Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls Recipes

Steps:

• Make dipping sauce:
• Stir together sugar and water until sugar is dissolved. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients, then chill, covered, at least 2 hours.
• Prepare filling:
• Put noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water by several inches. Soak, pulling noodles apart and stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Drain noodles and cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces (you should have about 3 cups), then transfer to another large bowl.
• Put mushrooms in a bowl and cover with hot water by several inches. Soak 15 minutes. Drain and rinse mushrooms thoroughly, then drain again. Trim off and discard any hard parts from mushrooms. Finely chop mushrooms. (You should have about 2 cups.) Add to noodles.
• Pulse shallot and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add to noodles along with carrots, pork, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, and salt. Pulse shrimp in processor until coarsely ground. (Do not overprocess or it will become pasty.) Add shrimp to noodle mixture. Mix with your hands until well combined. Chill filling, covered with plastic wrap, until cold.
• Assemble rolls:
• Line 2 trays with wax paper.
• Transfer one fourth of filling to a small bowl and keep remainder chilled, covered. Place 1 wrapper on a work surface, keeping remaining wrappers covered with a clean kitchen towel (to prevent them from drying out). Cut wrapper diagonally in half to form 2 triangles. With long side of 1 triangle nearest you, put 2 tablespoons filling along middle of long edge of triangle, and shape filling into a thin 5-inch log. Fold left and right corners of wrapper over filling, overlapping slightly and aligning bottom edges. (Wrapper will resemble an open envelope.) Dab top corner with yolk, then roll up wrapper away from you into a long thin roll, making sure ends stay tucked inside. Place on a tray, seam side down. Repeat with remaining triangle. Make more rolls in same manner with remaining wrappers and filling, keeping trays of rolls chilled, loosely covered, until ready to fry.
• Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a 5- to 6-quart pot over moderately high heat until it registers 365°F on thermometer. Fry rolls in batches of 5 or 6, keeping rolls apart during first minute of frying to prevent sticking, until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. (Return oil to 365°F between batches.) Transfer as fried to a colander lined with paper towels and drain rolls upright 2 to 3 minutes. To eat, wrap hot or warm rolls in lettuce leaves and tuck in mint and cilantro leaves. Serve with dipping sauce.
• *Available at Asian markets and Uwajimaya (800-889-1928).

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except wraps and oil in a bowl.
• On a damp tea towel, place a wrap, and fill with a couple of tablespoons of the pork mixture in a sausage like shape at one end of the wrap.
• Fold sides in, then begin rolling spring roll at the mixture side.
• Seal roll by moistening edge with water.
• Heat oil over medium-high heat.
• Fry rolls, turning frequently until cooked through and golden, about 5-7 minutes.
• Drain on paper towels, and serve with Spring Roll Sauce (Nuoc Mam).
• Keep warm in heated oven.
• Note: The spring rolls may be made ahead, and frozen, and then fried when thawed.
• Spring rolls may be kept in fridge until ready to fry too, up to a day or two in advance.
• Ground chicken may be substituted for the pork, and chopped shrimp may also be added for a special flavor combination.

Steps:

• Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
• Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the warm water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll up the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
• In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
• In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
• Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.

Steps:

• For the filling: Preheat a 14-inch cast-iron pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Sprinkle the ground duck with salt and pepper, then add to the heated pan. Allow the ground duck to brown all over, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, green cabbage, onions and mushrooms to the same pan. Cook the vegetables down until most of the liquid is removed and the cabbage is a light brown color, about 10 minutes. Add the soy sauce and stir to combine. Turn off the heat and fold in the basil, cilantro and mint. Pour the filling onto a sheet tray and allow to cool for 5 minutes at room temp, then refrigerate until completely cool.
• Preheat the oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees F.
• Place 2 sheets spring roll pastry on a work surface on top of each other with a pointed end facing you. Place 1/3 cup filling in the middle of the spring roll pastry sheet. Dip 1 finger in a small bowl of water and run along the edge of the spring roll pastry sheet. Fold in the sides to meet in the middle over the filling. Fold up the bottom point over the filling, then tuck to tighten the roll and roll the wrapper towards the top point. Place seal-side down on your work surface, then cover with a damp towel and repeat the process until all the springs rolls and filling are gone. Fry, in batches, until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on a wire rack-lined sheet tray.
• For the nuoc mam: Add the water, sugar, lemon juice, lime juice, fish sauce, vinegar, chile flakes, garlic and serranos in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside until ready to serve.
• When cool enough to handle, cut each fried spring roll wrapper into thirds on the diagonal with a serrated knife. Build a platter of lettuce cups, bean sprouts, Fresno, peanuts, lime wedges, Thai basil leaves, cilantro leaves and mint leaves. Serve with the nuoc mam.