Vietnamese Soft Rolls With Crab Recipes

Steps:

• Mix together ingredients for the nuoc cham sauce in a small bowl and set aside.
• Mix together all ingredients for Hoisin dipping sauce EXCEPT chopped peanuts in a small saucepan.
• Bring mixture to a boil; then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.
• Cool Hoisin dipping sauce to room temperature, garnish with chopped peanuts, and set aside.
• Het oil in a large skillet, add asparagus and cook for one minute.
• Add water and cook, covered, for three minutes more; remove from heat.
• Note: crab is meant to be chilled and asparagus is meant to be cooled down to room temperature when building rolls.
• Fill a large bowl with warm water (deep enough to submerge a rice paper).
• Dip one rice paper at a time while building soft rolls, just till it becomes pliable; remove from water and blot on paper toweling.
• To build roll, on softened rice paper, place a lettuce leaf with margins on all sides (except top is ok).
• Top lettuce with one ounce of crab, one piece of asparagus, a couple of pinches of alfalfa sprouts and shredded carrots, a fresh basil leaf, and a couple of cilantro sprigs.
• Fold bottom edge of rice paper up over filling, then wrap right side over filling and roll up tightly into a bundle.
• Place on serving platter covered with a damp paper towel while preparing remaining rolls.
• Serve at once with dipping sauces and hot chile paste (sambal oelek), if desired.

Steps:

• Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil. Boil rice vermicelli 3 to 5 minutes, or until al dente, and drain.
• Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one wrapper into the hot water for 1 second to soften. Lay wrapper flat. In a row across the center, place 2 shrimp halves, a handful of vermicelli, basil, mint, cilantro and lettuce, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on each side. Fold uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper, beginning at the end with the lettuce. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
• In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, water, lime juice, garlic, sugar and chili sauce.
• In another small bowl, mix the hoisin sauce and peanuts.
• Serve rolled spring rolls with the fish sauce and hoisin sauce mixtures.

Steps:

• Preheat the fryer to 360 degrees F.
• In a small mixing bowl, add the noodles. Season the noodles with sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, green onions and black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Bring water to a boil in a 10-inch saute pan and remove from the heat. Submerge each spring roll wrapper, 1 at a time, in the hot water, moving it around in the water until soft and pliable, 10 to 15 seconds. Remove and lay on the parchment paper.
• In another small mixing bowl, combine the crabmeat, mayonnaise, and chili paste. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Place 1 tablespoon of the crab mixture over the wrapper and top with 1 tablespoon of the noodle mixture. On top of the noodles, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the sprouts. Top the sprouts with the 1 tablespoon of the papaya, 1 tablespoon of the carrots, 1 tablespoon of the cilantro, and 1 tablespoon of the mint. Fold 2 sides of the wrapper toward the center about 1/4-inch, then roll like a jelly roll, pressing the edges together to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling. Fry half of the spring rolls until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels. Season with salt. Slice each roll in half diagonally. Serve the rolls on a large platter with the Spicy Peanut Sauce. Garnish with chopped cilantro.
• In a food processor, combine all ingredients together. Process until smooth, then transfer to small bowls for dipping.