Vietnamese Spring Rolls

canarygirl's Note:

These spring rolls, served with dipping sauce are a favorite at our house. While they are a little tedious to make, the recipe makes about 20, so they can be frozen and then just thawed the next time. Cook time is approximate, it will depend on how many you make, and whether you need to do them in batches.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 20 spring ...

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 (4 ounce) package rice vermicelli, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes,drained and chopped
• 1 egg
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed
• 1/4 cup finely grated carrot
• 1/4 cup finely grated cabbage (optional)
• 1/2 cup bean sprouts
• 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• salt
• white pepper
• 20 spring roll wrappers (I like the frozen ones, though the dry rice wraps are good too, just more difficult to work with)
• oil (for frying)

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except wraps and oil in a bowl.
2. On a damp tea towel, place a wrap, and fill with a couple of tablespoons of the pork mixture in a sausage like shape at one end of the wrap.
3. Fold sides in, then begin rolling spring roll at the mixture side.
4. Seal roll by moistening edge with water.
5. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
6. Fry rolls, turning frequently until cooked through and golden, about 5-7 minutes.
7. Drain on paper towels, and serve with Spring Roll Sauce (Nuoc Mam).
8. Keep warm in heated oven.
9. Note: The spring rolls may be made ahead, and frozen, and then fried when thawed.
10. Spring rolls may be kept in fridge until ready to fry too, up to a day or two in advance.
11. Ground chicken may be substituted for the pork, and chopped shrimp may also be added for a special flavor combination.

Reviews

[riffraff]

Made these along with another recipe and these were by far the best. We added fresh hot pepper too but the cilantro really kicked it up. Left the egg out because it did not seem to need it. We baked some and froze the rest. Thanks for another great recipe.

[Chef #464842]

I have been looking for a good vietnamese spring roll recipe ever since I had some at this fantastic vietnamese place near where I live. This recipe is SO incredibly close to the ones from the restaurant. The only thing different I did was I ground up a package of shrimp in the food processor and added it in with the ground pork and also added in some lemongrass because the ones I had at the restaurant had ground shrimp and lemongrass in them. I also tried to replicate the sauce from the restaurant which was pretty easy and althought didnt seem great while I was making it, it really went fantastic with the rolls. (the sauce I made was 1 minced chili, 1 clove of minced garlic, 4-5 tbsp of sugar, 2/3 cup water, 1 tbsp of very finely shredded carrots, 1 1/2 tbsp of fresh lime juice, and 5 tbsp of fish sauce...the fish sauce is something Id never heard of before, but after digging a little I found it in the asian section of our grocery store. It comes in a small bottle, is orangy-brown and very watery. It stinks and tasted TERRIBLE on its own but when mixed with the above ingredients it makes a fantastic sauce.) Thanks for posting this recipe. everyone I made it for thought it was absolutely fantastic. I make it all the time. The first time I made it I used the rice papers, which I found did not fry evenly and didnt go crispy like the spring roll wrappers do. After that I only use the spring roll wrappers. I could only find these in a tiny asian store that I came across. None of the grocery stores where I live sell them. Thanks again. This is one of my favorites!

[Jessy's Girl]

turned out my great. my boyfriend loves these when we go to vietnamese restaurants and was really impressed i was able to make them and they turned out fantastic. i omitted the white wine (ive never seen wine served at a vietnamese restaurant) and they still turned out great.