Shrimp Gỏi Cuốn (Vietnamese Summer Rolls)
When we’re craving something herbal and fresh, these Vietnamese shrimp summer rolls always hit the spot. They’re super-fun to assemble: so if you’d rather not roll them all yourself, you can put out a platter of lettuce and herbs, the shrimp and cooked rice stick noodles, along with a stack of round rice papers and a shallow bowl of warm water, and let everyone roll their own. If you prefer, you can buy cooked shrimp instead of using peeled, deveined raw shrimp, and skip the shrimp-cooking step.
Traditionally, these are served with peanut dipping sauce; the one below was taught to us eons ago by our friend An-My Lê. If you prefer (or someone has a peanut allergy), you can also serve with Nước Chấm.
It may take a few tries to get the hang of making the rolls; here are a few tips:
• Use the large size (25 cm) rice paper. Smaller size works fine too, but you have more margin for error with larger circles
• Dip the rice paper in the warm water very briefly, just long enough to get it wet all over. If you dip too long, it’ll get too sticky and it will be difficult to handle
• Don’t overstuff
Makes about 14-16 summer rolls.
Ingredients
4 ounces rice stick noodles
1 pound shelled, deveined medium or large shrimp
1 head red-leaf lettuce or 2 heads red butter lettuce, leaves separated, washed and dried and larger leaves torn in half