03. Summer Rolls

According to the boyfriend, the pungent smell of fish sauce can be uncomfortably overwhelming... and much to his chagrin, one of my favorite dishes (highlighted in my previous post) features fish sauce quite prominently. To accommodate his "delicate" palate a bit, I decided to whip up some equally refreshing summer rolls for him instead.

To be extra nice, I also omit the fish sauce in the marinade for Thit Nuong (Charbroiled Pork). Swap it out with some light soy sauce and you're good to go.  

For the record, I think fish sauce and it's even stinkier cousin, mam ruoc, are both mighty tasty! May have something to do with eating lots of natto growing up...  

This recipe, with the exception of the charbroiled pork, was pieced together through many summer roll eating experiences. 

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Kind of plain, but a whole lot of delicious!

Makes 4 servings

Goi Cuon (Summer Rolls)
1 lb. Thit Nuong (Charbroiled Pork)
18 peeled, deveined raw shrimp
Mijiu (Chinese cooking wine)
1 tsp. salt
1 bundle of vermicelli noodles
Romaine hearts, chopped
Carrots, julienned 
Cucumbers, julienned (optional)
Bean sprouts (optional)
Mint (optional)
Cilantro (optional)

• Bring a pot of water to a boil while you prepare the shrimp. 
• Slice shrimp in half horizontally. It's easiest to follow the "vein" and wiggle a knife through. You should end up with 36 shrimp halves. Pour enough mijiu over the shrimp halves to immerse them and mix the shrimp around. The mijiu acts as a cleansing agent and removes most of the fishy smell. It's also perfectly normal to see the mijiu darken slightly and take on an icky, pinkish hue. 
• Drain and rinse shrimp in cold water. Massage shrimp halves with the salt for a few minutes, then place in boiling water to cook. When shrimp halves are fully cooked, drain the hot water, briefly rinse shrimp with cold water, and set aside.
• Cook vermicelli noodles as directed on the package label. Drain and rinse to remove excess starch.

Peanut Dipping Sauce

2 tbsp. peanut butter

6 tbsp. hoisin sauce

8 tbsp. water

2 tsp. soy sauce

Chopped peanuts (optional)

• Stir together peanut butter with hoisin sauce. I like to use MaraNatha No Stir Organic Peanut Butter because it has a more liquid consistency. It's also unsweetened and slightly salted, which makes it a good complement to the sweetness of hoisin sauce. 
• Add water and soy sauce, stirring until thoroughly combined. As with all sauces, feel free to modify the amount of each ingredient to taste.
• Sprinkle chopped peanuts on top and set aside.

Assembling Summer Rolls
12 spring roll wrappers
12 paper towels

• Add spring roll wrappers one at a time to a pan with cool water. Make sure that each wrapper is fully submerged in the water before adding another wrapper on top. Soak for about 5 minutes. 
• Thoroughly wet one paper towel under the sink, then squeeze most of the water out. Lay the dampened paper towel on a cutting board. Remove one moistened wrapper from the pan and lay on top of the paper towel. Repeat this step, alternating damp paper towels with moistened wrappers until you end up with a wrapper on top. I do this because the spring roll wrappers become incredibly sticky once they start to dry. The paper towels keep them from sticking to one another and helps to maintain just enough dampness so that the wrappers are manageable to work with. 
• Assemble your summer rolls! Arrange 3 shrimp halves in a row along the edge of the wrapper. Next, add a little vermicelli, a few slices of charbroiled pork, veggies, and garnish. As you do this, be sure to hold the ingredients together as compactly as possible. Next, wrap the summer roll: fold in both sides (ends) of the wrapper, use your fingers to gently compact the ingredients into a little roll, and roll it up! Repeat until all summer rolls are assembled and serve with peanut dipping sauce.