Vietnamese Summer Rolls With Shrimp And Ground Pork Recipes

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the pork with the garlic, scallion, 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons nuoc mam, the egg and the cornstarch. Leave the mixture in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a charcoal fire.
• When you are ready to cook the pork, shape the mixture roughly into 6 ping-pong sized balls. Lightly oil a steamer tray and steam the pork balls for 5 minutes. Transfer the partially cooked pork balls to a hot grill fire. Cook for 10 minutes, turning occasionally so all sides of the balls get golden brown. Remove the pork balls from the fire, cut them in half, and return them to the fire, cut side down. Grill them for 5 more minutes. Remove the pork and when it is cool enough to handle, cut it in shreds roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Reserve.
• Bring a few quarts of salted water to the boil. Plunge the shrimp into the boiling water and turn the heat off. Remove the shrimp form the water when just cooked (2 to 3 minutes). In a bowl, mix together the remaining 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and the remaining tablespoon of sugar. When the shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel them and slice them in half the long way (cutting each shrimp into 2 thin, C-shaped pieces). Reserve the shrimp and fish sauce sugar mixture.
• Submerge 1 sheet of banh trang in a basin of warm water for 2 to 3 seconds, then remove it immediately. Try to dip all of it into the water simultaneously and handle it carefully so it doesn't tear. Place the sheet on a dry towel.
• Roll the sheet right on the towel: About 1-inch above the lower edge of the sheet, spread out 1/8 cup of shredded lettuce. Leave a 1 1/2-inch gap between the left edge of the sheet and the lettuce and the same between the right edge of the sheet and the lettuce. Define a rectangle with the lettuce that is about 5 inches wide and 3 inches long toward the center of the sheet. Now evenly top the lettuce rectangle with 1/8 of the bean sprouts, 1/8 of the shredded carrot and 1/8 of the peanuts. Evenly distribute 1/8 of the grilled pork shreds over the rectangle. Tear 5 to 6 mint leaves, and an equal amount of cilantro and distribute those over the rectangle. Top everything with a few sprinkles of nuoc mam.
• Carefully pick up the right edge of the sheet and fold it toward the center of the filling. Make sure the folded sheet is even and uncreased. Do the same with the left edge of the sheet. The rectangle of filling should now be covered by the folded sheet with the left and right edges meeting each other at the center of the rectangle. Pick up the bottom edge of the sheet and start rolling away from you, making sure to tuck the filling in tightly as you roll. When you have rolled about halfway to the top of the sheet, dip the shrimp halves in the reserved fish sauce-sugar mixture. Place 2 shrimp halves along the cylinder that you have half-rolled and keep on rolling until a fully rolled cylinder has been formed. Place it under a damp towel. Repeat the process 7 more times to make 7 more rolls. Serve immediately or cover the rolls with damp towels and

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the pork with the garlic, scallion, 1 1/2 tablespoons of nuac mam, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, egg, and cornstarch. Leave in refrigerator for 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the charcoal fire (or heat indoor grill).
• When grill is heated, shape the pork mixture into 6 balls. Lightly oil a steamer tray and steam balls for 5 minutes. Transfer partially cooked balls to a hot grill fire. Cook for 10 minutes, turning occasionally, so all sides of the pork balls get golden brown. Remove pork balls from fire, cut them in half, and return them to fire, cut side down. Grill for 5 minutes. Remove pork and, when cool enough to handle, cut in shreds roughly 1 1/2 inches long and 1/4-inch thick. Reserve.
• Bring a few quarts of salted water to a boil. Plunge the shrimp into the boiling water then turn the heat off. Remove shrimp from water when just cooked (about 2 to 3 minutes). In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons fish sauce and remaining tablespoon of sugar. When shrimp are cool enough to handle, peel and slice them in half the long way (cutting the shrimp into 2 thin, C-shaped pieces). Reserve shrimp and fish sauce mixture.
• Dip one sheet of banh trang into a basin of warm water, keep it submerged for 2 to 3 seconds, then remove it immediately from the water. Try to dip all of it into the water simultaneously, and handle it carefully so it doesn't tear. Place the sheet on a dry towel.
• About 1-inch above the lower edge of the sheet, spread out 1/8 cup of shredded lettuce. Leave a 1 1/2-inch gap between the left edge of the sheet and the lettuce, and a 1 1/2-inch gap between the right edge of the sheet and the lettuce. Define a rectangle with the lettuce that's about 5 inches wide and 3 inches in the other direction (towards the center of the sheet). Now evenly top the lettuce rectangle with 1/8 of the bean sprouts, 1/8 of the carrots and 1/8 of the peanuts. Evenly distribute 1/8 of the pork over the rectangle. Tear 5 to 6 mint leaves and an equal amount of cilantro, and distribute over the rectangle. Top everything with a few sprinkles of nuoc mam.
• Carefully pick up the right edge of the sheet, and fold it leftward toward the center of the filling. Make sure the folded sheet is even and uncreased everywhere. Do the same with the left edge of the sheet. The rectangle of the filling should now be covered by the folded sheet. Pick up the bottom edge of the sheet, and start rolling away from you, towards the top edge, making sure to tuck the filling in tightly as you roll. When you have rolled about halfway to the top of the sheet, dip the shrimp halves in reserved fish sauce/sugar mix. Place 2 shrimp halves along the cylinder that you have half-rolled, and keep on rolling until a fully rolled cylinder is formed. Place under a wet towel. Repeat process 7 more times. Serve immediately, or cover rolls with wet towels and save at room temperature for several hours. Serve with Vietnamese peanut sauce.

Steps:

• Bring water to a boil in each of the 3 large pots. Salt the water as it reaches a boil. In another pot of boiling, salted water, add the chicken. Reduce the heat and simmer until cooked through, about 6 to 8 minutes. Chill fully in an ice bath and drain. Slice into thin strips and place in a bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Leaving the shrimp in their shells, drop them into 1 pot of boiling, salted water and cook for about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to an ice bath until fully chilled. Peel each shrimp, discarding the shells, and slice in half down the length of the shrimp so that you have 2 flat, identical crescent-shaped pieces. Place in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Drop the bean thread noodles into the third pot of boiling salted water and cook until done, about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and cool under cold, running water. When cooled, sprinkle with a little sesame oil, to taste. Toss the noodles until they are all lightly coated with the sesame oil. Place in a bowl and refrigerate until ready to use. When ready to assemble the rolls, line up all of the components?the chicken, shrimp, noodles, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, mint, and basil, in their own containers?on the work surface or table.
• Fill a large, flat bowl with warm water, making sure it is large enough to fit the rice paper wrappers. Lay a clean towel on the workspace in front of you. Carefully dip the round wrapper into the water, just to get it wet all over, trying not to crack it. It will still be slightly hard. Remove it from the water and lay it onto the clean towel, where it will continue to soften.
• Layer a small amount of each of the ingredients on the bottom 1/3 of the wrap. Start with a few strips of chicken, then 2 to 3 pieces of shrimp, then some noodles, then some lettuce, then some slices of cucumber, followed by some shreds of carrot, and then a pinch each of mint and basil. Fold up the bottom 1/3, fold in the sides and roll up the rest of the length to make an egg roll shape. Set aside and continue with the rest of the ingredients until all of the rice wrappers are used.
• Serve with soy sauce for dipping.