Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls with Shrimp
- Yield: 16 pieces
Juicy peaches, brimming with flavour and refreshing Thai herbs, prawns and chilli – a quintessential summer lunch in itself. If you don’t have rice paper rolls, just toss in a bowl with dressing and serve as a salad
Ingredients
- 50grams vermicelli noodles
- 16 round rice papers
- 48large cooked peeled shrimp
- 1/2bunch mint, leaves picked
- bunch coriander, leaves picked
- 32leaves Thai basil or Vietnamese mint
- 50grams Unsalted roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
- 1 Peach, halved, thinly sliced, then julienned
- 1 Baby gem lettuce, halved, finely shredded, lengthways
- Dipping Sauce
- 1small bird's-eye chili, seeded and finely chopped
- 2cloves garlic, small
- 1tablespoon palm sugar
- Juice of two limes
- 4tablespoons fish sauce
- 1tablespoon rice wine vinegar
Instructions
- Cook the rice noodles according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water so they don’t stick together, then set aside to cool.
- Fill a large, shallow bowl with warm water. Dip one rice paper into the water to soften (this will take 10–40 seconds, depending on how thick they are). Remove and lay on a damp tea-towel. Arrange three shrimp down the centre with some herbs, noodles, peanuts, peach and lettuce. Don’t overfill or it will be too fat and impossible to roll.
- Fold the edge of the paper closest to you over the filling, fold in the sides, then roll up tightly to make a neat parcel. Set aside on a tray while you repeat with the remaining rice papers and fillings. Cover the rice paper rolls with a damp tea-towel until you are ready to eat.
- To make the dipping sauce, place the chilli, garlic and palm sugar in a mortar and grind to a smooth paste. Stir in the remaining ingredients, along with 1 tablespoon of water.
- Serve the sauce in little dipping dishes with the rice paper rolls.
Reprinted with permission from Maria Elia’s Full of Flavor: How to Create Like a Chef (Kyle Books, 2013)