Gỏi cuốn
I won’t pretend I’m vietnamese or an expert at making their food but I might go bankrupt from spending 7$ everytime I want Vietnamese summer rolls at Whole foods so I decided I should learn how to make these myself. To my surprise these are deceptively hard to make! I think I ripped and demolished about four rolls (the skin is extremely delicate after you dunk it in hot water) and all the insides fell out because of my slashed wrappers!
Crepe like vietnamese spring rolls, these turn transparent when cooked.
70% of this dish starts out with dried carbs. Don’t think because they aren’t fried or slathered with thick sauce that they are ass or thigh friendly!!
Use fresh shrimp, or if you’re really feeling like Rachel Ray, just use cooked shrimp that come in those cocktail packs at the supermarket… I skewered them before steaming them to keep them very straight so they are easy to roll up.
Don’t overcook the shrimp, undress them and take the sticks out. You see how they’ve remained pretty straight.
After slightly cooking the outer wrapper, shock them in cold water so you can handle them and lay it out on a clean board. Start your first layer with fresh cilantro, and add on horizontally sliced shrimp. Place the colored side DOWN so that when you’re done rolling them they look somewhat attractive.
Thinly sliced carrots, use a mandolin…Also marinate them in Nước chấm (I made mine without the red hot chili pepper) sauce so the carrots don’t taste too plain.
Add Boston lettuce (not too much) Bun noodles, or vietnamese rice noodles…also marinate this in a bit of Nước chấm sauce.
Roll it up…
When you’re done it should look something like this. You see mine look pretty hefty..but I think its more traditional to make them thinner like thick pipes? Not sure..they taste good both ways..but if you want to make it thinner just add less stuff.
Its also common to use peanut sauce but I prefer the clean tasting Nước chấm sauce.
Category: Imagefeed 38 comments »
February 4th, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Mmmm delicious! I stay well clear of Whole Foods–it totally guts my wallet! I’ve made these before myself….it’s all in the sheets. If you got good sheets and good rolling technique, you’re all good. You’ve officially made me hungry again!
February 4th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
when I make mine I don’t boil the wrapper…just soak it in warm water for a little while..when I take it out of the water I place the next wrapper into the water and keep it going…as I finish the first I start the next…
Have not made these for years…thanks for the reminder..I will make some this week I think!
February 4th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
looks pretty easy, gonna try this!
February 4th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
you should soak the wrappers in cold water- this way they won’t fall apart. They’ll retain some elasticity
February 4th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Awesome wrapping skills!
February 4th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
Yum! Sign me up!
February 4th, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Thank you for posting this since I hadn’t really any idea about how they were made lol I’m too busy eating them. :p
February 4th, 2010 at 9:42 pm
$7 for spring rolls?? but they cost $3 at the restaurant! unless you mean a bigger package. ^^ that said, these are pretty easy to make once you get the hang of it. rolling them is my favorite part. like some others have said, just quickly dipping the wrapper in hot water is enough! not long enough to soak them though, just wet them. and while you are putting the stuff in, the wrapper will get softer but still strong enough!
now i wanna eat some!
February 4th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
look sooo yummy… spring rolls are my favorite! but i really love peanut sauce…
xo
bravegrrl.blogspot.com
February 4th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I love making these!!!! Thanks for reminding me to go make some!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Yum spring rolls! Have you tried the ones with the thin sliced pork in it? That’s usually how I have mine. So good!!
PS. I once had a spring roll with duck in it, and plum dipping sauce. I swear it’s like a party in the mouth. haha
February 4th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
These are my “healthy” summer staple!
I like to add crushed/ roasted peanuts to add texture too, still dipping in the Nước chấm sauce for the crisp taste.
Yum.. Practice makes perfect.
PS, I just dip my rice paper wrappers in hot water to soften- always one at a time!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
LOVE vietnamese cold prawn rolls!!! Must admit I have never made them…my future sister-in-law is Vietnamese and her family run a brilliant Vietnamese restaurant (lucky me)! Love the idea of skewering the prawns so they stay straight, don’t think I’ve ever seen that, may give these a go this weekend
xx
February 4th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Mmmm these look so good, I love Vietnamese food, it’s one of my favourite. I have tried making rolls like this before, just with vegetables, and they are VERY hard to make – very fragile and slippery!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
yea i know!!!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:22 pm
do you need to cook/soak them? i’ve had these served dry in a restaurant before (so we could make our own rolls
) and they just needed a quick dunk in room temp water. softened up super fast!
February 4th, 2010 at 10:31 pm
I don’t know that I’ve ever de-lurked here before despite tweeting many of your amazing food and clothing creations. But with my momma being Vietnamese and an amazing cook to boot, I have to say this post really made my mouth water in a nostalgic way. She usually serves hers with a custom blend of fish sauce, hoisin sauce, and hot peppers. And from time to time she will add scrambled, sliced egg (which adds beautiful color), chives, and a variety of other aromatic herbs. I’ve never had any rolls as good as hers.
