Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Gỏi Cuốn) with Salmon and Shiitake

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Spring Rolls are very easy appetisers or party food to make. And because they are not fried like the more well known crispy fried spring rolls, they are amazingly healthy as well, filled with fresh ingredients, alongside any cooked meat you’d like to stuff them with.

In the West, these tend to be called summer spring rolls, but they don’t have to be a summer affair. In fact, we always make them for Chinese New Year, and that’s always in the winter!

These also make for great interactive entertaining. I love to have all the ingredients on the table and just let my guests help themselves to rolling their own spring rolls, much like a Taco Party!

Just remember to have some bowls of water with some lemon juice for your guests to rinse their hands in afterwards. Or they can just head to the bathroom or kitchen sink!

Eating on the Mekong

My kids have fond memories of eating these Vietnamese Spring Rolls on one of the islands off the Mekong river, made with the local elephant fish. It was an absolutely delicious meal; the fish, as you can see below, was deep fried and crispy and as the rolls were all prepared for us at the table. We just had to sit back and enjoy the meal which also consisted of a prawn and vegetable soup, some rice and squid. Total yum!

When you come across this recipe online, the rolls are always filled with prawns (shrimp), a classic case of everyone copying everyone, I suppose, in this day of easy internet access. If truth be told, I’ve had or seen these Vietnamese Spring Rolls filled with so many other meats besides prawns, whether it be fish, chicken, beef or pork.

And, I have to say, the prawn version is the blandest version of them all. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, given that half the beauty of this recipe lies in the dipping sauces you serve it with.

Our Recipe

I’m giving you one of our recipes for Vietnamese Spring Rolls, these ones are filled with salmon and shiitake, 2 fairly strong-flavoured ingredients. The salmon and umami filled shiitake go very well together.

They are only lightly seasoned and their prominent dispositions are noticeably tempered by the rice paper roll and the fresh vegetables and herbs, giving you a beautiful balance.

In fact, the whole spring roll is a seamless blend of bold, mild and aromatic. When it gets dunked into either dip, it takes on yet another level of flavour – sweet from the sweet chilli sauce and hot and sour from the dipping sauce.

The Dipping Sauce

That’s another thing you’ll find different in the recipe here – the dipping sauces. We shall serve them with what I think they go well with, not the bog standard, peanut and hoisin based sauce suggested everywhere else.

I think the peanuts (or peanut butter) totally ruin the clean and sharp flavours of the gỏi cuốn. I always serve Vietnamese spring rolls with a hot and sour dipping sauce.

You’ll find variations of this dipping sauce throughout the Thai and Vietnamese recipes on this site. I also love serving these with a sweet chilli sauce, click for homemade recipe.

Vegetarian and Other Variations

Making a vegetarian or even vegan Vietnamese Spring Roll is very easily done. Tofu is super fantastic in this, sliced thinly and fried in just a little bit of vegetable or peanut oil. You could even grill the tofu but fried tofu is just too good to resist!

Can you use only vegetables and herbs in the Vietnamese Spring rolls? Sure, you can, and to add a different texture and flavour, some roasted or boiled edamame beans or any kind of beans will do perfectly.

You could also use any protein you fancy: other fish, chicken, quick cooking beef or lamb or thinly sliced pork. Briefly cook them with some soy sauce or salt before rolling. You can fry the meat or boil it in a pan of salted water.

Essential Ingredients for Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Rice Paper

These are made from just rice and water and are called bánh tráng in Vietnamese. They should be easily found in Oriental stores and most certainly online, and come in 2 – 3 different sizes and brands. Get the large ones, measuring about 22 cm (9″), give or take.

Wetting the rice paper is probably the only tricky part of the recipe, if you’re a novice. In my classes, many of my students feel the need to fully soften the paper, despite advice to the contrary, ending up with a sticky, gooey paper that misbehaves.

We basically dip the paper in for a couple of seconds and start rolling while it still has a stiffness about it. The rice paper will continue absorbing water and softening as you are working with it.

Rice Noodles

The rice noodles we use are rice vermicelli, fresh or dried does depend on what you have access to. I have access to fresh but still opt for the dried version as the fresh ones tend to be coated with oil.

Always look at the cooking instructions on the packet, but as a general rule, one minute for fresh and 2 – 5 minutes for dried. We cook it to the al dente stage, where the noodles still retain a bite.

How to use Vietnamese Coriander (Daun Kesum)

Vietnamese Coriander or daun kesum, in Malay, is a lemony, spicy and tangy herb that captures so much that is South East Asian Cooking.

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Cuisine: Malaysian, Singaporean, South East Asian

Keyword: daun kesum, herbs, laksa leaves, vietnamese coriander

Prep Time: 2 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 2 minutes minutes

Total Time: 2 minutes minutes

Author: Azlin Bloor

Cost: £1 ($1.30) a bunch

Equipment

• A pair of scissors would be handy!

Ingredients

• ▢ 3-4 sprigs Vietnamese coriander or as the recipe states

Instructions

• Vietnamese coriander wants to be added about 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time, so as to retain as much of that fresh, citrusy aroma as possible.
• Rinse, then use as they are in your recipe. No need to pick the leaves.
• Just before serving, pick the sprigs out and discard, if you like.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!

Made it? Upload your photosMention @azlinbloor and tag #linsfood!

Japanese Shiso Leaves (Perilla Leaves)

Shiso leaves are from the shiso plant, a perennial herb that is also known as perilla (perilla frustescens) and belongs to the mint family.

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The Herbs

Pretty much any East or South East Asian herbs will go here: Japanese shiso (perilla), Vietnamese mint (daun kesum), chives or coriander leaves (cilantro).

Regular mint is also great with the mix. Just go with what you have. At the very least, chives, spring onions (scallions) and coriander (cilantro) will do perfectly.

In Pictures

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