SEPT 2 is Vietnamese Independence Day and what better way to celebrate than with one of its most iconic dishes, the goi cuon or Vietnamese spring rolls.
Directly translated as salad rolls, goi cuon is a mix of noodles, herbs and vegetables wrapped in rice paper and served with a peanut dipping sauce or a sweet chilli fish sauce.
Serve these Vietnamese spring rolls with the peanut dipping sauce or mix fish sauce with sweet Thai chilli sauce straight from the bottle. — Photos: LOW BOON TAT/The Star
If you ask any Vietnamese what herbs and vegetables are in goi cuon, they would give a non-committal “whatever you want”. But you can deduce that the most common herbs are basil, coriander and mint.
The usual vegetables are lettuce, carrots, cucumber, beansprouts, cabbage and whatever can add crunch and colour to the dish. You can even find tender shoots of very young kangkung (water convolvulus) in the versions at street food stalls of Vietnam.
Not forgetting the proteins, the most common are prawns and pork belly, but you can also find versions with beef and even vegan ones made with konjac prawns or wood fungus.
One of the most important components of this dish is the dipping sauce. Most street vendors will make their own, and they can be a light and sweet fish sauce or a heavier peanut-based fish sauce. This recipe uses fresh roasted peanuts instead of peanut butter from a jar.
If you are going the vegan route, then you may have to omit the fish sauce or use a seaweed-based substitute. Although I didn’t buy it, the storekeeper said it tasted quite close to the original.
When reconstituting the rice paper, you may apply the water with a brush or a wet dish towel. Be careful as too much water will cause the rice paper to get too sticky and hard to peel off from your work surface, or worse, tear and disintegrate while wrapping.
Because goi cuon is meant to be eaten freshly prepared, you may serve this dish deconstructed with all the components separate for your guests to assemble on their own.
Most of the vegetables are finely julienned or shredded to resemble the noodles in the spring roll.
Goi cuon
(Vietnamese spring rolls)
Ingredients
250g prawns, shelled
75g rice vermicelli
100g carrot, finely julienned
100g red cabbage, finely shredded
100g leaf lettuce
50g beansprouts
2 sprigs fresh coriander
2 sprigs fresh Thai basil
200g Vietnamese rice paper
Dipping sauce
½ cup roasted peanuts
1 lime
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp granulated sugar
3 cloves garlic
6-8 tbsp cold water
Garnish
4 birds eye chillies, finely sliced
1 red chilli, finely diced
1 tbsp toasted peanuts, crushed
Make a dipping sauce with freshly roasted peanuts, fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and garlic, and add chillies to taste.
Method
Scald prawns in boiling water for three minutes, then slice into halves and set aside.
Soak vermicelli in hot water for about three minutes, drain and set aside.
Brush rice paper with water to soften, then lay a row of three of four prawns skin-side down on the rice paper, then a layer of vermicelli noodles. Next, layer with different herbs and vegetables in alternating colours and ending with a whole lettuce leaf to hold in all the contents.
Fold one end of the rice paper over the filling and roll firmly into a tight log. Before reaching the end of the rice paper, fold in the two ends then continue rolling to seal everything in.
In an electric mill, blend the dipping sauce ingredients into a smooth paste, adding just enough water to get a thick gooey sauce. Sprinkle with garnish of crushed peanuts, and add chillies to the desired heat level.
Store any leftover components in separate containers in the refrigerator for no more than two days, and do not pre-roll the goi cuon, to avoid contamination.
