RECIPE: VIETNAMESE RICE PAPER ROLLS WITH PRAWN FILLING

My favourite snack and great for entrées for dinner party, as an appetiser and for cocktail parties. I also make this for my work lunches - very healthy and nutritious.

Measurements are approximates only – it basically depends on how much of the noodles, herbs or salad you would like to use. You may also use normal (rice) vermicelli instead of the mung bean variety.


Ingredients

60g dried mung bean/glass or rice vermicelli
Dried rice paper wrappers (22cm diameter)
300g cooked prawns
6 to 8 stalks Vietnamese mint – remove stalks and chop the leaves finely
3 sprigs common mint – remove the stalks and chop the leaves finely
6 lettuce leaves – chop fine

Method
Place the vermicelli in a bowl and pour boiling water over the vermicelli. Leave for 3 to 5 minutes till soft, then drain.

Fill a large bowl with hot (not boiling) water. Dip one rice paper into the hot water for few seconds to soften. Lay wrapper flat.

About 3 cm away from the bottom (the end closest to you), place a row of 3 to 4 prawns, a handful of vermicelli, both mints and lettuce, leaving about a gap of 3 cm from the ends uncovered at each side.

Fold the sides first inward, then followed by the bottom closest to you. Roll tightly away from you until the end. Place on a plate and repeat. Serve with RICE PAPER ROLL DIPPING SAUCE.

RECIPE: RICE PAPER ROLL DIPPING SAUCES

These are two types of dipping sauces I normally make to serve with my rice paper rolls.

DIPPING SAUCE 1

1/4 cup (60ml) fish sauce
1/4 cup (60ml) water
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 clove garlic - minced
1 tablespoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground fresh chili paste

DIPPING SAUCE 2

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce (optional)
1 teaspoon finely chopped peanuts (optional)

To make the sauces:

In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili paste OR

In small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce, soy sauce and peanuts.

Serve with VIETNAMESE RICE PAPER ROLLS WITH PRAWN FILLING.

RECIPE: CARAMELISED PORK

The G household love eating Vietnamese food, and our favourite restaurant is this tiny place in O’Connor, ACT called TuDo Vietnamese Restaurant. My son’s favourite dish is their Ginger Squid (I’ll post my version soon). I can honestly say that TuDo is Canberra’s best Vietnamese restaurant. They make a really mean Vietnamese caramelised pork…..and if I may say so, I think mine ain’t that bad either. This is how I made it. You may substitute the pork with beef.

Ingredients
1 kg pork – sliced thinly (I used leg pork)
2 large onions – sliced about ½ cm thick
50 g caster sugar*
50 g brown sugar*
175 ml water*
40 ml Nuoc Cham sauce (see recipe HERE)
20 ml lime juice
½ tsp salt
2 red chillies – de-seeded and sliced finely
½ tsp chinese five spice powder
3 cloves garlic – minced
Oil for frying
2 spring onion – sliced finely at an angle
Crushed peanuts – optional

Method
Heat oil in work and fry the pork in batches until brown. Repeat process and set aside. Turn off the heat and set the wok aside (no need to wash, we will be using it again).

In a saucepan, make the caramel sauce by boiling together *, stirring together constantly with a whisk, until the liquid turns golden. On low heat, carefully add the Nuoc Cham sauce and the lime juice. Stir to mix.

Heat the wok again and fry the garlic and onions until the onions are transparent. Add in the pork and mix well.

Add in the chilli, 5 spice powder, salt and the caramel sauce. Mix well and cook for 1 min. Transfer to dish and garnish with spring onion and peanuts. Serve with rice, vegetables and NUOC CHAM sauce.

RECIPE: STIR FRIED CHINESE VEGETABLES VIETNAMESE STYLE

Ingredients
1 bunch chinese vegetables – finely sliced (I used Choy Sum today)
2 tbsp veg oil
2 garlic cloves – finely chopped
1 egg lightly beaten with a splash of fish sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method
Heat oil and fry garlic for 30 secs. Add the vegetables and fry until cooked (2 to 3 mins).

Make a well in the centre and add in the egg. Stir through the vegetable. Add the fish sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with rice as an accompaniment to a meat/seafood dish.

RECIPE: NUOC CHAM SAUCE

Ingredients
70 g palm sugar
½ cup boiling water
¼ cup fish sauce
1 tbsp white rice vinegar
2 tbsp lime juice
3 bird’s eye chilli – finely chopped
3 cloves garlic – finely chopped

Method
Put the sugar in a bowl and pour the boiling water over it, stirring until completely dissolved. Add all other ingredients, stir well and use as dipping sauce for spring rolls or in dishes such as CARAMELISED PORK.