Gỏi cuốn (Vietnamese spring rolls) are one of my favorite Vietnamese appetizers. Why? Because they are light, fresh and contains only a few ingredients: noodles, green leaf lettuce, fresh basil, fresh chives and pork, shrimp or tofu. The best part about gỏi cuốn (Vietnamese spring rolls) is that it can save the host time in the kitchen by turning the process into an interactive eating process. This way, the guests can assemble their own spring rolls upon arrival.
Vietnamese spring rolls vs. egg rolls
The common misconceptions are that both Vietnamese spring rolls and egg rolls are fried, and the only difference is that spring rolls does not contain meat, while egg rolls do. However, that is incorrect…at least when it comes to Vietnamese spring rolls vs. Vietnamese egg rolls.
Spring rolls are filled with cooked noodles, cooked thinly sliced pork, shrimp or tofu, green leaf lettuce, fresh basil and fresh chives all rolled up in a thin rice paper. Because everything inside a spring roll is already cooked, once assembled, it does not need to be fried.
However, egg rolls are filled with uncooked ground pork, shredded jicama, shredded carrots, dried mushrooms and vermicelli all rolled up in a pastry wrap. The fillings inside an egg rolls are raw so it has to be fried before eating. To me, the main difference is that spring rolls are not fried, while egg rolls are fried.
How to make Vietnamese spring rolls?
The filling for Vietnamese spring rolls is flexible. Traditionally, all spring rolls contains cooked noodles, fresh basil, chives, and green leaf lettuce. The choice of having meat or no meat is up to you. The usual meat choices are either pork or shrimp. However, if you’re a vegetarian, you can use tofu and/or avocado.
To prepare the tofu, use firm tofu and cut into 0.25 inch slices. Brush both sides with vegetable oil and slightly sprinkle with salt and pepper. Align the tofu pieces on a baking tray and place them in the oven at 350oF until both sides are golden brown. Or if you prefer, you can deep fry the tofu.
The pork or shrimp inside a Vietnamese spring roll is boiled. It’s slightly seasoned with salt and pepper then boiled until cooked. I know…you’re probably wondering why there’s not much seasoning to the meat. The reason why is that Vietnamese spring rolls are eaten with a peanut dipping sauce. So you don’t want the filling seasonings to compete with the dipping sauce. If you’re a seafood fan, you can just purchase already cooked shrimp to save some time. However, I’m going to show you a recipe that uses pork and tofu in the spring rolls since my family is not a fan of seafood.
Once the noodles and meat are boiled, the next step is to assemble the spring rolls by rolling the filling up using rice paper. Rice paper comes dry and brittle, so to make it pliable, it needs to be quickly dipped in water before rolling. Don’t dip the rice paper in water for too long, it will get too mushy and hard to handle.
How to serve spring rolls?
Vietnamese spring rolls are served fresh with a side of peanut dipping sauce. You can either buy the already made dipping sauce or make your own. I prefer making my own dipping sauce using five simple ingredients: creamy peanut butter, water, hoisin sauce, salt and crushed unsalted peanuts. I think the crushed unsalted peanuts are a must in the dipping sauce. It adds a crunchy texture to the dish.
To me, a Vietnamese spring roll has all of the flavor profile. Freshness from the chives, basil, lettuce. Crunch and sweet taste from the peanut sauce, and a chewy texture from the rice paper.
How to store spring rolls?
This is an appetizer that’s meant to be eaten fresh (i.e. right after it’s assembled). However, if you have extra, already assembled spring rolls, don’t feel like you have to throw them out because you can always store them in a tightly sealed container in the fridge, and reheat them in the microwave the next day. Just keep in mind, once reheated, you’ll notice that the “fresh” lettuce and herbs will now be slightly cooked, and the texture of the rice paper will be a bit crunchy, instead of the normal chewy texture. It won’t taste as “fresh”.
To get around having extra, already assembled spring rolls, make it an interactive eating experience.
Gỏi Cuốn (Vietnamese Spring Rolls)
Ingredients
Ingredients for the spring roll filling with pork:
- 1 pound boneless pork shoulder
- 300 grams rice noodles
- 1 head green leaf lettuce washed and dry. Only use the green leafy part.
- 1 handful fresh chives wash, dry and cut in half.
- 1 handful fresh basil wash, dry and remove the basil leaves from the stem.
- 1 tbsp salt used to boil the pork.
- 1 tbsp pepper used to boil the pork.
- 1 package rice paper
Ingredients for the spring roll filling with tofu:
- 1 package firm tofu sliced into 0.25 inch slices.
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil for brushing on the tofu.
- 300 grams rice noodles
- 1 head green leaf lettuce washed and dry. Only use the green leafy part.
- 1 handful fresh chives wash, dry and cut in half.
- 1 handful fresh basil wash, dry and remove the basil leaves from the stem.
- sprinkle of salt on each of the tofu pieces.
- sprinkle of pepper on each of the tofu pieces.
- 1 package rice paper
Ingredients for the peanut dipping sauce:
- ¼ cup creamy peanut butter
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup unsalted peanuts crushed into small pieces.
Instructions
Instructions for cooking the pork:
- Wash the boneless pork by sprinkling salt and gently rub the salt into the pork. Rinse the salt off using warm water and pat the pork to dry with paper towels.
- Place the pork in a pot and fill it with water to completely submerge the pork. Add salt and pepper to the pot and let it boil until the pork is cooked.
- Once cooked, remove the pork from the pot and let it cool before thinly slicing and set aside.
Instructions for cooking the tofu:
- Remove the tofu from the container and rinse it with warm water, and pat it dry using paper towels.
- Cut the tofu into 0.25 inch slices.
- Place them on a cooking sheet, and brush vegetable oil on both sides.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of the tofu, then place them in a 400oF oven until both sides are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
Instructions for cooking the rice noodles:
- Fill a pot with water and add salt.
- Bring the water to a boil then add the rice noodles.
- Let it cook until the noodles are soft. Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water and set aside.
Instructions for making the peanut dipping sauce:
- Place creamy peanut butter, hoisin sauce, water and salt in a saucepan. Turn the heat on medium and stir with a whisk while the mixture is heating.
- Once the ingredients are heated and combined, pour into a small bowl and sprinkle crushed unsalted peanuts on top and set aside. Add siracha on top if you want a little bit of spice in the dipping sauce.
Instructions for rolling the spring rolls:
- Dip the rice paper in a large bowl of water until the rice paper feels soft to the touch. If you only have a small bowl available, you can dip as you turn the rice paper to make sure the whole thing gets wet.
- Place the wet rice paper on a flat surface.
- Then put the green leaf lettuce on the rice paper…
- Followed by the cooked rice noodles…
- Fresh basil leaves.
- Place the pork, shrimp or tofu underneath the green leaf lettuce.
- Start rolling by gently pulling the rice paper up and tucking the ingredients inward.
- Once the fillings are covered by the rice paper, fold the left side in toward the middle of the rice paper.
- Then fold in the right side toward the middle of the rice paper.
- Place a piece of fresh chives in the rice paper, and continue rolling until all the rice paper is used up. And there you have it, fresh, homemade Vietnamese spring rolls.
The next time you’re having a dinner party and not sure what to make, give this Vietnamese spring roll recipe a try, and make it an interactive eating experience for your guests. Leave me a comment below if you’ve tried this recipe. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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