Making Spring Extra Special with Vietnamese Spring Rolls

In the middle of the spring season is the best time to serve this fresh and light dish that I love from the land where I left my heart, Vietnam. There's still no way or even a chance to be able to visit that country again so I am recreating their traditional dishes. My husband is one of an avid lover or Viet food so I thought of making some for dinner.

Here's Gỏi cuốn or commonly called Vietnamese spring roll. One of the main ingredients of this dish is shrimp. But because I cannot have it due to my allergy to the crustacea group of shellfish. Sad right? I altered the recipe with fried pork belly in butter, seasoned with salt, pepper and hoisin sauce.



Back home, I only use the meatloaf in can, SPAM, because it is cheap and easy. Surimi, or imitation crab meat stick in another option.

The fresher the greens, the better. Here I am including fresh romaine lettuce (I like how subtle it taste), rice vermicelli (which I soaked in boiling water for 4 minutes, drained and rinsed in cold water), cilantro, basil, mint, cucumber, carrots, bell pepper and celery.



At first, my wrap was a little bit loose. But in the end, it feels like I've finally mastered rolling it. It takes time to firmly roll them but the end result is almost near to perfection (just like the authentic one).

It is so fresh and truly satisfying. With the Vietnamese fish sauce on the side, it feels like we flew back to Vietnam.

So if you are going to make one tonight, or at the weekend, here are the ingredients to recap:
- rice wrapper
- romaine lettuce (or any kind of lettuce that you want)
- cucumber
- carrot
- celery
- basil
- cilantro/coriander
- mint
- rice glass noodles or vermicelli
- shrimp / pork / chicken



For the dipping sauce, you have an option of the fish sauce or the peanut sauce. I am only used of having the fish sauce (Nước Chấm) because that's what they always have in Hanoi (the northern part of Vietnam). But in Ho Chi Min (Saigon), peanut sauce is commonly used. They both taste good so you can even have both.

Do you like this dish too? And have you made your own Vietnamese spring rolls?