Last week Charity and I convened to discuss serious SS business. That the conversation also happened to include idle chit chat about weekend exploits and episodes of heatstroke (no joke, it’s been excruciatingly hot here in NYC) is trifling and extraneous. With a guest over in the afternoon, I felt inclined to feed, and so whipped up a round of these wonderfully light but not insubstantial Vietnamese-style summer rolls. I only assert that they are inspired (albeit heavily) by the Southeast Asian original because I’m not sure any Vietnamese native would actually put slices of mango in their rolls. But they should, because they add a just-right amount of sweetness and balanced tang, and their silky texture contrasts perfectly with decidedly crunchy matchsticks of jicama, carrots and cucumber. Feel free to go overboard with the mint in these rolls- they add a really refreshing, mouth-cleansing touch. I add three largish leaves per roll, then infuse the dipping sauce with lots more chopped leaves, so you get a hit of herb from the inside, and the outside.
Naturally, we thought we should share this recipe with our loyal legions of readers (OK, just the intimate cohort). They’re just the nosh to perk you up on a hot summer’s day!
Recipe after the jump
Crunchy Summer Rolls with Mint, Mango and Shrimp
Serves 6 (Makes 25 rolls)
1 1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1 1/2 Tbs. lime juice
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
3 oz. thin rice stick or vermicelli noodles, cooked according to packet instructions
25 cooked, shelled and deveined large shrimp, sliced in half lengthwise (see tip)
1 small jicama, peeled and cut into cut matchsticks, about 3-inches long
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks, about 3-inches long
1 large cucumber, core of seeds discarded, and flesh cut into matchsticks, about 3-inches long
1 mango, ripe but a little firm, peeled, stoned and flesh thinly sliced into pieces about 3-inches long and 1/2-inch wide
1 pack mint, you’ll need about 75 leaves
25 6 1/2-inch round rice paper wrappers
Dipping Sauce:
3 Tbs. fish sauce
2 1/2 Tbs. soft brown sugar
1/4 cup hot water
2 tsp. rice vinegar
2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Juice 1 large lime
1 medium to large Serrano chili, finely chopped
2 packed Tbs. chopped mint
Begin by making the dipping sauce. Combine the fish sauce, sugar, hot water and vinegar in a small bowl. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and set aside. If leaving for more than 1 hour, cover with cling wrap and keep in the fridge.
For the summer rolls, combine the fish sauce, lime juice and sesame oil, then pour the mixture over the cooked rice stick noodles. Toss until well mixed. Set aside.
Now set up a little assembly station. Have the noodles in one bowl, the shrimp in another bowl, the vegetables and mango slices on a plate – keep them separate, and the mint leaves in a bowl. Take a shallow dish, large enough to comfortably accommodate a rice paper wrapper, and fill to about 1/2 to 1-inch deep with warm water. To make the rolls you will need a clean chopping board – its important that it’s very clean, since the rolls will not be cooked before eating, and that the surface is flat.
Now begin assembly. Take a rice paper wrapper and push into the warm water with your fingers, leave it submerged for 5 to 10 seconds, no more. Once pliable, Lift it out, holding it with your fingers at the top, and shake off as much water as possible. Lay it completely flat (it will continue to soften) on the chopping board. Slightly south of halfway down the rice wrapper round, and in the middle, place a couple of sticks of carrot, cucumber and jicama, followed by 2 pieces of mango. Then lay over a few strands of rice sticks – be careful not to overfill the roll. Lay two pieces of shrimp over the top (1 whole shrimp that has been sliced into 2). Use the photos below as a guide. Lift the excess wrapper from the bottom to cover the filling once, then fold in both sides of the wrapper. Arrange 3 mint leaves across the top, and continue to roll, enclosing the filling tightly inside.
Place the summer roll on a platter and cover with a damp cloth to stop it from drying out. Continue making the other rolls. It’ll probably take you about 2 minutes to make each roll initially, once you become more adept at it, you’ll be done in a minute! Keep the rolls covered for up to 30 minutes at room temperature until ready to serve, alongside the dipping sauce. If you plan to prepare them beforehand, they’ll keep in the fridge for up to 5 hours, stored in an airtight container.
Tip: If you are starting with raw shrimp you can just poach them in boiling lightly salted water for a couple of minutes until they turn pink and are cooked through. For more flavor, I like to add flavorings to the cooking liquid, such as chopped cilantro stalks/ root, lime juice and or zest, soy sauce or fish sauce and dried or fresh lemongrass. Alternatively, you can sear the shrimp in a sauté pan (this is what I did with the summer rolls in the photo above.) Season the shrimp with a little fish sauce, lime juice, hot sauce and freshly ground black pepper, and cook in a searingly hot pan for 1 to 2 minutes on either side until the shrimp turn pink and are cooked through.
Tags: fish sauce, jicama, mint, noodles, rice paper, summer rolls, vietnamese