Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Ask my husband what his favorite thing to eat in the world is and he will always say Summer Rolls.  Since it takes quite a bit of prep time to make, I will have to sadly admit that I don't make it very often at home.   I did surprise him last week when I decided to make it for lunch.

Everyone likes to put different things in their rolls, but here is what my family likes.

 

Ingredients:

green leaf lettuce, washed and leaved

cucumbers, sliced length wise

onions, thinly sliced

bean sprouts, washed

large shrimp, peeled, deveined

crab meat, calamari, octopus (optional)

pork shoulder/butt, thinly sliced (butcher can do it for you)

rice vermicelli, prepped according to package and cooled

rice paper

butter

nuoc cham sauce recipe found here (scroll down)

The ingredient list may sound scary, but you can put whatever you want in this recipe.  For the crab meat, calamari, and octopus, I just buy a seafood medley bag I find at my grocery store.  The rice paper looks like this:

 

You can find it at any Asian grocery store.  There are a dozen brands and I just go with the one that looks the thinnest.  Typically, growing up, I would cook this meal on the dinner table among family and friends.  We would sit and talk for hours as we cook, rolled, and ate.  Fast forward in time, 4 kids later and a dozen activities to get to, I've had to speed cook and get to the rolling and eating part.  Saute any uncooked meat or seafood with a little butter.  I also saute the onions.   A healthier route would be to boil the shrimp and meat, but I'd still saute the onions or eliminate them all together.

 

Therefore, I started out with this:

and ende up with this:

 Doesn't everything look tasty?  Now that are ingredients are ready, lets roll!

Take one rice paper and wet it completely.  Lay it on a plate and place your ingredients in the center.

 

I just pile it on.  Normally, it goes all in my mouth anyways so making it line up and look pretty is only for pictures :)

 

Fold the two sides of the rice paper towards the center.

 

Then fold the bottom paper up and roll the entire roll to the top.

 

Make sure to keep it taut. There you have it, a beautiful summer roll.

Dip it into the dipping sauce and enjoy.

 

This is SOoO good.  It's probably one of my favorite recipes as well.  I remember the kids coming home and saying the house smelled so good.  It may take some time to make these rolls, but let me tell you, its so worth it.