Vietnamese Herb Salad Rolls with Peanut Sauce
Recipe by Emily Nguyen, Vietnamese Modern and Traditional Vietnamese Cuisine
20 servings
Ingredients
2 oz of cellophane noodles
3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
4 tablespoons of crushed roasted peanuts
12 large of prawns, shelled deveined, cooked and finely chopped
20 Thai basil leaves, finely sliced
10 Asian mint leaves, finely sliced
1/4 cup of coriander leaves, finely chopped (or substitute cilantro leaves)
4 leaves of Chinese cabbage or bok choy, finely shredded
2 cabbage leaves, finely shredded
5 scallions, julienned
1 medium carrot
12-16 rice paper spring roll wrappers, 8 inch
Peanut Sauce
2 tablespoons of peanut oil
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 small of red chili, minced
5 tablespoons of creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of chopped peanuts
Instructions
- Soak the cellophane noodles in a bowl full of hot water for 5-10 minutes or until tender. Drain immediately and rinse with cold water (to halt cooking time). Cut noodles, with kitchen scissors, into about 2 ½ in strips and toss with vinegar, fish sauce, crushed peanuts and prawns.
- In a large bowl, mix together herbs, cabbage leaves (both sorts), spring onions, noodle mixture and grated carrot and toss thoroughly.
- Working with one wrapper at a time, soak rice wrapper in warm water for 30 seconds and lie it on a flat surface. On each wrapper, place a small quantity of the mixed vegetable/noodle filling. Roll up tightly, folding the sides in to enclose the filling. Continue rolling and folding until all ingredients are used.
- To make peanut sauce, heat oil and saute garlic and minced chili until softened (about 2 minutes), then add all remaining ingredients and whisk over moderate heat. Bring to a boil and simmer until thickened slightly (about 3 minutes).
- To serve, slice each roll on the diagonal, then rest one half over the other. Serve the sauce separately in a small pot for dipping.
- Note: As the wrappers do fry successfully, you may wish to serve half of them fresh and half of them deep-fried.
