Vietnamese Summer Rolls “Gỏi Cuốn”
Growing up these were always a family treat to make and eat! My sister, Anh-Linh, loves them so much that my parents literally fly with all the ingredients to make it for her every time they come visit us in NY. I have to remind you that she’s also 36 years old and should be able to make them now since they’re super easy to make!
4 tips and things I learned from mastering these:
Even though rice paper is very forgiving you don’t want to overstuff them
Color and texture is important so I like to use a lot of bright contrasty colors like dark black sesame seeds with the brightness of fresh or pickled carrots
Herbs are key. My favorite combination is fresh cilantro, scallions, and Thai basil or mint
It’s all about the fish dipping sauce (Nouc Cham)
Ingredients:
1 package of 22cm (about 8.66”) round rice paper
Lettuce (washed, dried, and torn into about 5-6” x 2” pieces)
1 package of thin rice vermicelli noodles (you’ll only need about a 3 cups of cooked noodles, rinsed, and strained)
1 cup of pickled daikon/carrots (or fresh peeled & julienned carrots)
1 large cucumber, cut into thin long strips
1 bunch of scallions
Few sprigs of fresh Thai basil leaves
Few sprigs of fresh mint leaves
1 bunch of fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups of boiled shrimp
Lime wedges for garnish
Black and/or white sesame seeds
*Fish Sauce: See recipe for traditional Nuoc Cham dipping sauce
PREPARATION
Take a sheet of rice paper and completely submerge into a bowl of warm water (not cold and not hot), rotate and turning occasionally for about 5-10 seconds and pull out and place onto a large plate. The rice paper will still kind of be stiff which is ok (it will turn limp and pliable after a few more seconds on the plate).
While the rice paper is getting soft you can begin to sprinkle some sesame seeds in the middle of your roll and starting filling the rolls (don’t wait till they get soft before putting ingredients on)
You’ll want to start placing all your ingredients in a row formation about a third of the way on the rice paper circle. I like to put lettuce and herbs down first, then noodles, then carrots, and shrimp.
Make sure the rice paper is completely soft and fold the outer bottom edge a little over your ingredients and then tightly roll the summer roll. (I don’t like rolling both ends and like leaving one end not folded in)
Repeat process until you finish up your ingredients.
Serve rolls freshly made with Nuoc Cham (fish dipping sauce) and garnish with a lime wedge. You can also refrigerate these by placing into a covered tupperware. up to 2 hours. Cut each roll into 2 or 3 pieces, then serve with dipping sauce and lime wedges.