Fresh Spring Roll
If you have never had a spring roll its time to try it. I realize that its hard to pass up a good egg roll on your favorite Asian menu but take a chance with one of these fresh tasty cousins. This recipe is labeled Vietnamese Spring Roll which is probably attributed to the basil and mint that are called out in the recipe. Make the dipping sauces as well, the hoisin is good but the chili lime garlic is over the top wonderful.
I have made a lot of fried egg rolls and even fried spring rolls and in my opinion, these are much easier to make. The up front prep is really simple. I would recommend, as always, create an assembly line with all your ingredients around your prep station. It will make assembly of these lighting fast and really simple.
The only other thing you need besides what is in the picture above is the noodles and some hot water to dip the rice paper in. The cutting board, although not inherently apparent, contains leaf lettuce, basil, cilantro, and mint. The vermicelli is off to the side, make sure you get rice vermicelli, you don’t want to use Italian pasta in this dish.
Once you have all your prep completed and within reaching distance of your assembly station the process is really fast and its hard not to want to eat them as you finish them. Don’t be intimidated by the rolling process. Just follow the directions in the recipe and it should turn out just fine.
A quick dip of the rice paper, place ingredients, and start rolling. Fold the sides in, flip the starter end over your ingredients and start rolling. I usually tuck the ends of these in as well. When you lie these down on a plate for later, don’t let them touch, they are like glue to each other and can be difficult to get apart.
This is the recipe that I followed
Everything is fresh and light in these spring rolls, which is likely why they get the title “spring” roll. I absolutely love these things and you can be as creative with the ingredients as you want. I have in the past also placed a mixture of cooked sausage, cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic, and spices in one of these wrappers and then deep fried them. Yes, they too, are wonderfully delicious and a nice alternative to traditional wanton wrapper egg rolls. The sky is the limit to what you can put in them. You should be able to find most if not all of these ingredients in your local grocery store’s Asian aisle.
Conclusion
I paired the meal prep with some snap peas and the sauces. This is definitely one of my favorite meal preps. Its super light and really packs a ton of flavor. I have made this recipe a few times now and figured it was worthy of a quick share. This also makes a great appetizer for home cooked stir fry’s that will surely impress your friends and family.