Vietnamese Summer Rolls

Fresh and fragrant, summer rolls are the perfect snack for a nice warm afternoon. There are innumerable fillings variants for summer rolls, from the crunchy prawn and coriander to the buttery avocado and corn. I've tried to stay vietnamese with my fillings, and made prawn and coriander summer rolls. With summer rolls, always use fresh ingredients to retain that wonderful frangrance and crunch, and chill the cabbage/lettuce in an ice-bath before use. The accompanying dip is a simple fish sauce, chilli and vinegar dip. Prepare and keep the fillings ready before hydrating the rice paper, as the paper can be quite temperamental once hydrated.

Ingredients

Summer Roll

• 2 sheets of rice paper
• 6 green prawns, shelled and blanched
• 1/2 cup cabbage
• 2 inch piece ginger, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 purple onion, chopped
• 1 bunch coriander, roughly chopped

Dip

• 2 tbsp fish sauce 
• 1 red chilli, chopped
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar or sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Method

1. Mix the dip ingredients together and leave aside for at least 3 hours, for everything to meld in together.
2. Toss the cabbage, carrot, coriander, ginger and onion together to create the base filling and keep the prawns close by, in preparation of the rolling. You can add a bit of salt to the base filling, but the dip has plenty of salty fish sauce so keep that in mind.
3. Take the rice paper and immerse it in some water, dipping both sides in for just a second. The paper should become pliable and flexible, but if there remain any stiff parts, massage them gently with water. Be careful while handling the rice paper as if any of its surfaces touch, it will stick together and be of no use.
4. Shake off the excess and place the soaked rice paper on absorbent cloth, to remove the excess water.
5. Place the hydrated rice paper on a clean work surface and add the base filling first one third of the paper. Roll once and then fold the sides in.  
6. Line a few of the blanched on the rolled surface and roll once more to complete the roll and seal it in.
7. Keep it aside to dry out and stiffen slightly. Before serving, cut each roll into 2-3 slices and serve with the dipping sauce.