Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce
These are very hot little firecrackers from the orient. They can be used to add spice to almost any oriental dish. They dry very easily and can be stored and used this way for a long time.
Ingredients:
12 medium shrimp in their shells
2 oz. dried rice sticks or rice vermicelli
8 (8-1/4″) round rice paper wrappers
1/2 cup mung bean sprouts, rinsed
24 small mint leaves (from 1 small bunch)
16 basil or Thai basil leaves
8 small sprigs cilantro
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4″ by 1/4″ by 2 sticks
2 large scallions, trimmed, halved, and sliced into 3″ lengths
1 Thai hot pepper, serrano pepper, or other small hot chile pepper, seeds removed and sliced into very thin matchsticks
Boston lettuce leaves, cut in half
peanut sauce * (recipe follows)
Peanut sauce:
1/2 cup natural-style creamy peanut butter
1 Tbsp. granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 small garlic clove, mashed to a paste
1 tsp. chile-garlic paste
1 Tbsp. dark sesame oil
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup water
Instructions:
For the peanut sauce:
Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the shrimp and cook for about 1-1/2 minutes, or until they are bright orange and just cooked. Drain the shrimp in a colander and run cold water over them until they are cool. Peel the shrimp and halve them lengthwise down the center. Cover and refrigerate.
For the summer rolls:
Cook the rice sticks according to package directions, then drain and set aside.
Clear a work surface, such as a large wooden cutting board, for rolling the summer rolls. Also prepare a pan that is roomy enough to hold the finished rolls in a single layer. Place all the filling ingredients in separate containers, and arrange them in the following order around the board: rice paper wrappers, shrimp, rice noodles, bean sprouts, mint, basil, cilantro, hot pepper, cucumber, scallions, and lettuce.
Fill a wide, shallow dish, large enough to hold the rice paper wrappers, with hot water. Evenly submerge one rice paper in the water for about 30 seconds, or until it is soft and pliable. Remove the rice paper from the water and place it on the work surface. Working quickly, lay three shrimp halves in a row, cut side up, just above the center of the wrapper. Layer a scant 1/4 cup of noodles over the shrimp, followed by a few bean sprouts, 3 mint leaves, 2 basil leaves, 1 sprig of cilantro, and 2 pieces of the hot pepper. Place 3-4 cucumber sticks and 3-4 scallion pieces on either side of the noodle pile. Roll one piece of lettuce into a cigar shape, and place it on top of the noodle pile.
Fold the bottom half of the rice paper wrapper over the filling. Holding it firmly in place, fold the sides of the wrapper in. Then, pressing firmly down to hold the folds in place, roll the entire pile up to close the top. (Don’t despair, this takes some practice!)
Turn each roll so that the rice paper seam faces downward and the row of shrimp faces up. Place in the prepared container.
Serve the summer rolls with Peanut Sauce.
Recipe from Regan Burns.