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Gỏi cuốn - Vietnamese Fresh Rolls

Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 12 minutes

Ingredients

Meat Filling

  • olive oil
  • 2 heads garlic
  • 3/4 kg ground pork
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • salt and pepper

Rolls

  • 1 package vermicelli rice noodles
  • 1 package rice paper
  • 1 medium cucumber
  • 2 medium carrots
  • 1/2 head lettuce

Fish Sauce

  • 6 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp white sugar
  • 1/2 lime
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce I got the 'Squid' brand because it had good reviews online and was available at my local standard grocery store (it doesn't actually contain squid - that's just the brand name)

Instructions

Prepare Meat Filling

  1. In a large pan heat a generous swirl of oil on medium.

  2. Peel all of the cloves on two entire heads of garlic. Add peeled cloves to a food processor and blend until the garlic is in uniform, small pieces. (It's faster than mincing by hand). Add 3/4 of this garlic to the pan and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.

  3. Add the pork to the pan and break apart with a wooden spoon. Cook/stirring, until no pink colour remains - about 5 minutes. At this stage, drain the excess liquid from the pan using a strainer. Return to heat and add the ginger. Stir and continue cooking until pork is cooked through, and crispy in some places - another 5-7 minutes.

  4. Move pork to a heat-safe container and set aside to cool while you prep the rest of your ingredients.

Prepare Rolls

  1. Heat a large saucepan of water. Cook the vermicelli noodles according to package directions (usually boiling for 3-4 minutes is all it takes). Drain the water and rinse noodles several times with cool water to prevent sticking.

  2. Break apart lettuce into large pieces - these are easier to wrap than small shreds and help give the filling some structure! Peel cucumber and carrot if desired (I didn't) and then cut into long, thin pieces - larger than matchsticks but smaller than a pinkie finger.

  3. Prepare your work area with a clean open space (like a cutting board) on which to work and your ingredients nearby. Find a wide, shallow bowl (ideally just larger than your rice paper) and fill it with warm water. Wash your hands.

  4. Time to roll! Usually rice paper packages have instructions, but I'll give you my best tips here as well:

    - Place the rice paper in warm water for about five seconds (it may still feel stiff when you take it out, but it will continue to soften as your prep your ingredients and won't be too sticky to work with)

    - Put your rice paper down and then add your ingredients in the bottom 1/3, starting small - trying to stuff too much into one roll won't work

    - I found it easiest to put a large piece of lettuce down, tuck in some noodles inside, add my cucumber and carrots and then the meat on top

    - Fold the sides in first, then roll from the bottom upwards, continuing to tuck in the sides as you roll. If you don't have enough space at the top, try again with less filling

    - Replace your warm water every once in a while to keep your rice paper working well

    - Don't panic if your first try is a mess - mine was too! You get the knack with more experience (or you can throw the ingredients in a bowl and call it a meal)

  5. Tuck your rolls into a container or into a dry shallow bowl to give them time to "set" and stick closed. They do a wonderful job of sticking in a roll and you can still pull them apart from each other without too much trouble!

Make the Fish Sauce

  1. Combine the water and sugar in a bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Squeeze in the juice of half a lime.

  2. Add the jarred fish sauce and stir. Then you can mix in extras! I added some more of the minced garlic that didn't get cooked with the pork. If you like spice, hot peppers are a good option too!

  3. ENJOY! This sauce is very thin and these rolls come apart as you eat them, so it can be a messy experience. I find spooning the sauce over my already-bitten roll is the best way to capture flavour. Experiment and have fun with it!