Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls (Goi Cuon)
Traditional Vietnamese fresh spring rolls (goi cuon) consist of pork, shrimp, lettuce and herbs wrapped in soft chewy rice paper wrappers. Serve them as a refreshing and tasty appetizer and impress your guests.
Servings: 16 rolls
Calories: 183kcal
Ingredients
- 10 oz pork (choose among pork shoulder, tenderloin or pork belly)
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 lb raw shrimp (I use peel-on shrimp. We need 16 of them)
- 16 rice paper wrappers (8.5''-9'' in diameter)
- 2 cups soft lettuce, cut into smaller pieces or strips
- Thai basil, tough stems removed
- chives, cut into 3''-4'' long pieces
- other fresh herbs of your choice such as cilantro, mint
- 8 oz cooked rice vermicelli noodles
Instructions
- Parboil the pork for a minute, discard the liquid. After that, bring water to a boil in a clean pot, add ginger, salt and the pork. Skim off any foam. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer and place the lid slightly askew. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the pork is just cooked through. Transfer to a bowl with iced water to stop the cooking.
- Bring plenty of water to a boil and add the shrimp. Poach for about 2 minutes until they are just cooked through. Put them in a bowl with iced water immediately.
- Slice the pork as thinly as you can. Peel off the shrimp shells and slice the shrimp in half lengthwise (remove the veins if needed).
- Set up a work station with all ingredients to make the spring rolls and a plate/bowl with clean water. Briefly dip one rice paper wrapper into the plate with water to wet it just enough to make it pliable and then lay flat.
- Add a layer of lettuce, fresh herbs and vermicelli noodles. Fold left and right corners of the rice paper over the filling.
- Place a couple of pork slices right above the veggies and noodles (about the middle of the rice paper) and place two of the shrimp halves above the pork slices (about the top part of the rice paper). Then roll it up away from you. Place on a serving plate with the shrimp side up.
- Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers. Serve immediately with a dipping sauce. Recipes for two types of dipping sauce are in the Notes below.
Notes
The ingredients in this recipe are for the authentic traditional Vietnamese fresh spring rolls with pork and shrimp. Please feel free to add or remove the filling you like or don't like since I think spring rolls are a very personal thing. You should customize it to your liking. For example, it's fine to not use chives or I like to add julienned cucumber to my spring rolls.
I use 1 lb of raw shrimp (16 shrimp in total) with shells and heads. You can use shrimp of smaller size.
There are two types of dipping sauce often served with these:
- Peanut sauce: get the recipe here.
- Nuoc cham: make it by combining 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 5 tablespoons of warm water, 2 teaspoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of lime juice. Taste and adjust to taste.
Nutrition
Calories: 183kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 438mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 57mg | Iron: 2mg