Fresh spring rolls - Goi Cuon

Serve with dipping sauce.

I think everybody knows the Chinese spring rolls, but I must admit that I was surprised when I heard about the fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. Could they offer a healthier option for the fried crispy spring rolls? Anyway, I loved the taste and they are quite fun to make.

As I was making these for the first time I followed quite closely the recipe I found on Youtube (Helen’s recipes – Vietnamese food). Maybe next time I dare to experiment with new fillings.

600 g pork belly

300 g scampi
200 g rice vermicelli
Salad leaves, pepper mint leaves, coriander, chive and sliced cucumber
Rice paper (large or small according to your choice)



Boil the other half of the
pork belly and cook the
other half in the oven.

Cook the scampi until they
are orange.

For the sauce you will need:

Oil

4 garlic cloves
5 table spoons of hoisin sauce
5 table spoons of the water where the pork belly was boiled in
1 table spoons of peanut butter
Sugar


Cut the pork belly in two pieces and boil the other piece in salt water for half an hour. The other piece you can quickly fry on a frying pan on both sides before putting it in to the oven for 45 minutes in 175 degrees. Before putting the meat in to the oven taste it with salt and pepper. When taking the meat out from the water or the oven check that it is not raw or pink in the middle. When the meat pieces have cooled down cut them in thin slices.



The ingredients.

Peel the fresh scampis (remove also the black line on the back) and fry them on a frying pan without any oil until they are orange. Cut them in half.

Cook the rice vermicelli and rinse it with cold water.

Rince the rice paper under water and place it on the table. Put the salad and mint leaves, cucumber slices, coriander and rice vermicelli on the other end of the rice paper. Next the vegetables place one pork slice. To the end of the rice paper you place the 2 slices of scampi so that the skin is towards the rice paper. Start rolling the paper from the end where the salad was and stop just before the scampi. Close the open ends by turning the sides of the spring roll. Add the chive on top of the scampi and finish the rolling of the rice paper.



Fresh spring rolls.

Place the vegetables in the
end, meat infront and
scampi in the other end.

The sauce you make by warming up the oil and gently cooking the small garlic pieces in it. Add the Hoisin sauce with pork belly water and peanut butter. Stir it well and add 1 table spoon of sugar. Let the dipping sauce to thicken for couple of minutes on low fire.



Stop rolling just before scampis,
turn the ends and continue
rolling over the scampis and
chive.