The best recipe for Vietnamese spring rolls
An com is a wonderful cookbook full of home-style Vietnamese dishes, with handy tips on ingredients and cooking methods. Phi-Yen and her parents’ recipes show you how to make the tastiest spring rolls, dipping sauces, crispy pancakes and Vietnamese spring rolls.
Phi-Yen: ‘Gỏi cuốn means conviviality to us. When we eat gỏi cuốn, the whole table is covered with fresh vegetables and herbs, meat, shrimp, dipping sauces and rice paper. We spend the entire evening rolling gỏi cuốn, until we roll over ourselves. Because this dish consists of many separate ingredients, in Vietnam it is easier to buy it ready-made at a food stall. They roll it right in front of you; you can’t get it any fresher. That’s why in Vietnam it is considered true street food.’
This recipe for Vietnamese spring rolls is truly traditional and filled with pork belly, shrimp and mint, but of course you are free to give it your own twist.
How to make Vietnamese spring rolls
- Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a large soup pot, add 1 whole onion, the slices of ginger and the pork belly. Boil for 20 to 25 minutes over medium heat.
- Pour the water out of the pot and rinse the pork belly thoroughly under cold running water.
- Leave to drain in a colander or pat dry with kitchen paper. Cut the pork belly into slices approximately 1 centimetre thick.
- If the shrimp are frozen, thaw them first in a bowl of water. Bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a pan with a pinch of salt and, optionally, the vodka. Add the shrimp and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are no longer translucent. Once cooked, they will float.
- Rinse the shrimp under cold running water and leave to drain in a colander. If desired, cut them in half so you can distribute them more easily over the spring rolls.
- Cook the rice vermicelli according to the instructions on the package.
- Prepare all the vegetables and the mint by washing and, if necessary, cutting them.
Title: An com
Author: Phi-Yen Phan
Price: €29.99
Publisher: Nijgh & van Ditmar
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