Very fresh and refreshing summer treat.


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Vietnamese Summer Rolls

none

1 head romaine lettuce; washed and dried
1 bunch Thai basil; washed and dried
1 bunch mint leaves; washed and dried
1 bunch garlic chives; or onion chives
1 bunch cilantro; washed and dried
10 ounce pkg rice vermicelli; cook,drain,cool, pat dry
1 pound shrimp raw, 31-40 count; peeled, deveined, cooked
1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin; cooked, thinly sliced
15 ounce jar hoisin sauce
1 cup peanuts; finely chopped
3 limes
3 tablespoons chile paste, or hot sauce or pepper; sauce you like
1 package spring roll wrappers

Poach the shrimp however you like, but don't use any strong spices. I
poach it in water flavored with lemon or lime, lemongrass and a bay
leaf. Cool then slice each shrimp in half lengthwise.
I buy the shrimp peeled and deveined for ease of preparation.
(I also buy the pre-cooked shrimp when in a time crunch, almost as
good)
The pork was cooked with just a light sprinkling of garlic granules
and pepper, cooled, then very thinly sliced.
Cook the noodles according to package directions, cool and pat dry
with kitchen towels and put in a bowl.
Assemble the herbs and lettuce on a large platter.
Fill a large dinner plate with water.

Working with a few wrappers at a time moisten the wrappers, one at a
time in the water and transfer to a dry plate. When the wrapper just
becomes pliable.
Starting at the side closest to you place a whole lettuce leaf on
the wrapper close to the edge. On top of that put some noodles, just a
little hand full, enough to run down the center of the lettuce leaf,
mounded a little. Break up a couple of basil leaves and sprinkle over
the noodles and do the same with the mint and or cilantro, then lay a
few pieces of the chives on top of that.

Place about 3 or 4 slices of the pork on top of the herbs. The shrimp
placement is a little trickier. Place the shrimp, about 4 halves,
along and just under the outer edge of the lettuce leaf that faces the
center of the wrapper, pink side down (on the wrapper) this creates a
pretty presentation because after they are rolled you have a row of
pink shrimp against the green lettuce.

Starting with the edge closest to you start rolling the wrapper. I
place both hands over the filling and start the rolling with my
thumbs, this helps keep the filling from sliding to the other side of
the wrapper, most of the time. :-)
You may or may not tuck in the edges as you roll, I don't.

If you don't want to mess with the wrappers or are diet conscious just
use the lettuce leaf as the wrapper.

Now for the sauce.
Empty the jar of hoisin sauce into a bowl, thin with the juice of the
limes, I like the sauce to be about about the consistency of maple
syrup, if you don't have enough limes to reach the consistency you
like, you can add some water.
Add the pepper sauce or jalapeños or chili's you like. I use the Chili
Garlic Sauce you can find in the asian food aisle of most grocery
stores.
Mix it all up and add as many of the chopped peanuts you like, I like
lots.


I also served this with a Sweet Chili Sauce that I bought at an Asian
market so here is a recipe for it.

This recipe is from a wonderfull Vietnamese lady I worked with who was
always preparing, and sharing her recipes with those of us lucky
enough to
work with her.

Nuoc Cham

2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red chile pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons sugar
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup bottled nuoc cham fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water

In a mortar, combine garlic, chile and sugar and crush into a paste
with a pestle.
Add lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar and water, and blend well.

Yield: about 1 cup
Zest factor: hot

This recipe is from Chile Pepper magazine

Yield: 15-20 servings


** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.66 **

Koko
A Yuman being on the net
(posting from San Diego)