Vietnamese spring rolls recipe
I’m never without Vietnamese wrappers in the larder for making soft rolls and for frying. You can buy either round or square ones, and there’s not much difference when it comes to rolling them.
The filling is usually a mix of pork and prawns, glass or rice noodles, fish sauce and Chinese black fungus, spring onions and coriander, but you can put all sorts of seasonal shredded vegetables in these rolls. As this recipe is vegetarian, I’ve used ponzu in both the filling and the nuoc cham dipping sauce instead of the traditional fish sauce, but do use that if you prefer.
It will take a couple of attempts to get the hang of the rolling and cooking process, as the delicate wrappers, once dipped in water and laid on the work top, quickly soften and stick. Do one at a time until you get the hang of it, as tight rolling is crucial to prevent air bubbles.
To make half-size versions for drinks parties, either cut the rice papers in half or make them really skinny and cut them in half after cooking.
Timings
Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour soaking time
Cook time: 10 minutes
Serves
4
Ingredients
For the filling
50g rice vermicelli noodles
8 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled, trimmed and finely shredded
8 mangetouts, shredded
50g (about 8) fresh shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
20g Chinese dried black fungus, soaked in cold water for an hour and shredded (optional) or an extra 5 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
a handful of coriander, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp ponzu
For the nuoc cham dipping sauce
1 medium red chilli, finely chopped, seeds included
juice and grated zest of 1 lime
20g caster sugar
2 tbsp ponzu
For the rolls
8 x 22cm Vietnamese round or square spring roll wrappers (banh trang), plus a couple extra for practising
vegetable or corn oil for deep frying
Method
First make the filling. Put the noodles in a bowl, pour over some boiling water and leave to soak for about an hour, until soft, then drain well. Return the drained noodles to the bowl, mix in the other filling ingredients and season. Place the filling mixture in a colander and leave over the sink to drain for 10 minutes as it shouldn’t be wet for rolling.
Put some warm water in a pan or bowl that’s a little larger than the rice papers. Submerge one rice-
paper sheet in the water for 30 seconds, then lay it on a clean, flat work surface. Put an eighth (about 80g) of the filling in a compact horizontal line 4cm up from the bottom edge of the sheet and leaving about 4cm on each side.Fold the sides in towards the centre in a straight and even line and roll tightly from the near edge, gently pulling the filling back towards you to ensure there are no air gaps. If using a round rice-paper wrapper, put an eighth (about 80g) of the filling in a compact horizontal line 4cm up from the base, leaving about 2.5cm on each side.
Lift the bottom part of the wrapper over the filling, then fold the sides in towards the centre and lay them over the filling to create a flap facing away from you. Roll tightly from the bottom edge, gently pulling the filling back towards you to ensure there are no air gaps.
Lay the rolls on a flat plate or tray lined with cling film and ensure they are not touching to prevent them sticking.
To make the nuoc cham, mix all of the ingredients together with 40ml warm water.Preheat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large, heavy-based saucepan or electric deep-fat fryer.
Cook the rolls three or four at a time, depending on the size of your pan or fryer. The crucial thing is to make sure they don’t touch each other as they cook or they will stick and burst.
Leave the rolls untouched in the oil for around 20 seconds or they will stick to your slotted spoon or tongs, then turn them over, spooning over some of the hot oil so they cook evenly. Cook them for another two minutes, until crisp. They won’t actually go brown but a very light golden colour. Remove from the oil and drain on some kitchen paper and repeat with the rest of the rolls.
Serve with the nuoc cham dipping sauce.
