Summer rolls are one of my favorite Vietnamese foods, but you may also know them as spring rolls (not to be confused with the fried spring rolls). They are almost like a salad with shrimp and rice noodles wrapped in rice paper served with a sweet citrus dipping sauce. They are very healthy, but also really delicious. You won’t be able to stop with just one.
Vietnamese Summer Rolls
12 rice paper wrappers
24-36 shrimp, quickly sauteed in a little olive oil until just cooked through, sliced in half lengthwise
1 English cucumber, cut into matchsticks
1 carrot, shaved into strips with a vegetable peeler
1 cup rice noodles, quickly cooked in boiling water and cooled
1 cup cilantro leaves, picked
1 cup mint leaves, picked
12 lettuce leaves, butter lettuce or romaine
Arrange all ingredients ahead of time. Soak the rice paper wrappers according to package instructions until pliable.
Line up 4-6 halves of shrimp along the center of the wrapper.
Top with a few cilantro and mint leaves along the length of the shrimp. Top with some of the carrot and cucumber slivers.
Top this with a few of the rice noodles and then a piece of lettuce. Fold over the top and bottom of the rice paper and then roll from the side like a burrito. The rice paper will adhere to itself and stay closed. Try to roll as tightly as possible without tearing the rice paper and remember not to overstuff.
Nuoc Cham Dipping Sauce
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 jalapeno or other chili pepper, sliced (optional)
Combine the ingredients and make sure the sugar has dissolved. Use as dipping sauce for summer rolls.
Very nice pictures.
Thank you! Can’t wait until we start to have longer hours of sun in NY so I can get better light! Winter’s always tough…
Beautiful, I love summer rolls also. Have always wanted to try making them. Your tutorial is excellent.
Thanks! They are so easy!
Beautiful pictures!! These look awesome, will try soon!!
Great job, this is one of my favorite things to make all year long. I love your step by step approach.
I notice that there are tiny specks in your rice paper wrappers. Did you use a “flavored” variety? We always use the plain ones but have recently discovered an amazing Asian grocery where they have tons of different kinds of rice paper wrappers. I am really excited to try the seaweed ones.
The specks are just because it’s a brown rice version, but you could definitely experiment with the wrappers!
looks delish…do you think chicken would go along well with these?
Yep, although I would suggest shredding it so it’s easier to eat!