Behold, a spring roll!
I must admit, I am an ardent lover of a golden crispy spring roll. All fillings are welcome – duck, vegetable, or prawn! Or anything else you can think of! Whether supermarket bought or takeaway acquired, there’s not much more satisfying than dipping a finger-like parcel into a sauce of your choice before taking that first bite. I love the audibly crisp exterior that splinters with ease under your pressure, revealing a steaming and soft interior, all slathered in the delicious tang of soy sauce, or hoisin, or sweet and sour, or whatever other saucy delight takes your fancy.
Anyway, these are not those crispy spring rolls. Instead, these spring rolls are wrapped in a pliable blanket, rolled burrito-style. The delicate covering maintains its translucency so you can see all the fillings inside – in this case, a mix of vegetables, noodles, and prawns. (Some of y’all might know that latter as “shrimp”!). These rolls are also served chilled, or “fresh”. Not a deep fat fryer in sight! There is also a nice dip.
These healthy delights are also known as Gỏi cuốn, salad rolls, summer rolls, or rice paper rolls, and they are a Vietnamese dish that I had never made before. Until now!
Enter Gordon Ramsey
Usually, I would aim to use a recipe provided by someone from the dish’s culture however this recipe is from Gordon Ramsay’s cookbook, Ultimate Cookery Course. (Flick to page 239!). It had been sitting unused on my shelf for a few years now and I thought it was time to open it up. This was the first recipe I flicked to! The book seems promising though – a complete review will follow once I’ve attempted more recipes from this book. In the meantime, you can check it out for yourself!
Making The Spring Rolls…
Personally, I found that the ingredients were all fairly easy to buy locally. I faced only 2 difficulties in acquiring supplies – 1) thai basil (which was sold out during my first Waitrose visit and required a second trip) and 2) the rice paper wrappers. Gordon suggested wrappers (known as bánh tráng) that were 16cm in diameter, however, these were impossible to find. In theory, I should’ve been able to buy 22cm ones from my local supermarket, but again, these were out of stock. Thus, I had no choice but to use ones that were a whopping 28cm!! I purchased my ginanormous delicious frisbees from Sous Chef. However, in retrospect, I could have easily bought the 22cm ones from The Vegan Kind. D’oh!
Preparation involves briefly soaking the wrappers in warm water, and then rolling them up and around the prepared filling (pre-cooked prawns, cooked vermicelli noodles, shredded lettuce, grated carrot, spring onion, coriander, mint, thai basil, and lime juice. Plus a few spoonfuls of the dipping sauce!).
Said dipping sauce, consists of sugar, rice vinegar, fish sauce, garlic, chilli, spring onions, coriander, and mint, and was pretty delicious. I’m sure it would also be a yummy accompaniment to some delicious Japanese gyozas! Unfortunately though, I am reminded every time I try a recipe involving coriander (or cilantro, for you Americans out there) that I don’t really like it. Something about the flavour doesn’t sit well with me. I’ve tried to convince myself I enjoy this herb and every time it’s a disappointment. I only have myself to blame. Ack!!
Consider omitting if you are also not keen on this herb!!
The Feeding Emilia 5 Star Scale!
I’d give these spring rolls a medium difficulty rating, simply because the rolling process takes a bit of getting used to – there seems to be an optimum time to soak the sheets and it’s tricky to get the rolls to be a uniform shape and size. If you look closely at my photo above you’ll notice mine two are different lengths and thicknesses!! You also might need a helper to hand you the dry wrappers from the packet as your hands will probably be covered in water and spring roll innards!
The finished product was healthy and tasty, albeit slightly messy to eat. The wrappers tend to stick to each other if they touch and pulling them apart can lead to holes. Plus, I found that small pieces of vegetable and noodle tended to escape mid-bite.
In conclusion, I give this recent eat 3 stars. I’m sure it would be 4+ if I actually liked coriander!
Emilia’s Top Tip
A device that made the preparation for this dish easier was my Kitchencraft herb scissors. Instead of one pair of blade they have 5, which made quick work of the coriander, thai basil, and mint! You can buy them here.
