Vietnamese Spring Rolls

 

For a cultural event at my university back at the end of April, I had opted for making around 25 servings of Vietnamese spring rolls. I had originally planned on another recipe, but due to a lack of certain central ingredients, I settled for these ones.

I made these (around 12) as a test run to see how much ingredients were required for how many rolls. For the actual event, I had made roughly 50 rolls, all made on-spot, as the rolls don't stay fresh overnight, and I did not have the time to roll them just before the event. They were well enjoyed, and so I leave the recipe here on this post for anyone who would like to try them at home!

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RECIPE (for about 12 rolls)

  Ingredients

     Rolls

• 1/2 block tofu (250 g)
• 2 medium potatoes, grated
• 1 large carrots, grated
• raw rice, a handful
• salt, sugar, pepper, to taste
• 12 rice paper wrappers (translucent rice paper for spring rolls)
• warm water
• iceberg lettuce, 2-3 leaves
• cilantro, mint, perilla, or other fresh herbs

           Sauce

• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs warm water
• 1/4 or 1/2 lemon's juice, or to taste

  Procedure

1. Make the filling: cut tofu into slices, and pan-fry until golden on each side. Cut into thin strips.
2. Stir-fry the grated carrots until cooked through.
3. Deep fry (or stir-fry) grated potatoes until cooked through. To prevent them from sticking too much, rinse grated potatoes in water and pat dry.
4. Mix with the tofu, carrots, and potatoes together, and season to taste.
5. In a dry pan, heat raw rice grains until they become browned but not burnt.
6. Wait until cooled, grind the toasted rice into a powder. Add about 2-3 tbsp to the filling.
7. Dip and turn a sheet of rice paper wrapper in warm water until all parts are wet. Lay flat on a plate and wait until it softens.
8. Put some lettuce, a stem or two of cilantro, and some mint near the lower edge of the rice paper wrapper, in the middle.
9. Top with a tablespoon or so of filling.
10. Roll the bottom edge towards the middle 1 or 2 times.
11. Fold in right and left sides.
12. Finish rolling until edge of the rice paper wrapper is reached.
13. Cover with plastic wrap to keep from drying.
14. Make the sauce: dilute sugar in the warm water, add soy sauce and lemon juice.

  Tips

• Shredded and stir-fried cabbage can be added to the filling
• Most of the time, the grated potatoes are deep-fried and added to the filling at the last minute before rolling to keep crunchy. In my dorm conditions, I stir-fried them because deep-frying was not really an option.