I will share with you my secret to making the best Spring Rolls ! One of the differences between my recipe and everyone else’s is how I boil the shrimp and pork. Traditionally the shrimp and pork are just boiled in some salted water which makes them sort of bland. I like to add a little bit of chicken seasoning to the the water which gives them both a bit more flavor. I will first boil the pork in the salted water with the chicken seasoning and then use the pork stock to boil the shrimp. I believe this is what makes my Spring Rolls better than the rest. Also I find that washing the shrimp in salted water can help rid of the fishy taste that it sometimes can have. A few times I have had ordered Spring Rolls at the restaurants and I had to spit out the shrimp because they had a nasty taste to them . The reason for that is because sometimes they don’t get washed at all or if they do get washed it is only with plain water. Pair these Spring Rolls up with my Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce and this combination is just the bomb ! Making these Spring Rolls at home will always taste better than the restaurants because you know that everything is fresh and you can also customize these rolls to your liking. When you order these at the restaurant you may not like some of the ingredients in them but when you make these at home you can add in your favorite ingredients. Give this recipe a try today ! Then be sure to share it with your family and friends because sharing is caring ! 🙂
Fresh Spring Rolls - Gỏi Cuốn
Ingredients
- 1 Package of Round Rice Paper ( Medium Size - approximately 9x9 )
- 1 Package of Vermicelli Rice Noodle Sticks ( Boiled )
For cooking the pork:
- 20 Cups of Water
- 2 Pounds Pork Belly ( Use pork loin or pork shoulder for less fat )
- 1/2 Tablespoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Totole Chicken Base Mix
Wash the shrimp with:
- 1 1/2 Pounds of Shrimp
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- water
Vegetables needed:
- Red Leaf Lettuce
- Perilla Leaves
- Mint Leaves
- Cilantro
- Japanese Cucumber ( Thinly sliced )
- Chinese Garlic Chives ( Ends trimmed )
Serve with:
- Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce
Instructions
- Boil the noodles according to the directions on the back of the package. If you need instructions on how to boil the noodles please refer to my website at www.EatWithEmily.com. Under the "Vietnamese Recipes" tab please click on " How to cook Rice Stick noodles ".
- Cut the pork belly into 2 inch strips.
- Boil the pork belly. Fill a soup pot with 20 cups of water. Add in the salt and the Totole chicken flavor soup base mix. Bring to a boil. Then add in the pork belly.
- Cover and reduce the heat to simmer for 45 to 50 minutes.
- Remove pork from the pot once it is no longer pink in the middle.
- Place the pork in a container and add 1/2 a cup of the pork broth from the soup pot . This will keep the pork from drying up while it cools. Slightly cover with a lid and let the pork cool for 30 minutes.
- Cut off the pork skin and discard. Then cut the pork into thin slices.
- Cover the plate with saran wrap and set aside.
- Wash the shrimp. Place the shrimp in a large bowl and fill it with cold water . Then add a tablespoon of salt. Swish the shrimp around a few times. Then drain and rinse the shrimp a few times to insure that all the salt has washed off.
- Devein the shrimp with the SHELL ON . Do not peel the shell just yet.
- Remove 1/2 of the pork broth from the soup pot and reserve it . You will need some of the broth to make the Vietnamese dipping sauce for the Spring Rolls. And the extra pork broth can be used to make a noodle soup the next day should you have any extra pork or shrimp.
- Boil the shrimp. Bring the pork broth to a boil then add in the shrimp.
- Cook the shrimp until they are pink. It should only take a few minutes for it to turn color. Remove the shrimp from the pot and let cool.
- Peel the shrimp. Slice the shrimp in half lengthwise and set aside.
- Thoroughly wash all the vegetables. Thinly slice the cucumber and trim off the ends of the chinese garlic chives. Set aside.
- Assemble the rolls. Wet the rice paper by dipping it into a bowl of warm/cool water. The Spring Roll bowl seen here can be purchased at the top of this page through my Amazon Affiliate link.
- Lay the wet rice paper onto a plate and wait about 15 seconds for it to dry up a bit. Then start by placing a red leaf lettuce near the bottom half of the rice paper. Next add on some noodles and the rest of the vegetables: a few perilla leaves, mint leaves, cilantro and a slice of cucumber. Place 3 slices of pork on top of the vegetables.
- Pull the bottom part of the rice paper over the vegetables.
- Then fold in the sides.
- Then tuck in a chinese chive and add 3 slices of shrimp. Leave about 1/4 inch of space between the chinese chive and the shrimp.
- Turn the Spring Roll upwards to complete the roll. The chinese chive should be behind the roll and the shrimp should be showing through the rice paper on top as seen in this photo.
- If the rolls are not going to be served immediately then saran wrap each one individually. The saran wrap will keep the rice paper from drying up and becoming hard.
- Serve with a Vietnamese Peanut Dipping Sauce. Recipe is available on my website at www.EatWithEmily.com. It can be found under the "Vietnamese Recipes" tab. Then click on "Peanut Sauce for Spring Rolls " .
- Enjoy the best Spring Rolls you've ever had ! 🙂
