Vietnamese fresh rice paper rolls

Rice paper rolls are a staple in Vietnamese cuisine. While they're an everyday food these rolls are popular at parties and new year celebrations.

Vietnamese fresh rice paper rolls Credit: The Good Cooks

• makes

  9

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 9 raw medium prawns, unpeeled
• pinch of salt
• 300 g boneless pork belly, thinly sliced
• cooking oil
• round rice paper sheets
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 or 2 spring onions, quartered lengthways
• ½ cup fresh Vietnamese mint leaves
• ½ cup bean sprouts
• 1 cup cooked vermicelli rice noodles
• ½ cup hoisin sauce

Instructions

1. Place a small frying pan on a low flame and add a little water to the pan. Add the prawns with 2 pinches of salt and stir fry until they turn pink, then flip them over (be careful not to as they will continue to cook once removed from the heat). When cool enough to handle, remove the heads, peel, remove the veins, slice in half and set aside.
2. In a large frying pan, cook the pork belly with some oil until cooked through and set aside.
3. Place the rice paper on a flat surface. Place a small bowl of water alongside. Dip your fingertips in the water and rub the rice paper to moisten slightly. In the middle of the rice paper, add some cucumber, spring onion, Vietnamese mint, bean sprouts, vermicelli noodles and the pork belly.
4. Fold the rice paper up over the filling, then add the halved prawn, with the pink skin facing outward, and continue rolling to secure the rolls. Serve with the hoisin sauce for dipping.

 

The Good Cooks premieres on Thursday 8 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Thursdays at 8.30pm (with an encore on Sundays at 6.30pm) on Food Network. After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.