Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls - by Paperboy Kitchen

Ingredients

"The beauty of rice paper rolls is that you can play around with ingredients and fillings to keep it interesting. " - Paperboy Kitchen.

500 g cooked and peeled prawns
500 g boneless pork belly or shoulder
1 iceberg lettuce
3 bunches of assorted mint, picked
3 carrots, peeled and grated
300 g bean sprouts
2 cucumbers, de-seeded and cut into batons
500 g pack rice vermicelli
1 pack rice paper (banh trang)
11/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Dipping Sauce:

2 Tbs oil
1 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
3 Tbs crunchy peanut butter
1 cup water
1 Tbs Sambal Chilli

Method

Cook the pork in water along with salt and sugar. Ensure the water is covering the pork and simmer for 30 minutes or until cooked. Remove and place into cold water to cool. Once cooled, slice the pork 1/2 cm thick.

Cooking rice vermicelli varies depending on the brand you get so ensure that you follow the cooking instructions on the back of the pack and that is drained well so it doesn’t split the rice paper when rolling.

To assemble, Wet the rice paper in warm water and drain well. It should sofen within 1 minute. Start by adding Iceberg lettuce and layer the rest of the ingredients on top of that. If you want an attractive roll, add mint leaves or prawns colour side down 3/4 of the way up the rice paper so that it is the last thing that is rolled. Once all the ingredients are on the rice paper roll from the bottom up. Fold in the sides when you are 3/4 of the way up and then continue to finish rolling up so that to roll is sealed. Try to apply enough pressure so that the rolls is tight. This helps stop the contents of the roll from falling out when dipping in the sauce.

To make the dipping sauce, in a saucepan, heat oil and minced garlic until fragrant. Add in the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil. Once boiled, turn off and set aside to cool. You can add extra roasted crushed peanuts if you desire.