February 4th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Yes I’ve ordered those at pho 32 and did the same thing you did. You can do both I guess. I just used simmering water but you can also just dunk them in warm water…
February 4th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
I dampen a paper towel and lay the rice wrappers flat on that. Then the rice paper doesn’t stick on the countertop or whatever, eliminating tears.
February 5th, 2010 at 12:16 am
oh summer rolls
thank you for this
and i totally agree about the Nước chấm sauce
February 5th, 2010 at 3:08 am
great job! sometimes, the rice papers makes a big difference. We swear by the “three bamboo” brand–it never rips and makes it so easy to roll.
February 5th, 2010 at 4:38 am
i love eating these with pork as well and heaps of vegies like cucumber and such. I love eating it with peanut sauce. your like my mum cause you both prefer to eat nouc mam haha! except she eats it with chilli. either way i love these things. sometime when i make the peanut sauce and i can’t be bothered to full simmer them and what not, i use the black sauce thing and add peanut butter and microwave it haha. there are also other types of recipes using the rice paper. it’s exactly like these things but with different fillings and different sauces. one of the fillings is bì, which is like shredded pork mixed with glass noodles, and you eat it with nouc mam. it’s yummo :9 there’s this other really nice filling as well but i’ve forgotten what its called…hmmm…damn..i’ll have to ask my mum next time.
anyway, good job
February 5th, 2010 at 5:06 am
Use a brush to brush warm water over the skin just prior to wrapping. The moisture from the dressing sauce and stuffing would further soften the roll by the time you are ready to eat and the skin wouldn’t get too soggy
February 5th, 2010 at 5:51 am
Ohh I’m viet! sadly I can’t speak it.
Love to eat these in summer hence the name ‘Vietnamese summer roll”
Plus being Viet comes with the territory of professorial paper rice dipping.
Plus I prefer pork instead of prawns though you could have both.
February 5th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Yum, I love these. I’m half Viet but we use grilled marinated pork instead of the prawns.
The trick is to have a frying pan full of warm water and dip in one side then kind of squeeze the excess water off, then repeat as you dip the rest in bit by bit. It’s good to put each one on a seperate plastic plate (which you can stack) so they don’t all stick together.
If you want a family recipe, let me know.
February 5th, 2010 at 8:10 am
huh strange bc every restaurant I go I’ve ordered them with shrimp.
February 5th, 2010 at 11:34 am
so funny that this is so common in france and so expensive here. i would have never thought of making them because in paris you have them for close to nothing at every corner
now that i live in ny, i gave them up. ans now that i saw your post, i want one!!!
February 5th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
I just had some great fresh rolls at a restaurant last night (Green Bamboo in Buenos Aires) and was thinking about trying to make them myself at home. And then you go and post this for my inspiration! As always, right on the money. Thanks so much! I adore your blog.
February 5th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
I wanna knight you! You’re an honorary Vietnamese person now.
I like the silver noodles in this recipe. For another variation, try this recipe http://foodmunchies.blogspot.com/2009/03/bo-bia-vietnamese-spring-rolls.html. This is pretty popular in Vietnam. You saute Jicama and pair it with chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and egg. If you don’t eat meat, forgo the sausage.
February 5th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
not ready to be a knight yet as you say! Still gotta learn Cha gio!!
February 5th, 2010 at 6:17 pm
i’m so hungry now..these look sooooo good
February 6th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
mmmm mmmm looks yummy. the place we go to puts shiitake mushrooms in them.
February 7th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
cucumber and bean sprouts would also add a nice refreshing crunch. and grilled or broiled fish is amazing (with butter, garlic, lemon… mmmm)
February 14th, 2010 at 12:46 am
yum, i love cold rolls! and they’re so fun to make for dinner when you have friends over too. i put bowls of freshly boiled water on the table, carrot, cucumber, rice vermicelli, sprigs of mint, curly leaf lettuce and avocado. and i make a sauce out of peanut butter and hoi sin sauce, blended with some hot water. super tasty, but not exactly authentic vietnamese i know…
February 19th, 2010 at 8:36 pm
[...] Vietnamese summer rolls [...]
March 1st, 2010 at 10:41 am
As a Vietnamese, I don’t use hot or warm water, just luke warm, and dip the papers in just real quick. They might feel a bit too hard at first, but that helps u to wrap everything up without the papers to tear open, and it gets softer by the time ur done.
March 11th, 2010 at 8:47 am
like jenn says, chilled cucumber is great to go in with them (never had them without) and mint leaves too if you’re going to do the pork ones (roast pork or shredded pork). and marinated jellyfish goes well with the prawn ones.
April 11th, 2010 at 9:20 pm
OMG these photos are amazing and of course, the rolls look phenomenal!!!! your site is amazing…i can spend hours on here. it’s so simple but so captivating and interesting. PS – your dog is adorable…thank you for giving me something to do when I don’t want to work =P