Goi cuon (summer roll), Vietnam
Summer rolls or
Spring rolls (
Gỏi cuốn) also known as Vietnamese fresh rolls.
This snack made from pork, shrimp, herbs, rice vermicelli and other ingredients wrapped in rice paper is served at room temperature. It's "meat light," with the flavors of refreshing herbs erupting in your mouth.
Dipped in a slightly sweet Vietnamese sauce laced with ground peanuts, it's wholesome, easy and the very definition of "moreish."
Summer rolls are unfried wraps with pork, shrimp, herbs, rice vermicelli, and other ingredients wrapped in rice paper. They are often confused with
spring rolls, which are typically stuffed with pork/shrimp, cabbage, and bean thread vermicelli and are always fried.
Summer rolls are normally dipped in a simple sauce consisting of hoisin sauce, garlic, peanut butter, and water which are boiled until well blended.
Spring rolls almost constitute an entire category of Vietnamese foods, as there are numerous different kinds of spring rolls with different ingredients in them.
http://pics.livejournal.com/chubbypanda/pic/000ezrwxSummer rolls aka
goi cuon are the quintessential Vietnamese snack. Stuffed with herbs and served fresh rather than fried, they're healthier than spring rolls. They sound tricky to make, but are actually very easy, as long as you have everything ready in advance.
Serves 4 as a snack or a starterTakes 30 minutes to prepare, plus 15 minutes to assemble
IngredientsFor the summer rolls (goi cuon) 12 rice paper wrappers (large 22cm circles)
200g rice vermicelli noodles
One round lettuce (Bibb, Boston or Butterhead)
250g cooked king prawns
250g roast pork or roast duck, diced
Fresh mint, coriander (and if you can get them) Vietnamese basil, cockscomb mint, perilla aka shiso, roughly chopped
Bunch of chives
For the dipping sauce (nuoc cham) Juice of a lemon
Juice of a lime
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tablespoons caster sugar
50ml water
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 bird's eye chilli, thinly sliced
Tools Large clean work surface or chopping board (bigger surface area than a rice paper wrapper)
Large tupperware or oven dish (big enough to hold a rice paper wrapper)
METHOD 1. Soak the noodles in just-boiled water for 10 minutes, drain, and snip into chipolata-sized clumps.
2. Mix the dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl and taste. Adjust according to your own palate – if it's not salty enough for you, add a little fish sauce and so on. Set to one side.
3. Wash and separate the lettuce leaves. Fill the large dish with warm water.
4. Time to assemble your summer rolls. Lightly dip a rice paper wrapper in the warm water, keeping it flat, but so every part of the wrapper is moist. Immediately place the wrapper flat on your board or work surface.
5. The aim is to make a sausage-sized filling for the roll. Layer the ingredients as follows: place three prawns in a row across the middle of the wrapper. Fold a lettuce leaf and lay it horizontally on top of the row of prawns. Then add a clump of noodles on top of this, and then a few chunks of roast pork or duck. Finish with a generous scattering of herbs.
6. Place a chive horizontally along the top of the filling, so that one end sticks out over the edge of the wrapper. Now fold the bottom edge of the wrapper cleanly over the top of the filling and press down the edges, to make a rough semi-circle. Now fold over the end of the wrapper which doesn’t have the chive sticking out of it and press down. Finally, tightly roll up the whole summer roll like a fat cigar.
7. Repeat for the other rolls. When you've made all of them, serve immediately with the dipping sauce. If you're saving for later, store in an airtight Tupperware in the fridge so they don't dry out and eat them within a day.
http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show-recipes/gordons-great-escape-recipes/vietnamese-summer-rolls