The great thing about spring rolls is that they are delicious, easy to make, and you can fill them with whatever you like. The following recipe is close to a classic Vietnamese spring roll, except I made them a little tastier by adding caramelized pork. If you are not a pork eater, you can substitute with chicken, which is mostly how I make them.
Recipe: Spring Rolls with Caramelized Pork
Recipe by 2 Hungry Birds – Tina Course: Appetizers, SnacksCuisine: Vietnam12
spring rollsThe great thing about spring rolls is that they are delicious, easy to make, and you can fill them with whatever you like. The following recipe is close to a classic Vietnamese spring roll, except I made them a little tastier by adding caramelized pork. If you are not a pork eater, you can substitute with chicken, which is mostly how I make them.
Ingredients
2 squares 2 rice vermicelli noodles
1 tablespoon 1 white vinegar
2 tablespoons 2 fried onions
2 tablespoons 2 roasted peanuts, chopped
1 head 1 romaine lettuce
1 small bunch 1 fresh cilantro
1 small bunch 1 mint leaves
A big handful of bean sprouts
3.75 inches 3.75 (10 cm) English cucumber, cut into thin sticks
1 lb 1 (500 gram) pork belly (I used pork butt chop) or 2 chicken breasts, cut into small strips
1 tablespoon 1 sunflower or canola oil
2 2 garlic cloves, minced
¾ inch ¾ ginger, minced
½ tablespoon ½ sugar
1 tablespoon 1 fish sauce
1 ½ tablespoons 1 ½ oyster sauce
Rice paper
- Dipping sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha chili sauce
Roasted chopped peanuts
Directions
- Boil water in a medium size pot and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Add the rice vermicelli noodles and separate them while they are cooking using chopsticks or two forks until the noodles are cooked al dente. Strain the water from the noodles. You can add a drop of sesame oil to prevent them from sticking together, and then let the noodles cool off. Spread the noodles on a plate and toss fried onions and peanuts over them.
- Clean and prepare the vegetables and lay them out on a large serving plate.
- Heat a large pan over medium-high until hot, and then add the oil, garlic and ginger. Sauté for a minute and then add the meat and cook until browned. Sprinkle sugar over the meat, sauté for another minute, and then add the fish sauce and oyster sauce. Sauté for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens.
- Assemble the spring rolls one at a time by dipping the rice paper in a bowl of water and laying it out on a plate, and then adding lettuce, noodles, meat, cucumber, mint and cilantro to the end of the wrap closest to you. Roll the spring roll halfway, then fold in the sides and roll the rest of the way. Continue until you have used all of the ingredients.
- Serve with a little dipping bowl of hoisin sauce and chili sauce with a sprinkle of chopped peanuts.