10641 Vietnamese-Style Summer Rolls with Peanut Sauce 50 mins 35 mins 8 rolls Wed Aug 29 03:55:00 -0700 2007 Thu Aug 27 10:59:50 -0700 2009 Medium Vietnamese CHOW http://www.chow.com/recipes/10641 Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:59:50 GMT Fresh bites of summer in a neat package Fresh, summery ingredients in a neatly wrapped package. Give yourself plenty of time (and counter space) to make these. And be sure to have a few extra rice paper wrappers on hand—it may take a few tries before you’re rolling like a pro.

What to buy: Look for medium-size shrimp. For a slacker solution, buy a ready-to-eat shrimp cocktail ring from the supermarket and slice the shrimp in half lengthwise. Rice sticks and rice paper wrappers can be found in most Asian grocery stores. For the wrappers, we like the Red Rose brand.

Game plan: Be sure to have all your ingredients ready and easily accessible when you start to roll. Store the summer rolls in a dish or plastic container that’s roomy enough to hold them without their touching. Place a damp paper towel in the bottom of the container to keep the rolls moist. Cover tightly with plastic wrap.

This recipe was featured as part of our Cooling Off story, as well as our Chile Pepper Recipes photo gallery and our Picnic Recipes photo gallery.

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  • Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add shrimp and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, or until they are bright orange and just cooked. Drain shrimp in a colander and run under cold water until they are cool. Peel and halve shrimp lengthwise down the center. Cover and refrigerate.
  • Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
  • Clear a work surface such as a large wooden cutting board for rolling the summer rolls, and prepare a pan that is roomy enough to hold the finished rolls in a single layer. Place all filling ingredients in separate containers and arrange them in the following order around the work surface: 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 wrapper for about 30 seconds, or until it is soft and pliable. Remove from the water and place on the work surface.
  • Working quickly, lay 3 shrimp halves in a row, cut side up, just above the center of the wrapper. Layer a scant 1/4 cup of the rice noodles over the shrimp, followed by a few bean sprouts, 3 mint leaves, 2 basil leaves, 1 sprig of cilantro, and 2 pieces of hot pepper. Place 3 to 4 cucumber sticks and 3 to 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 rolls with Peanut Sauce.

    • Beverage pairing: Thomas Fogarty Monterey Gewürztraminer, California. Gewürztraminers can be great food wines, as long as they’re not too heavily perfumed and floral. That’s why it can be good to go with a new-world Gewürz over an Alsatian. This wine from California’s Central Coast has beautiful flavors of ginger, white flowers, and lychee that make a nice foil for the toothsome summer rolls.

    ]]>     http://www.chow.com/assets/2006/09/rcp_vietsummerrolls_290x210.jpg Regan Burns 53 Starter 584 12 medium shrimp in their shells

    ]]>     2 ounces dried rice sticks or rice vermicelli

    ]]>     8 (8-1/4-inch) round rice paper wrappers

    ]]>     102 1/2 cup mung bean sprouts, rinsed

    ]]>     195 24 small mint leaves (from 1 small bunch)

    ]]>     67 16 basil or Thai basil leaves

    ]]>     153 8 small cilantro sprigs

    ]]>     58 1 Thai hot pepper, serrano pepper, or other small hot chile pepper, seeds removed and sliced into matchsticks

    ]]>     65 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-by-1/4-by-2-inch sticks

    ]]>     54 2 large scallions, trimmed, halved, and sliced into 3-inch lengths

    ]]>     83 4 Boston lettuce leaves, cut in half

    ]]>     Peanut Sauce

    ]]>     974 shrimp 800 cold 22 shellfish 497 asian 563 vietnamese 907 chiles 1421 spring roll 1422 summer roll 1 chow 7851 rice sticks 7852 rice paper 2393 regan burns 1329 spring rolls 621 chile peppers 745 ethnic