- Mix in the hoisin sauce and peanut butter and water , and mix well.
- Bring the sauce to a boil, then immediately remove the heat. Pour into a safe, heat-resistant dip bowl. The sauce will begin to get thicker when it cools.
- Sprinkle peanuts with ground up on the sauce bowls and then leave the paste of chiles on the side for others to add it to their own bowls of dipping according to their preference.